Chapter 55 Chapter Forty-Three

Seldon had a restless night.First, Dors declared that she must accompany him to visit the Microbial Farm, and he strongly objected. "The purpose of the whole operation," he said, "was to get her to speak freely, to put her in an unusual situation—to be alone with a male, even a foreign male. Once the custom was broken, it was even more difficult." It is easy to continue to be broken. If you follow, she will talk to you specifically, and I can only pick up leftovers." "What if, because of my absence, something happens to you, like the one on the dome?" "Nothing is going to happen, please! If you want to help me, stay out of it. If you won't, then I'll never have anything to do with you again, I mean it, Dors. It's very hard on me." Important, although I like you more and more, I can't put you in front of it."

She reluctantly agreed, saying only one sentence: "Then, promise me at least you will treat her kindly." Seldon said: "Are you protecting me or her? I assure you, I am not doing it for fun." She was so fierce, and I will never do that again." Thinking of this fight with Dors—their first—kept sleepless for most of the night.To make matters worse - although Raindrop 43 had promised in person, he was still worried that the two sisters might miss their appointment tomorrow morning. They did, however, come as promised.Seldon had just finished a simple breakfast (he was determined not to gain weight from indulging in good food) and put on the suit that fitted him perfectly.He had carefully adjusted that belt to hold it in exactly the right place.

Yudian Sisan's eyes were still a little cold, and she said, "Are you ready, foreign man Seldon? My sister will stay with foreign woman Venabili." Her voice was neither clear nor hoarse, as if she Spent the night stabilizing and mentally practicing how to flirt with a man who isn't a brother. Seldon wondered if she had lost sleep too, and said, "I'm all set." Half an hour later, Raindrop 43 and Hari Seldon began to go down layer by layer.Although it was still daylight, the light was rather dim, dimmer than the rest of Trantor. There seems to be no apparent reason for doing this.Needless to say, the artificial sunlight slowly circling the surface of Trantor did not miss the mycogenous area.But in order to cling to a certain primitive habit, Seldon thought, the Myquians must have done it on purpose.Not long after, Seldon's eyes slowly adjusted to the dark surroundings.

Seldon tried to calmly meet the gazes of passers-by, whether brothers or sisters.He assumed that he would be considered a brother and Raindrop Four-Three his woman, and as long as he didn't make any ostentatious gestures, no one would pay attention to the two of them. It's a pity that Raindrop Four Three doesn't seem to be able to cooperate.The conversations she had with him were only a few words, and the deep voices all came out of her tightly closed mouth.Apparently, being in the company of an ambiguous man—even if only she knew that fact—had completely destroyed her self-confidence.Seldon was pretty sure that if he asked her to relax, it would only make her more uneasy. (Seldon wondered how she would react if she met an acquaintance. She seemed a little relieved until they came to the lower velvets, where there were fewer passers-by.)

Instead of elevators, they ride a pair of moving stepped ramps, one of which goes up and the other goes down.Raindrop Four Three called it an "escalator," and Seldon wasn't sure if he heard it right, but he had never heard that name before. They descended layer by layer, but Seldon's anxiety rose bit by bit.Most worlds have micro-farms and produce their own variety of micro-crops.When Seldon was in Helicon, he would occasionally go to the micro-farm to buy condiments, and every time he would smell a nauseous stench. The people who work on the microbiological farms don't seem to care. Even when visitors wrinkle their noses, they don't seem to feel it.Yet Seldon had always been particularly sensitive to that smell.He had always suffered this before, and was prepared to suffer the same this time.He tried to comfort himself in his heart: he made such a great sacrifice because he had to find data.But it was no use thinking that way, his stomach was still writhing in anxiety.

When he couldn't remember how many levels he had gone down, and the air still seemed to be quite fresh, he couldn't help but ask, "When will we reach the level of microbiological farms?" "It's here now." Seldon took a deep breath. "It doesn't smell like we've arrived." "Smells? What do you mean?" Yu Dian was very angry, and his voice suddenly became much louder. "In my experience, microbiological farms always have a rotten smell. You know, that comes from bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and the manure that saprophytic plants usually need."

"In your experience?" Her voice dropped. "Where is that?" "On my home planet." The sister turned her face into an expression of extreme disgust: "Your compatriots prefer to eat scumbags?" Seldon had never heard that term before, but based on her expression and tone, he could also understand what it meant. "When it's on the table, you know, it doesn't taste like that anymore," he said. "There's never been that smell here, and our biotechnologists have developed the perfect strain. The algae grow in the purest light and in the most balanced electrolytic solution possible, and the nutrients in the saprophytes are finely tuned organic substances. These formulas And the recipe is something no outsider will know—come on, here we are. You can smell it as much as you can, and you won't smell anything. The whole galaxy welcomes our food, and I heard that the emperor will never eat anything else. That’s one of the reasons. But if you ask me, I’d say that foreigners don’t deserve to eat such good food, even if he calls himself emperor.”

There was a tinge of anger in her words, which seemed to be directed at Seldon.Then, as if she was afraid that he would not hear it, she added: "Or, even if he calls himself a distinguished guest." They came to a narrow corridor flanked by large, heavy glass tanks, a cloudy, dark green solution full of swirling algae, swayed by rising air bubbles.He judged that it must be full of carbon dioxide. A strong rosy light fell on these glass tanks.This light was much stronger than the lighting in the corridor, he noted thoughtfully. "Of course," she said, "these algae grow best on the red end of the spectrum."

"I think," said Seldon, "everything is automated." She shrugged, but didn't answer. "There are not many brothers and sisters around here," Seldon said without hesitation. "Even so, there is work to be done, whether you can see it or not. The details are not for you, don't waste your time asking about these things." "Wait a minute, don't be mad at me. I don't expect you to reveal any state secrets. Come on, dear." (He slips away accidentally.) Just when she seemed to be leaving in a hurry, he grabbed her arm just in time.She stayed where she was, but he felt her trembling slightly and let go in a moment of embarrassment.

"It's just that everything seems automatic to me," he said. "Look at it any way you like, but there's still room for brains and judgment here. Every brother and sister has worked here at some point in their lives, and some still do it full-time." She was more comfortable talking now, but he was embarrassed again by noticing her left hand gliding to her right arm, caressing the spot he had just grabbed, as if he had stabbed her once. "They're endless kilometers," she said, "but if we turn a corner here, you can see a fungal field." They move on.Seldon noticed how clean everything was, even the glass was crystal clear.The tiled floor seemed wet, but when he stooped to touch it, he realized it wasn't.And the floor wasn't slippery—unless his sandals had slippery soles (he sticks his big toes out, which is a socially sanctioned behavior in Myrtusson).

There is one thing that Raindrop Four Three did say right.From time to time a brother or sister can be seen working in silence, reading gauges and adjusting controls, while others are just doing unskilled tasks like wiping down equipment—everyone is paying full attention. Seldon was careful not to ask what they were doing, he didn't want the sister to feel ashamed that she didn't know the answer; he didn't want her to lose her temper for having to remind him not to ask about things he shouldn't know. They passed through a door that swayed slightly, and Seldon suddenly caught a hint of the scent he remembered.He looked at Raindrop 43, but she didn't seem to notice, and he got used to it quickly. The character of the light changes almost instantaneously.The color of the rose and the feeling of brightness all disappeared. Except for the spotlight lighting of various equipment, the surroundings seemed to be shrouded in a dim yellow light.In every spot of light there seemed to be a brother or sister, some wearing pearly headbands.Not far away, Seldon saw tiny flashes of light moving irregularly. As the two walked side by side, he glanced sideways at her, the only angle he could see her from. At other times, he couldn't get rid of her protruding bald head, browless eyes, and plain face.They mask her individuality and seem to render her invisible.However, from this angle, he can see something else: nose, chin, full lips, well-proportioned, beautiful, the dim light seems to make the big desert less conspicuous and dazzling. It occurred to him in amazement that if she had grown her hair and trimmed it well, she might be a great beauty. Then it occurred to him that she couldn't grow her hair, that she was doomed to be bald all her life. why?Why did they have to make her like this?The Sun Lord said it was to make Maiqu students remember that they were Maiqu students for the rest of their lives.Why is this so important that people have to accept the curse of hair removal as a status symbol and mark? Then, because he was used to thinking about problems from both sides, he thought again: custom is second nature, and if the habit of baldness is deeply ingrained, then the hair will look weird and horrible, and it will make people feel disgusted and repulsive.He himself shaves every morning to remove his facial hair completely, leaving even a little stubble uncomfortable.But he doesn't think his face is bald, or in any way unnatural.Of course, he could grow facial hair whenever he wanted, but he just doesn't want to. He knew there were worlds where men never shaved, and there were even worlds where men didn't trim their facial hair at all but let it grow.What would they say if they saw their own bald face, chin, cheeks, and lips without any hair? As he thought, he followed Raindrop Sisan forward.There seems to be no end to the road.Every once in a while she would take his elbow to guide him: it seemed to him that she was getting used to it, because she was no longer so eager to withdraw her hand, and sometimes it lasted almost a whole day. minute. She said, "Here! Come here!" "What is that?" Seldon asked. In front of them was a small plate filled with small spheres, each about two centimeters in diameter.There is a brother tending this area, and it was he who put the plate here just now.At this moment he raised his head, with a kindly questioning expression. Raindrop Four-Three whispered to Seldon, "Ask him for some." Seldon knew she couldn't initiate a conversation with a brother unless he spoke first.So he said hesitantly, "Can we have some, bro... bro?" "Take one, brother." The other party replied enthusiastically. Seldon picked up one and was about to hand it to Raindrop Four-Three, but found that she had already interpreted the other's words as an invitation to her, and had already stretched out her hand to grab two handfuls. This sphere feels smooth and velvety.After they left the vat, and the brother who tended the area, Seldon said to Raindrop Four-Three, "Are these edible?" He lifted the orb and brought it cautiously to the tip of his nose. "They only taste," she said suddenly. "What exactly are they?" "Food, unexpensive food. When sold to the outside market, it will be seasoned in various ways, but in Maiqusheng, we eat it directly-the only way." She put one in her mouth and said, "I'll never get tired of eating it." Seldon put the orb in his hand into his mouth, feeling it melt quickly.For a moment, there was a stream of fluid in his mouth, and then it slid down his throat almost automatically. He paused, rather surprised.There was a little sweetness to it, and even a fainter bitterness later on, but the main feeling he couldn't name. "Can I have another one?" he said. "Five or six more," Yudiansi said while handing them over. "None of them have the same taste, and they only have taste, and they don't contain calories at all." She was right.He tried to keep this delicacy in his mouth for a while; tried to lick it carefully; tried to take only a small bite.However, no matter how careful he is, it can't help but lick it lightly; and as long as it bites off a little bit, the rest will disappear immediately for no reason.The taste of each sphere is indescribable, and it is not the same as the previous one. "The only problem is," said the sister cheerfully, "sometimes you get a very special taste that you will never forget, but you only get one chance. I had one when I was nine..." Her excited expression suddenly disappeared, "This is a good thing, it makes you appreciate the impermanence of the world." It was a signal, Seldon thought.They wandered aimlessly for a long time, and she had gotten used to him and started talking to him.Now, they must get to the point.It's now!