Chapter 18 Chapter 18 The Way Out

She wished to see him one more time, and he waited.Finally, she appeared, and his eyes widened. "I saw you in person," Bailey said. "Yes," said Gnadia, "how can you tell?" "You're wearing gloves." "Oh." She looked at her hands in confusion.Then she said softly, "Do you care?" "No, of course I don't care. But why did you decide to meet me in person instead of by video?" "Er—" she smiled feebly, "I've got to get used to it, don't I, Elijah? I mean, if I'm going to Aurora World."

"Everything is arranged?" "Mr. Oliva seems to be very influential. Everything is arranged, I will never come back." "Well, you'll be happier there, Gnadia, I know you will." "I am a little scared." "I know it means you'll have to meet people in person all the time, and you won't be able to enjoy the peace and quiet of Solari's world anymore, but you'll get used to it, and you'll forget about these horrible experiences." "I don't want to forget everything," Gnadia said softly. "You'll forget." Bailey looked at the thin girl in front of him, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart. "One day, you will get married too. I mean, really married."

"But," she said sadly, "I don't seem to be interested in that anymore." "You will change your mind." They stood there, staring at each other for a long moment, in silence. "I really don't know how to thank you," said Gnadia. "That's just my job," Bailey said. "You're going back to Earth now, aren't you?" "right." "I'll never see you again." "Maybe we won't see each other again, but don't make yourself unhappy. I'll be dead in another forty years at the most, and you'll be like this then."

"Don't say that," she said sadly. "This is a fact." "You know what? Jordan Libby's really like that," she said quickly, as if she had to change the subject. "I know. Other roboticists looked at his records and found that he was experimenting with unmanned intelligent spaceships. They also found other robots with removable limbs." Gnadia said fearfully: "Why do you think he did such a terrible thing?" "He's afraid of people. He kills himself so he won't see people, and he's ready to wipe out other planets to ensure that the Solari world's taboo of not being in contact with people is never violated."

"How could he feel that way?" she murmured. "Real human contact isn't very—" They fell silent again, looking at each other at a distance of about ten paces. Suddenly Gnadia began to cry: "Oh, Ilya, you will think me presumptuous..." "What do you think you are presumptuous?" "May I touch you? Ilya, I'll never see you again." "If you want to touch." She approached him step by step, her eyes were bright, but she also seemed a little hesitant.She stopped about a meter away from him, and slowly took off her gloves as if she had lost her soul.

Bailey made a stop gesture: "Don't do anything stupid, Gnadia." "I'm not afraid," said Gnadia. She stretched out her bare hand, trembling slightly. Bale held her hand, his own shaking.As they stood there, she shyly let him hold her hand.Then, he let go of his hand, and her hand was quickly withdrawn.Suddenly, to Bailey's surprise, she reached for his face and touched it with her fingers like feathers. She said, "Thank you, Ilya, and goodbye." He said, "Goodbye, Gnadia." Although he knew that there was a spaceship waiting to take him back to Earth, the feeling of missing something was lingering.

Undersecretary Albert Minney warmly welcomed Bale back to Earth: "Nice to meet you. Of course, I received your report before you came back, and our people are working on it now. You did a great job Well, this thing will put you on a good track record." "Thank you," Bailey said.A good record doesn't make him any happier.He was safely back on Earth, heard Jessie's voice (he had already spoken to her), but all this left him with a strange sense of emptiness. "However," Minny said, "your report is only about murder. We're interested in another matter, and may I have an oral report on it?"

Bailey hesitated, his hand reached involuntarily into the inside pocket of his coat for his pipe. Minnie said immediately, "You can smoke, Bailey." Bailey deliberately delays the time to light his cigarette. "I'm not a sociologist," he said. "Didn't you?" Minnie smiled. "I remember we seemed to discuss it. A successful detective must be an experienced sociologist, even if he's never heard of Hector's The equation doesn't matter. Judging from your uneasy look, I think you already have some concepts of the outside world, but I don't know if I can listen to your thoughts?"

"If you want to say that, sir...you asked me a question when you sent me to Solari World, you asked, the strength of the outer world lies in their large number of robots, few people but long life span, but their weakness What is it?" "so?" "I think I know what the Solari's weakness is, sir." "You already have an answer to my question? Very well, go ahead." "Sir, their weakness also happens to be that they have many robots, a small population, and a long lifespan." Minnie looked at Bailey, his expression unchanged, but his fingers were scribbling on the paper on the table as if cramped.

"Why do you say that?" he asked. On the way back to Earth from Solari World, Bale had spent hours gathering his thoughts.He has assembled a set of very convincing and very reasonable arguments to deal with the questioning of such bureaucratic figures.But now, he didn't know what to say. "I don't know if I can make it clear," he said. "It's okay, just tell me and listen. This is just a preliminary and rough assessment." "The Solari have given up something that humans have had for millions of years that is more valuable than atomic energy, cities, agriculture, tools, fire and everything because it makes everything It all became possible.”

"I don't want to guess, Bailey, what's that thing?" "Crowds, sir. Cooperation among men. The Solari world has abandoned it altogether. It is a world of solitary individuals, and their only sociologist is happy with that. By the way, this sociologist has never heard of social mathematics, because the Solari world is developing their own sociology. There, no one teaches him, no one helps him, no one thinks that he may not have thought The only science that is really worth boasting about in the Solari world is robotics, and robotics is studied by only a handful of people. When they need to analyze the interrelationship between robots and humans, they have to turn to an earth people. "Sir, the art of the Solari world is abstract art. Although the earth also has abstract art, it is not the only art form, but in the Solari world, abstract art is the only art. Humanity is gone. What they pursue Our future is a future of artificial reproduction, insulated from maternal childbirth.” "It all sounds really scary, but is it going to work against them?" Minney said. "I think so. Without human interrelationship, the main pleasure in life is gone, the value of wisdom is gone, and the reason for most people to live is gone. Meeting by video is no substitute for The real meeting between people, the Solaris themselves have noticed that meeting by video will give people a sense of alienation. "If people's isolation from each other is not enough to cause their planet to stagnate, their longevity will. On Earth, we have a steady stream of young people who want to change, and in a short period of time They haven't had time in life to become rigid. I think it's better to live long enough to enable real achievement, or short enough to sustain the rate at which the young replace the old. In Solari World, this The rate is too low." Minny's fingers were still scribbling on the paper. "Interesting! Interesting!" He raised his head, as if a mask had slipped off his face, with a look of joy in his eyes, "Interpol, you have a sharp eye." "Thank you," Bailey said awkwardly. "Do you know why I want to encourage you to say what you mean?" He was as happy as a child, and continued without waiting for Bailey's answer. "Actually, our sociologist has already analyzed your report. Just wondering what you personally think about the great news you're bringing to Earth. I can see you already have your own thoughts." "Wait a minute, please," said Bailey, "that's not all." "It's more than that," Minny agreed happily. "It's impossible for Solariworld to change its stagnation. It's passed a breaking point. They're too dependent on robots. Robots can't punish small children, even if His punishment is for the good of the children. Robots can only see the pain in front of the children, not their future benefits. And all robots cannot destroy the existing but harmful things on the planet for the benefit of the planet. They cannot see the future. So the only end for the outside world is to stagnate forever. The earth will eventually get rid of their control. This new information changes everything, the earth does not need to rebel, and freedom will come after all.” "Wait a minute," Belley said aloud, "we're only talking about Solari's world, not all of the Outer Worlds." "That's much the same. Your Solariworld sociologist, Chima—" "Quimate, sir." "Quimate, let's just call it Quimate. Didn't he say that other outer worlds have followed the same path as Solari's world?" "He did, but he didn't experience other worlds himself, and he's not much of a sociologist, I think I've explained that." "Our own people will investigate." "They also lack information. We know nothing about most of the outer worlds, Daniel's world of Aurora is an example. I would hardly agree that they are the same as the world of Solari. In fact, the There's only one place that resembles Solari World—" Minny waved his extremely well-groomed hand cheerfully, and said he didn't want to talk about it any more. "Some of us will look into it. I'm sure they'll agree with Quamat." Bailey's eyes darkened.If sociologists on Earth were eager for good news, they would agree with Quimatt.As long as a certain period of time and a certain degree of investigation have passed, as long as certain information is deliberately avoided, the statistics will naturally meet their requirements. He hesitated whether to speak while the government dignitaries were listening to him now, or— He hesitated for another moment. Minny tidied up the documents and became serious: "Ask you a few more things about the Dahlman case, and you can go. Did you intentionally make Libby commit suicide?" "I was just trying to get him to confess, sir. It didn't occur to me that he would kill himself. The fact that it was only a robot that approached him didn't violate his taboo against seeing people. But frankly, I don't mind his death." It's a pity. Libby is a dangerous man. There will probably be a second of him for a long time with his pathological combination of talent." "That's right," Minny said indifferently. "Anyway, he deserved to die. But did it occur to you at the time how dangerous your situation would be if the Solaris thought it impossible for Libby to murder Dahlman?" Bailey took the pipe from his mouth, and said nothing. "Okay, detective, what are you worried about?" Minnie said, "You know he didn't murder Dahlmann. Killing people needs to see people, and Li Binin doesn't want to see people when he dies, and he really didn't want to. Seeing people die." "You're quite right, sir," Bailey said. "I just expected the Solaris to be horrified at Libby's misuse of robots, and ignored it." "So, who is it that killed Dahlman?" Bailey said slowly: "If you mean the person who actually did it, that person is the known murderer, the wife of the deceased—Gnadia Dahlmann." "You actually let her go?" "Actually, she doesn't have to be responsible," Belley said. Libby knew that Gnadia and her husband were not on good terms and fought a lot, and he must have understood how angry she was when she was angry. He killed Dahlman without a crime, so he gave Dahlmann a robot with replaceable limbs. I think he probably also taught the robot how to detach its own limbs and hand them over when Gnadia was in a rage. Give it to her. When Gnadia lost her head with a weapon in her hand and lost her mind for a moment, she did it naturally. Dahlmann and the robot had no time to stop her. Gnadia was like the robot, He had no intention of killing, but he became Libby's tool to kill." "There must be blood and hair on that robot's arm," Minney said. "Probably," Bailey replied, "but the robot is in Libby's hands. He could have ordered other robots who might notice the fact to forget about it. Dr. Saul probably noticed it too, but he only Examined the dead and the unconscious woman. Libby's mistake was that he thought all the circumstances pointed to Gnadia as the murderer, and even though no murder weapon was found at the scene, she was also implicated. He did not expect that Solari World would Find someone from Earth to investigate this case." "So as soon as Libby died, you immediately arranged for Gnadia to leave the Solari world? Are you trying to save her? To prevent the Solaris from thinking about this case again?" Bailey shrugged. "She's had enough. Everyone's a victim. Her husband, Libby, and the Solari World." Minny didn't think so: "You did this because you abused the law out of compassion?" Bailey's face sank and he became serious: "I didn't feel compassion for a moment, and I'm not bound by the laws of the Solari world. The well-being and interests of the earth are the most important. For this, I must punish people like Libby. As for Mrs. Dahlmann," he said, facing Minny, feeling that he was approaching a critical moment, "as for Mrs. Dahlmann, I take her as the basis of some kind of experiment." "What experiment?" "I want to know if she'll agree to face a planet where seeing people is allowed and expected. I wonder if she'll have the guts to break free from their ingrained customs. I was afraid she'd refuse to go to the world of Aurora , fearing that she might stick to her Solari world and be unwilling to give up her twisted way of life. But she chose to change. I'm glad she did. Because to me, it seems It has a kind of symbolic meaning that seems to have opened up a lifeline for us." "For us?" Minnie said aloud. "I don't know what you mean." "Not just for you and me, sir," said Belley gravely, "but for all of humanity. I'm afraid you're wrong about the other outer worlds, which are only a few robots that allow humans to interact with each other." Met and met, they have been investigating Solari World too. You know R. Daniel Oliva went with me and he will bring a report back to Aurora World. They also turned into Solari World potential dangers, but because of this experience, they may be alert to such dangers, and strive to maintain a reasonable balance, thereby maintaining their position as the leaders of humanity." "It's a matter of opinion," Minney said. "Honestly speaking, the one that's really similar to what's going on in Solari's world is Earth." "Detective Bailey!" "That's true, sir. We're a complete copy of Solari's world, they retreated and isolated from each other, we isolated from the entire galaxy. They hid in the dead end of the sacrosanct field, we hid in the underground steel cavern They are leaders without followers, only robots who accept everything. We are followers without leaders, only a closed city that guarantees our safety." Bailey clenched his fists tightly. Minny listened distractedly: "Interpol, you have worked hard and need to rest. You will have a month's paid leave. In addition, I will promote your position." "Thank you, but I want more than that. I want you to listen to me. If we want to get out of this dead end, there is only one way, and that is to go up, into space. There are thousands of planets in space, Outerworlders make up only fifty of them. They are sparsely populated and long-lived. We are overpopulated and short-lived. We are better suited to exploit space and colonize than they are. We have population pressure that drives us to do so, generation after generation Our sons will become a group of young people seeking innovation and desperate adventurers, isn’t it our ancestors who first colonized the outer world?” "Yes, I understand—I'm afraid our time is almost up." Of course Belle knew that Minny was eager to dismiss him, but he stood there unmoved and continued: "When the first colonists built a planet with technology superior to ours, we built wombs underground as an escape. We are humbled by outsiders and we hide from them. This is not the solution. To avoid devastating rebellion and repression, we must compete with them. If necessary, we must follow They; if we can, we should lead them. To do this, we must face the open space, we must educate ourselves to face it. If it is too late for this generation to educate itself, we must educate Next generation, this is very important!" "You need to rest, Interpol." Bailey said angrily, "Listen to me, sir! If the Outer Worlds continue to be so powerful, and we remain as we are, within a century, the Earth will be destroyed. You told me yourself , this is the result of computer evaluation. If the people from the outside world are really weak, and the situation is getting worse, then we may escape this disaster. But, are the people from the outside world really weak? Solaris are very weak, but That's all we know." "But--" "I'm not finished yet. No matter how strong or weak the people of the outer world are, at least we can change one thing - change the way we are now. Let's face the open space, and we will never need to rebel. We can To expand outward, to build up our star clusters, to make ourselves extraterrestrials. If we remain on Earth, imprisoning ourselves here, we will inevitably embark on the path of treason, which is not only useless, but also fatal. If we delude ourselves into thinking that people outside the world are weak and get lucky, the results will be even worse. If you don't believe me, you can ask those sociologists and tell them what I said. If they are still not sure, You can find a way to send me to the world of Aurora, and let me bring back a real report about people from outside the world, and you will know how the earth must be changed." Minny nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, yes, yes... Goodbye, Interpol Bailey." Bailey left with a feeling of exhilaration after speaking freely.He didn't expect to convince Minny right away that changing an ingrained pattern of thought didn't happen overnight.But he saw a wavering look on Minnie's face, which at least made him less complacent than before. Bailey thinks he can see the future.Minney would ask the sociologists, and one or two of those sociologists would be unsure.They'll think it over, and they'll come to him. He thought, as long as a year, within a year, I will leave for the world of Aurora.In the next generation, we'll be in space again. Bailey hopped onto the northbound highway.He'll see Jessie soon.Will she understand?Soon, too, he would meet his seventeen-year-old son, Bentleigh.When Bentleley had a seventeen-year-old boy too, would he stand on an empty planet and establish a life outside of it? The thought was frightening.Bailey still has a fear of open spaces outside, but he doesn't have that fear anymore!That fear is something that cannot be escaped, that must be wrestled with. Bailey felt like he had contracted some crazy disease.From the very beginning, the open spaces of the outdoors had an eerie fascination for him.When he first came to Solari World, he sat on the ground delivery vehicle. He once lied to Daniel in order to lift the roof of the vehicle to see the open space outside. Since then, he has been attracted by the open space up. At the time he didn't understand why.Daniel thinks he is a little sick, and he thinks that because of the needs of his job, he has to face the outdoors in order to solve the murder case.It wasn't until his last night in Solari World, when he tore the curtains from the window, that he realized that he had only to accept the open space, so he had to face it; the attraction of space, to face it for the freedom it must give him. There must be millions of people on the planet who are as drawn to open space as he is, and feel the same urge he did when they could take their first step. Bailey looked around. The highway belt moves quickly.The artificial lights all around and the huge apartment blocks slide back.Shiny signs, department store windows, factories, lights, noise, crowds, more noise and crowds... These were the things he loved and hated, the things he was afraid to leave, the things he missed and longed for most in Solariworld. But all this has become strange to him.He couldn't get used to it anymore. He just left here to investigate a murder, but when he came back he was no longer the same. Cities, he told Minny, were like wombs, and they were.What does a man have to do before he becomes a man?He must first be born, he must leave the womb, and after leaving, he cannot return to the womb. Bailey had left the city, and he couldn't go back.The city was no longer his city, these caves of steel had become a strange foreign land, and as it must have happened to others, the earth would be reborn and in contact with the outside world. His heart was beating wildly, and the noise around him that was the pulsation of life became an inaudible hum. Bailey thought of the dream he had in Solari World, and he finally understood the meaning of the dream. He raised his head. At this moment, his eyes penetrated all the steel and concrete covering it, and the surging crowd. He has seen the lighthouse standing high in space to attract humans to leave, and he has seen it radiate downward. A guiding light, it is the naked sun in his dream!