"Then what are you going to do when he gets here?" She ground out her cigarette anxiously. "The procession is in the ravine now. You had better decide quickly." "I don't know, Virginia. I just don't know." Merrick sank down behind his desk, hands toying with the telescreen controls. "I was never intended to make this sort of decisions. I feel helpless. Look here--" The image of the ravine glowed across the screen in brilliant relief. The densely timbered slopes were spotted with tiny purposeful figures in the grey robes that all Fanatics affected. Here and there the morning sun caught a glint of metal as the Fanatics labored to set up their projectors. Along the floor of the ravine that was the only land approach to the Creche moved the twisting, writhing snake of the procession. The enraptured Fanatics were chanting their hate-songs as they came. In the first rank walked the leonine Erikson, his long hair whipping in the moisture-laden wind from the sea. With a muttered curse, Merrick flipped a toggle and the scene dimmed. The face of a secretary appeared superimposed on it. It was the expressionless face of an android, a fine example of the Creche's production line. "Get Graves up here," he ordered, "You may find him at Hypno-Central or in Semantic Evaluation." "Very good, sir," intoned the android, fading from the screen. Merrick looked at his wife. "Maybe Graves and I can think of something." "Don't plan anything rash, Han." Merrick shrugged and turned back to watch the steady approach of the procession of grey-frocked zealots in the ravine. Graves appeared as the doorway dilated. He looked fearful and pale. "You wanted to see me, Han?" "Come in, Jon. Sit down." "Have you seen the projectors those crackpots have set up in the hills?" Graves demanded. "I have, Jon. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." "My God, Han! Do you have any idea of what it must feel like to die from cortical stimulation?" Graves' voice was tense and strained. "Can't we get out of here by 'copter?" "No. The 'copters are both in Francisco picking up supplies. I ordered them out yesterday. Besides, that wouldn't settle anything. There are almost a thousand androids in the Creche as of this morning. What about them?" Graves made a gesture of impatience. "It's the humans I'm thinking about."