The teleo-electronic man stood in his mechanical coldness. "Perhaps they made a mistake when they constructed me. My mind is much more delicate, sensitive and human than they intended it should be. I think. But it seems to be much too late to rectify the error. I'm human. I deserve the same considerations as a human, as you. I'm even more deserving of the relaxation and beautiful dreams of the Sleep than you because I've served in the indescribable monotony of mechanical servitude for so long. So, I've definitely decided. You'll take my place." Amco felt frustrated at the teleo-electronic man's logic. His longings warped his own logic. "You were designed for this duty. I'd be vulnerable to fatigue, sickness, death, whereas you--" The teleo-electronic man started moving toward Amco. "No. I'm going to make an electronic body for your brain--a body of eternity like mine. I'll construct this body according to your specifications--superficially that is." Amco backed away. "Don't make it difficult," radiated the robot. "You can't avoid the inevitable." * * * * * Overcoming the metal man was out of the question. Physical violence of any sort was vague and abstract to Amco anyway. Resignation saved him from confusion. His only regret now was that he would be cheated out of the sleep. He had forgotten the Coordinator who waited for his answer as to the goal of evolution. The teleo-electronic man was radiating: "If you'll accept my proposition amiably, I'll make a pact with you. We'll alternate. You'll administer the sleepers for a certain agreed on period of time, then I'll relieve you. Say at intervals of a thousand years." Amco decided suddenly that it would be more propitious for him if he tried to run away from the robot, get back to the space-time converter and go back to his own time. He was involving himself too deeply in aeons. "No. I'll not let you return," radiated the robot. "My mind is set on the sleep." "Wait," said Amco, bursting into speech again. "I've just thought of something rather vast." "What," radiated the robot. "Have any of the sleepers ever awakened?" "Of course not," radiated the robot. "Why should they?" "If they've never awakened," said Amco. "How do you know that all you've explained to me about their timeless paradise is really true? Their state resembles death. Too much so. Human kind used to delude themselves with the dream that they continued a kind of super life after they were dead. But alas, no one ever came back from paradise to prove it, and the paradoxical concept gradually died out. It was just wishful thinking. Exactly the same kind of suggestion has dulled your rationale mind.