He stood up and placed a finger on a capacitance switch. A panel in the Wall slid back to reveal six sales charts. There were two each marked _Winter_, _Summer_ and _Spring-Fall_. Three were designated _marlons_, and three _marilyns_. Each of them showed a red line rising steeply on the left, levelling out to a perfectly straight bar all the way across, then dipping sharply again. "Look here," Edwin said. "These are the sales charts for our six suits. As you know, we make three different types for marlons, and three for marilyns. Hot-weather, cold-weather, and medium-weather. Each suit is designed to last a carefully calculated length of time, and each consumer need only buy three suits a year. They are exactly alike except for slight size differences, and because of elastic fabrics these differences are held to a minimum. With this system the Textile Industry attained the ultimate in Standardization, the ultimate in efficiency." Charles rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Has the IBM suggested any alternative to our system, any possible change?" Edwin sat down again, folded his arms on the desk, and scowled. "That's where you come in! The IBM informs us that there is only one possible way to stabilize our economy, to raise our profit margin to its former level--and that is by further standardization!" Charles raised his eyebrows. "You mean a sexless wardrobe, sir? That's been tried...." "No, that's _not_ what I mean!" Edwin snapped. "What I mean is an _all-weather suit_!" Charles swallowed audibly at that and said nothing. "You can see the advantages, of course," Edwin explained. "We'd need only to manufacture two types of suit, marlon and marilyn. Since we'd never have to adjust our factories, we could drop a lot of unnecessary technicians, and with the further standardization, manufacturing would be faster and cheaper--a _lot_ cheaper. The consumer would only purchase one suit a year, but we could make up for that by raising the prices somewhat." Charles finally got a word in. "But, _sir_! An all-weather suit? How can we design a suit that will be equally comfortable in the middle of a Florida heat-wave or a New England snowstorm?" "How? _How?_" Edwin's voice raised and his finger pointed. "_You're_ the research chemist, Charles! You're supposed to tell _me_ how!" "Sir? I...." "Listen!" Edwin poked the other in the chest. "I assume you know what will happen to Society if the Textile Industry becomes economically unstable?" "Well, yes sir, but...." "Then I assume you realize that the Board of Directors will stop at nothing to preserve the status quo! And since you happen to be our chief industrial chemist, the entire problem lands in your lap! Now, we want to know how to make an all-weather suit, and we want to know _fast_. Therefore, Charles, you're going to tell us how to do it! Understand?" Charles nodded unhappily. "Yes sir, I understand." * * * * *