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.No vehicle moved in the cracked streets; instead, rank weeds had sprouted inevery crevice and spread their sickly effluvium over the macadam.Vicious rats,skulking mongrel hounds, giant aggressive insects scuttled from shelter to hole.Some of the shadows contained vague, dark, ragged figures that might have beenhumans or the descendants of humans; their uncertain forms held a promise of horrorindescribable, and the reality of their faces and bodies more than fulfilled the worstsubstance of that promise.As Buck and the drone advanced warily from their wilderness into this livinghell, the quad exclaimed in his wordlessly eloquent squeal and the computer hungaround his neck flashed in horror. Oh, my word, Theopolis crooned, oh, heavenspreserve us! I knew.that Anarchia would be bad, but this is worse than ever I d evenimagined. Just keep moving, Buck urged huskily.Again Twiki made his squeaking noise. What s he saying? Buck demanded ofTheopolis. You don t want to know, the computer answered. Stop saying I don t want to know.I want to know! Very well, Buck, but don t say I didn t warn you.Twiki says he thinks we rebeing followed.Buck swung around to check on the little drone s suspicions.A darkened,wrecked doorway stood nearby, leading into the hulk of what once had been abuilding of some size.In the murky dusk a group of horrific shadows seemed to duckinto the doorway. Just your imagination, Buck said to the drone. Come on Twiki, let s just keepmoving ahead.The drone squeaked again. Twiki says he doesn t believe you, Theopolis interpreted. Tell him he s a lot smarter than I thought, Buck conceded. But come onanyhow.There s no point in playing target for some half-human bird of prey!With Buck in the lead, they slipped down a side street, found their way into ashadowed opening not unlike the one from which they had been menaced.On thestreet they had deserted, a group of shapes emerged from the building-hulk.Therewere five of them, and for all their indistinction they could all be identified ashuman after a fashion.They hobbled and scuttered down the street after Buck and Twiki and Theopolis,muttering and mumbling horrifying parodies of human speech as they went.44Theopolis somehow sensed their presence. My God! he cried. Shhh! Buck warned.Then, in a whispered undertone, What do you mean, yourGod? Who made you anyhow, somebody down at the canning works? This is no time to discuss theology, Theopolis whispered back to Buck. Oh,my God, this situation is hopeless, absolutely hopeless.Oh, why didn t we stay out inthe countryside where all that was going to happen to us was that we d freeze todeath! We ll be all right, Buck insisted. Don t throw in the sponge now, Theopolis. What sponge? Oh, you always use those strange expressions, Rogers.But I dohave a little cheering news, I think. I could sure use some, Buck sighed. What is it, computer old pal? It isn t you that they re after.Those mutants, I mean. What? Buck asked, astonished. Well, I suppose they could make some use of you. Theopolis murmuredsomething softly to his drone and Twiki raised a metallic arm and prodded Buckappraisingly in the side.The quad squeaked something to the computer. Yes,Theopolis continued, I agree with Twiki.You re still young enough to be tender,Buck.A trifle too muscular to make really choice merchandise, but at least you re notall old and stringy like Dr.Huer would be.He d never be worth a plugged nickel onthe black market.But you d draw a fair price, yes. He flashed his lights for a while. You mean they re cannibals, eh? Only as a sideline, Buck.As I was saying, they re not really interested in you,although if they had occasion to bash your skull in with a rock they wouldn t want tolet you go to waste, that s all.But they re much more interested in Twiki.And Iblush to say this myself. At the expression about blushing, Theopolis lightsglowed an embarrassed crimson. They want you? Buck stared at the little quad and the computer around hisneck. For what? Advice? Now don t be flippant! the computer answered petulantly. The fact is, many ofmy circuits contain precious metals.Gold, iridium, platinum.To me they re preciousbecause I do my thinking with them.But to them, and he emphasized the word witha scornful tone, they re just precious metals that they can sell, or barter for food ortools.Buck nodded and said, Ah, hah! As for Twiki, Dr.Theopolis went on, I hate to tell you the purposes theywould have for him.Poor creature.You know, quads don t have anywhere near thegrade of computer-brain that we Counsellors have.They re designed to be docilelittle servants, and they re very good at that, but that doesn t mean that they re justthings.Twiki squealed. No, of course you re not just a thing, Theopolis said soothingly. You have amind and you have your feelings, Twiki, as I was just explaining to Buck here.Everyone knows that, Twiki.The quad squealed again, a more mollified sound than his previous complainingtone.45 And if those mutants should ever get hold of poor Twiki, Theopolis rambledon.Suddenly he stopped.He d become so engrossed in his own monolog and in thequad s reactions to it that he had failed to notice when Buck disappeared.Theopolis murmured frantically to Twiki.The drone scuttered out of theirprotective doorway, into the middle of the street, twisting and scanning the street,using his mechanical joints to direct his optical sensing devices one way and thenanother, until he located Buck at last.Twiki.gave a squeal of relief.Buck was only a moderate distance away fromthem, standing before a half-demolished building and staring at the lettering carvedinto its concrete. How do you like that, Theopolis grumbled, I confide our predicament to theman-from-the-past, and instead of trying to help us escape he drops us like a hotrock.Twiki squealed indignantly in agreement. Well, you re absolutely right, my dear drone, Theopolis resumed. He got usinto this, not we him.And he ll just have to devise a way of getting us out of it.With Dr.Theopolis still hanging around his neck, Twiki scuttered across theshattered pavement after Buck.From behind the astronaut, the computer and thedrone could see the lettering on the building that Buck was staring at.It was simply an old street marker, designed to let people know the name of thethoroughfare that ran in front of the building.It said, State Street.Twiki moved around in front of Buck and looked up at the man.From around thedrone s neck, the computer-brain spoke. I don t mean to impugn your strategy,Buck& but standing in the middle of the street is hardly wise under thecircumstances, do you think?As if he hadn t heard a syllable of the computer s words, Buck strode distractedlyaround the corner of the building to look at it and the cross-street from another angle.Curiously, Twiki and Dr.Theopolis followed.More to himself than to the others, Buck mumbled, I can t believe it
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