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the realm of confessed and condemned felons, I am with you. Do nottry to evade your fate. Rest.
Surrender your will to the necessities of reality. I will provide. Rest and sleep. Sleep."
The taped voice was supposed to be hypnotic, but hot anger kept THX going.
"You let this happen to me," he shouted into the nothingness. "I was your faithful follower and you
led me into this. You let them do this to me. And to her."
OMM's taped voice serenely ignored his words. "Even here, in the realm. . . Rest. . . Surrender.
. . Rest and sleep."
When he finally did sleep, his dreams were filled with OMM's voice, but now it was a fierce
demanding voice telling him:
"Thou hast sinned greatly and must suffer for it. The masses will not rest until you have payed for
your sins."
And he saw himself back at his job in the assembly bay, standing on aching rubbery legs, hands
trembling as he worked the remote manipulators. But inside the assembly area, on the other side of the
leaded window, there was not a robot. LUH lay there, her body open and shining metal organs gleaming
in the overhead lights. And THX saw that he wasn't assembling her, he was taking her apart.
He awoke screaming.
At his feet were four brown food cubes. His scream choked off as he stared at them. He reached
out and touched them. They were real.
"Even here, I provide," said OMM's lofty voice.
Why?he wondered as he slowly picked up one of the cubes.Why feed a condemned man, a man
they're going to kill?
The answer came easily. "Because they want my body to be in good health when they kill me.
They want my organs."
The food was at his lips when he told himself that truth. Far off in the distance, he saw the
blinking lights again. This tune they remained even when he stared rightat them. Blinking red and blue
lights, going on and off in sequence, like a signal.
His stomach was wrenching, his mouth dry and caked. He held the food cubes before his face, a
brown gritty lump that contained nourishment without taste.
No,he told himself.Starve yourself. Let your body shrivel and die. Don't give them what they
want.
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But his body answered, "If they can bring you food, they can make you eat it. Don't be a fool.
Eat now, or they'll make you eat later. They're not going to let a valuable collection of organs destroy its
usefulness to them."
Be strong,he said.Don't give in to them. Even if they can overpower you, don't go along with
them. Fight!
But it was a losing argument. He held the food cube in his shaking hands for a few moments
longer, then took a bite of it, then wolfed down all four of them.
The blinking signal lights disappeared.
Slowly, his stomach rumbling with unaccustomed full-ness, he got to his feet and resumed
walking.
No voices now, no lights. But far off in the distance he saw something -- a dark blob that grew
and took shape, a human shape, a man, approaching him.
THX quickened his pace. The man was heading straight for him, tall and purposeful. Then THX
saw that it was a chrome robot.
But not a police robot. The same size and model, but this one wore the pastel green uniform of
Mercicontrol.
THX stopped as the robot came up to him.
"Don't you think you've gone far enough?" asked a human voice from the robot's mouth grill.
"No. I want to get out."
"There is no way for you. Why don't you let me lead you back to your compound?" The robot
extended one gloved hand.
THX backed away. "I'm going to find a way out. I'm not going to stay here and wait for you to
kill me."
"Kill you?"
"Consume me. . . it's the same thing."
If a robot could look confused, this one would have.
"Who are you? Identify yourself."
THX glared at the robot's impassive face and said nothing.
"Wait. . . wait. . ." the human voice said. "I have your picture file. . . you're a felon. How did you
get into the hospital area?"
"Hospital area?"
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"You're trespassing. Felon 1138, prefix THX. You belong back in the prison area. You're
trespassing!"
THX laughed. "Then arrest me."
"Don't move. I'm calling the police. They'll pick you up and return you to your proper area."
Still laughing, THX started to walk past the robot.
"I said don't move! You're not allowed here. . ."
Shaking his head, THX answered, "You're crazy -- why should I wait here for the police?"
The robot started walking with him. "Very well, I'll just have to keep you in sight until the police
arrive. You can't get away, you know."
Shrugging, THX asked, "This is a hospital area? Where are the patients?"
"Can't you see. . ." the voice hesitated. "Oh, of course not, the food conditioning. Well, the
patients are here. Most of them in cryosleepers, in stasis."
"What?"
"Never mind. Two police robots are heading toward us. They'll have you in custody in a few
minutes."
THX looked around. In every direction, nothing but white nothingness.
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