Simon Great did not answer the question. "You try telling me something, Willie," he said. "Have you been approached the last couple of days by IBM?" "You mean asking me to take over your job?" "I said _I_BM, Willie." "Oh." Willie's grin became a tight one. "I'm not talking." * * * * * There was a flurry of sound and movement around the playing tables. Willie sprang up. "Lysmov's agreed to a draw!" he informed them a moment later. "The gangster!" "Gangster because he puts you in equal first place with Votbinnik, both of you ahead of the Machine?" Great inquired gently. "Ahh, he could have beat Binny, giving me sole first. A Russian gangster!" Doc shook a finger. "Lysmov could also have _lost_ to Votbinnik, Willie, putting you in second place." "Don't think evil thoughts. So long, pals." As Angler clattered down the stairs, Simon Great signed the waiter for more coffee, lit a fresh cigarette, took a deep drag and leaned back. "You know," he said "it's a great relief not to have to impersonate the hyperconfident programmer for awhile. Being a psychologist has spoiled me for that sort of thing. I'm not as good as I once was at beating people over the head with my ego." "You didn't do too badly," Doc said. "Thanks. Actually, WBM is very much pleased with the Machine's performance. The Machine's flaws made it seem more real and more news-worthy, especially how it functioned when the going got tough--those repairs the boys made under time pressure in your game, Savilly, will help sell WBM computers or I miss my guess. In fact nobody could have watched the tournament for long without realizing there were nine smart rugged men out there, ready to kill that computer if they could. The Machine passed a real test. And then the whole deal dramatizes what computers are and what they can and can't do. And not just at the popular level. The WBM research boys are learning a lot about computer and programming theory by studying how the Machine and its programmer behave under tournament stress. It's a kind of test unlike that provided by any other computer work. Just this morning, for instance, one of our big mathematicians told me that he is beginning to think that the Theory of Games _does_ apply to chess, because you can bluff and counterbluff with your programming. And _I'm_ learning about human psychology." Doc chuckled. "Such as that even human thinking is just a matter of how you program your own mind?--that we're all like the Machine to that extent?" "That's one of the big points, Savilly. Yes." Doc smiled at Sandra. "You wrote a nice little news-story, dear, about how Man conquered the Machine by a palpitating nose and won a victory for international amity. "Now the story starts to go deeper." * * * * * "A lot of things go deeper," Sandra replied, looking at him evenly. "Much deeper than you ever expect at the start." The big electric Scoreboard lit up.