Chapter 23 Chapter Sixteen

The room in which Hari Seldon was now was larger than Hummin's residence in the Imperial Quarter.It was a single bedroom, with one corner serving as a bathroom, but no cooking or eating facilities.There were no windows on all sides, but a grid-covered extractor fan mounted on the roof made a constant but slight noise. With a little disappointment, Seldon looked around. Hummin guessed what Seldon was thinking with his usual confidence. "Just staying here temporarily tonight, Seldon. Someone will come tomorrow morning and place you in the university, and you will be more comfortable then."

"How do you know, Hummin?" "I'll make arrangements. I know a person or two here." He sneered slightly. "And I helped them. I can ask them to return me a favor or two. Now, let's talk about the details." He stared intently at Seldon, and said again, "The luggage you left in the hotel room is almost lost. Is there anything irreparable in it?" "Nothing really irreparable. There are some personal items that I cherish because of their souvenir value, but they are lost. Also, some notes related to my thesis, some calculations, and the thesis."

"Your dissertation is now public material, and one day it will be deemed dangerous heresy, and it will be banned from circulation-this is a possibility. Even so, I will always have a way to get a copy. I absolutely Sure. Anyway, you can re-deduce it, can't you?" "Okay, so I'd say there's nothing really irreparable. Besides, I've lost nearly a thousand credits, some books, clothes, and travel tickets back to Helicon, stuff like that." "Nothing is a problem. I will use my name to help you get a magnetic credit card and credit it to my account, so that you can cover your general expenses."

"You are too generous, I can't accept it." "It is not generous at all, because I am doing this in the hope of saving the empire, you have to accept it anyway." "But how much can you afford, Hummin? Even if I take it reluctantly, I must have a bad conscience." "I can afford your basic necessities, food, shelter, and any reasonable pleasures. Of course, I don't want you trying to buy a college gym, or generously donating a million credits." "You don't have to worry, but my name leaves a record..." "That's all right, the Imperial Government must never exercise any security control over the University or its members. There is absolute freedom here, and anything and everything can be said and said."

"What if there is a violent crime?" "Then the school will deal with it, in a reasonable and prudent way - there is virtually no violent crime. Both students and staff value their freedom and understand its proportions. Excessive noise is the beginning of riots and bloodshed, and the government may feel entitled to break an unwritten agreement and send troops onto the campus. No one wants that to happen, not even the government, so it maintains a delicate balance. In other words, Demmerzier himself cannot You are taken from this university, unless there is a serious incident in the university, which has never happened in at least a century and a half. Conversely, if you are lured out of the campus by professional students..."

"Are there any vocational students?" "How can I be sure? Maybe. Any ordinary person can be threatened, engineered, or simply bought to serve Demerzel or someone else. So I must emphasize one point: theoretically you It's safe anyway. But no one is absolutely safe, and you have to take care of yourself. However, despite my warning, I don't want you to have a daunting life. On the whole, it's better than if you go back to Helicon or any world other than Trantor, you're much safer here." "I hope so," Seldon said gloomily. "I know it is," said Hummin, "otherwise I would have felt unwise to leave you."

"Leave me?" Seldon looked up suddenly. "You can't. You know the world. I don't." "You will be with other people who know the world. In fact, they know it better than I do. As for myself, I must go. I have been with you all day, and I must take care of my own life. I must not attract too much attention myself, and you should remember that I have the same security concerns as you." Seldon couldn't help blushing: "You're right. I can't expect you to go through fire and water for me. I hope it doesn't ruin you now." Hummin said in a nonchalant tone, "Who knows? We live in dangerous times. You only have to remember one thing, who can make safe times—if not for us, then for us." Hereafter—that person is you. Let that idea be your driving force, Seldon."