Chapter 27 first quarter

The speakers sit around a round table, each under the cover of a mental screen.They seemed to be united, all trying to hide their hearts from the inevitable insult to the chief speaker.Because the chief speaker's statement just now - about the ins and outs of the Trevize incident - is simply self-defeating.The only thing they did was to look furtively at Drami, and even that barely gave away their attitude.Of all the speakers, Dramiel was the most famous for his insolence, and even Candibe was sometimes obliged to make superficial remarks. Drami noticed the gaze on her, and knew that she had no choice but to stand up to this difficult situation bravely.In fact, she didn't want to avoid this question.In the past history of the Second Foundation, no chief speaker has ever been impeached for "misanalysis" (a term she invented deliberately as a cover for "incompetence"), but now there are Because of this possibility, she will never hesitate to flinch.

"Chief speaker!" she said in a soft tone, her face was bloodless and her thin lips looked almost as pale as her face. "This is what you said yourself, saying that your opinion has no basis, and the mathematics of psychohistory has not led to any results. You want us to make an extremely important decision based on a mysterious intuition?" The chief speaker looked up, the double layers were locked tightly together, he noticed that all the speakers were mentally shielded, and he understood what this meant.He said calmly: "I am not denying the lack of evidence, nor presenting any falsified results. What I report to you is a strong intuition in the mind of a chief speaker who has been I have accumulated decades of experience in studying Seldon's plan." He looked around the crowd with a rare aloof expression, which softened and lifted their mental barriers one by one.Of these, Drammy (when his eyes turned to her) was the last to do so.

She hurriedly filled her heart with calm emotions without hostility, as if nothing had happened. "Of course I accept your statement, Chief Speaker, but I think you may want to reconsider. Now that you have expressed shame about appealing to your intuition, do you now wish to be able to put this speech Deleted from the record - if, in your judgment, it should be..." At this moment, Candib's voice suddenly interjected: "What statement should be deleted from the record?" Each pair of eyes turns immediately at the same time.At the previous critical moment, if they hadn't all shielded their minds, they should have felt that he was close long before Candib entered the door.

"Everyone's minds were closed just now? Didn't everyone know that I came in?" Jian Dibo said in a sarcastic tone: "Our round table meeting, what kind of fun party is held today, and no one is alert to my appearance? Or do you all think I can't attend?" This series of astonishing words severely undermined all regulations.Lateness is bad enough, but Chandiper's unannounced trespassing is an even more serious crime; and it is simply unforgivable for him to speak before the chief speaker has given others a seat . The chief speaker turned to look at him—other issues are not important for the time being, and the disciplinary issue must be resolved first.

"Speaker Candiba," he said, "you are late, you entered the room unannounced, and then you spoke without permission. Should I suspend your right to speak for thirty days? Do you have any defense?" Reason?" "Of course, we should first discuss who managed to make me late—and why. After clarifying this issue, we should discuss the motion for suspension." Jian Dibo's words were both calm and cautious. , but there was anger in his thoughts, and he didn't care who felt it. Of course Drami noticed, and she said loudly, "This man has gone mad."

"Crazy? Is this woman crazy for saying that, or is it because of her guilt? Chief speaker, I now propose a motion to you that concerns my personal rights." Jian Dibo said. "What kind of personal interest, speaker?" "Chief Speaker, I accuse one of this audience of attempted murder." All the speakers jumped up, and at the same time, there was a noise made up of language, expression and mental state, which almost knocked down the roof. The chief speaker raised his hands and shouted: "We must give this speaker a chance to state his personal rights." He found it necessary to use spiritual power to enhance his authority. Although it is very inappropriate to do so, he There is no other choice.

The noise gradually subsided. Jiandibo waited silently until the venue was completely quiet again, and there was no more ordinary noise and mental noise, and then he said: "Just now, I walked back from the Amu people's road, according to my position at the time, and It is absolutely impossible to be late. But I was stopped by some farmers halfway, and I was almost beaten, and I might even be beaten to death by them. Because of this, I was delayed until now. Come on. Let me begin by stating that, from the aftermath of the Holocaust to the present, I have never known a single Amman who has ever spoken ill of a Second Foundation member—let alone physically.”

"Neither have I heard of it," said the chief speaker. Drami suddenly yelled: "People from our second base seldom go to the Amu people's territory alone! But you just did this, you are calling it your own fault!" "That's right," said Candib. "I have often walked alone in Amman's territory. I have walked each way hundreds of times, but I have never had trouble before. Others have not been like me. Been everywhere, and no one has self-imposed banishment in the university forever. However, I have never heard of anyone who has ever been blocked. I remember that Drammy sometimes--" At this moment, he seemed to remember Forgot to add a title, but it was too late to make up for it, so I decided to take the opportunity to humiliate her. "I mean, I remember that Drami speaker sometimes went to Amish territory, but she was never accosted."

Drami's eyes were as big as brass bells. "Probably because I don't initiate conversations with them, because I always keep a safe distance, and because I behave appropriately, they respect me." "It's strange," said Candiba. "I was going to say it because you look scarier than me. After all, even here, few people dare to approach you. But please tell me why there were so many people in the past. The people of Amu have never blocked my way, but I chose this day—when I was rushing back to attend an important meeting?" "If it's not due to your behavior, it must be a coincidence." Drami said, "I've never heard that Seldon's mathematics can negate the role of chance in the galaxy—especially in personal events. Or did you say this from a gut feeling, too?" (The remark attacked the lead speaker with insinuation, and one or two speakers couldn't help but let out a small internal sigh.)

"It's not that I behaved inappropriately, it's not a coincidence, it's an action that was planned long ago." Candib said. "And how can we be sure?" the chief speaker asked mildly.Because of Drami's sarcasm just now, his attitude towards Candib has been softened a lot. "I open my heart to you, chief speaker, and I will pass on the memories of those events just now to you, as well as to every member of the round table." It took only a brief moment for the memory to pass, and then the chief speaker said: "Dreadful! Under such great pressure, speaker, it's rare for you to be so measured. I agree that the Amman's performance is indeed Abnormal, and has pledged to order an investigation. Now, please join us in our discussion...”

"Wait!" Drami interrupted suddenly. "How can we be sure that this speaker's statement is true?" Faced with such an insult, Candib was so angry that his nostrils burst into flames, but he still managed to maintain his composure, and just replied lightly: "My heart is open." "I know some hearts that seem to be open, but are not really open." "I don't doubt that at all, speaker," said Candiba, "because you, like the rest of us, always have a hand in opening your heart. Unlike you, when I open my heart, it's Wide open." The chief speaker said: "Let's not go on—" "I would also like to make a personal rights motion, Chief Speaker. In the meantime I would like to apologize to you for interrupting me," Drami said. "What kind of personal interest, speaker?" "The speaker at Candiba accused one of us of attempted murder by abetting the farmer to kill with a knife. Until the charge is withdrawn, I must be considered a murderer, as is everyone here - including you Inside, Chief Speaker." The chief speaker said, "Would you withdraw this charge, Speaker Candiba?" Jandibal sat back in his seat, gripping the armrests tightly with both hands, as if he wanted to claim the seat for himself.Then he said: "I will—but someone will have to explain why, when I was rushing back to the meeting, there was a farmer Amman, along with a few other companions, who deliberately stopped me and asked me Couldn't make it to the meeting on time." "There may be thousands of reasons for this," said the Chief Speaker. "I repeat, this matter will definitely be investigated. Now, Speaker Candiba, could you please withdraw your complaint so that the discussion can continue ?” "I can't, Chief Speaker. I was on the scene just now, and I spent several minutes probing the other person's mind in the most subtle way possible in order to try to change his behavior without causing him harm, and I failed. No. His mind lacks the flexibility it should, and his emotions are all stereotyped, as if controlled by an external mind." Drami smiled suddenly, and said, "And you think that the outer mind is one of us? Could it be that your so-called mysterious organization—the organization that is opposed to us and is stronger than us did it?" ?" "It's possible," said Candib. "If this is the case, then all of us are innocent, because we do not belong to the organization that only you know, so you should immediately withdraw the accusation. Could it be that you want to accuse someone here, who has been accused by the organization The control of a mysterious organization? Maybe one of us is not quite himself anymore?" "Perhaps," said Candib, half-heartedly, knowing that Dramiel was leading him into a trap. "But it's also possible," Dramiy was about to tighten the trap, "this secret and hidden mysterious organization you imagined is just a nightmare of a paranoid patient. According to your persecution delusion, those Eminem The farmer has been affected, and even the speaker has been secretly controlled. Well, let me accommodate your peculiar way of thinking for a while. Speaker, please tell me, which one of us is under control? Could it be me?" Candib replied, "I don't think so, speaker. If you tried to remove me in such a roundabout way, you would not express your hatred so openly against me." "Maybe it's the result of the positive and the negative?" Drami said softly, sounding very smug. "It's easy for people with delusions to come to that conclusion." "Since you said so, it is possible that your delusional experience is much richer than mine." At this moment, another speaker, Lestim Gianni, suddenly interjected angrily: "Listen, speaker Candiba, if you clear the suspicion of the speaker of Drami, it is equivalent to accusing the rest of us. Heavy. What reason would any of us have for delaying your participation in a meeting, let alone taking your life?" It seemed that this was the question Jian Dibo was waiting for, and immediately responded: "When I walked in just now, the topic being discussed was to delete certain speeches from the record. I believe it was the speech of the chief speaker, and I was The only speaker who didn't get to hear those words. Please let me know what it says and trust me I can tell you someone's motives for smearing me." The Chief Speaker said: "What I have just stated is that, based on my intuition and misapplication of psychohistory, the future success or failure of Project Seldon rests entirely on Glenn Trevize, who was exiled from the First Foundation. This statement Strong backlash from Drameh's speaker and others." "What the other speakers think, that's their business. For myself, I'm totally in agreement with that assumption. Trevize is the point, he's suddenly banished to space by the First Foundation, and I It is not simple to discover the inside story.” Drami said: "Speaker Candiba, do you mean to say that Trevize, or those who exiled him, are in the hands of that mysterious organization? Perhaps everyone and everything is under the influence of are out of their control, with the exception of you, the Chief Speaker, and me, since you have just concluded that I am not under control." Candiba replied: "I don't have to answer this nonsense at all. The next thing I want to ask is, among the speakers here, is there anyone who is willing to agree with the chief speaker and my point of view? With the permission of the chief speaker, I distribute I think you've all seen the mathematical derivations I gave you." There was a dead silence in the hall. "I'll repeat my question again," said Candib. "Who else agrees?" Still nothing happens. "Chief speaker, now I can tell you my motives for delaying," Chandib said. The chief speaker said: "Please speak clearly." "When you said that we had to be reactive with Trevize - the First Foundation guy - that meant we were going to be reactive and proactive. If the speakers read my report, they should be There is at least a notion of reform in the making. If all the speakers are unanimous against you - unanimously, then, by traditional authority, you can't make any changes. But as long as one speaker supports you, then you can Can implement new policies, and I am the speaker who will support you, anyone who has read my report can understand this. So I must not be allowed to participate in the round table, I must be prevented at any cost meeting." "The ruse almost succeeded, but now I'm here and I support the chief speaker's position. Since I agree with him, according to traditional practice, the objections of the other ten speakers can be ignored." Dramik tapped the conference table with his fist. "This means that someone knows in advance what the lead speaker is going to discuss and knows that the Candidate speaker will support the proposal and that everyone else will oppose it; Things that may be known. We can further deduce that this pre-emptive plan proposed by the chief speaker is something that the organization that the speaker of the Candiba speaker dreamed up does not want to see, so they will come forward to obstruct it, and among us One or more of , is already under the control of that organization." "These are very correct inferences," agreed Candiba. "Your analysis is extremely incisive." "Who the hell are you accusing?" cried Drami. "I don't want to accuse anyone, I would like to leave this matter to the Chief Speaker. Now that it is clear that some of us are indeed secretly against us, I hereby make a suggestion - each of the Second Base Everyone who works should undergo a thorough psychoanalysis. Everyone, including all speakers, even myself and the chief speaker." The order of the round table immediately got out of control, and there was unprecedented chaos and excitement. At last the chief speaker officially adjourned the meeting, and Candibe went back to his room without greeting anyone.He knew very well that the other speakers were not his friends, and that even the support that the chief speaker could offer was half-hearted at best. However, whether he was worried about himself or the safety of the entire second base, even he couldn't tell.The feeling that the end is coming made his mouth full of bitterness.