"I don't know. Twenty . . . twenty-two?"

"Well, suppose they do live three or four centuries "Hari. That's ridiculous."

"I'm saying suppose. In mathematics, we say 'suppose' all the time and see if we can end up with something patently untrue or selfcontradictory. An extended life span would almost surely mean an extended period of development. They might seem in their early twenties and actually be in their sixties."

"You can try asking them how old they are."

"We can assume they'd lie."

"Look up their birth certificates."

Seldon smiled wryly. "I'll bet you anything you like-a roll in the hay, if you're willing-that they'll claim they don't keep records or that, if they do, they will insist those records are closed to tribespeople."

"No bet, " said Dors. "And if that's true, then it's useless trying to suppose anything about their age."

"Oh no. Think of it this way. If the Mycogenians are living extended life spans that are four or five times that of ordinary human beings, they can't very well give birth to very many children without expanding their population tremendously. You remember that Sunmaster said something about not having the population expand and bit off his remarks angrily at that time."

Dors said, "What are you getting at?"

"When I was with Raindrop Forty-Three, I saw no children."

"On the microfarms?"

'Yes.'

"Did you expect children there? I was with Raindrop Forty-Five in the shops and on the residential levels and I assure you I saw a number of children of all ages, including infants. Quite a few of them."

"Ah." Seldon looked chagrined. "Then that would mean they can't be enjoying extended life spans."

Dors said, "By your line of argument, I should say definitely not. Did you really think they did?"

"No, not really. But then you can't close your mind either and make assumptions without testing them one way or another."

"You can waste a lot of time that way too, if you stop to chew away at things that are ridiculous on the face of it."

"Some things that seem ridiculous on the face of it aren't. That's all. Which reminds me. You're the historian. In your work, have you ever come across objects or phenomena called 'robots'?"

"Ah! Now you're switching to another legend and a very popular one. There are any number of worlds that imagine the existence of machines in human form in prehistoric times. These are called 'robots.'

"The tales of robots probably originate from one master legend, for the general theme is the same. Robots were devised, then grew in numbers and abilities to the status of the almost superhuman. They threatened humanity and were destroyed. In every case, the destruction took place before the actual reliable historic records available to us today existed. The usual feeling is that the story is a symbolic picture of the risks and dangers of exploring the Galaxy, when human beings expanded outward from the world or worlds that were their original homes. There must always have been the fear of encountering other--and superior-intelligences."

"Perhaps they did at least once and that gave rise to the legend."

"Except that on no human-occupied world has there been any record or trace of any prehuman or nonhuman intelligence."

"But why 'robots'? Does the word have meaning?"

"Not that I know of, but it's the equivalent of the familiar 'automata.' "

"Automata! Well, why don't they say so?"

"Because people do use archaic terms for flavor when they tell an ancient legend. Why do you ask all this, by the way?"

"Because in this ancient Mycogenian book, they talk of robots. And very favorably, by the way. -Listen, Dors, aren't you going out with Raindrop Forty-Five again this afternoon?"

"Supposedly-if she shows up."

"Would you ask her some questions and try to get the answers out of her?"

"I can try. What are the questions?"

"I would like to find out, as tactfully as possible, if there is some structure in Mycogen that is particularly significant, that is tied in with the past, that has a sort of mythic value, that can--"

Dors interrupted, trying not to smile. "I think that what you are trying to ask is whether Mycogen has a temple."

And, inevitably, Seldon looked blank and said, "What's a temple?"

"Another archaic term of uncertain origin. It means all the things you asked about-significance, past, myth. Very well, I'll ask. It's the sort of thing, however, that they might find difficult to speak of. To tribespeople, certainly."

"Nevertheless, do try."

Sacratorium

AURORA- . . . A mythical world, supposedly inhabited in primordial times, during the dawn of interstellar travel. It is thought by some to he the perhaps equally mythical "world of origin" of humanity and to be another name for "Earth." The people of the Mycogen (q.v.) Sector of ancient Trantor reportedly held themselves to be descended from the inhabitants of Aurora and made that tenet central to their system of beliefs, concerning which almost nothing else is known . . .

ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA

50.

The two Raindrops arrived at midmorning. Raindrop Forty-Five seemed as cheerful as ever, but Raindrop Forty-Three paused just inside the door, looking drawn and circumspect. She kept her eyes down and did not as much as glance at Seldon.

Seldon looked uncertain and gestured to Dors, who said in a cheerful businesslike tone of voice, "One moment, Sisters. I must give instructions to my man or he won't know what to do with himself today."

They moved into the bathroom and Dors whispered, "Is something wrong?"

"Yes. Raindrop Forty-Three is obviously shattered. Please tell her that I will return the Book as soon as possible."

Dors favored Seldon with a long surprised look. "Hari, " she said, "you're a sweet, caring person, but you haven't the good sense of an amoeba. If I as much as mention the Book to the poor woman, she'll be certain that you told me all about what happened yesterday and then she'll really be shattered. The only hope is to treat her exactly as I would ordinarily."

Seldon nodded his head and said dispiritedly, "I suppose you're right."

Dors returned in time for dinner and found Seldon on his cot, still leafing through the Book, but with intensified impatience.

He looked up with a scowl and said, "If we're going to be staying here any length of time, we're going to need a communication device of some sort between us. I had no idea when you'd get back and I was a little concerned."

"Well, here I am, " she said, removing her skincap gingerly and looking at it with more than a little distaste. "I'm really pleased at your concern. I rather thought you'd be so lost in the Book, you wouldn't even realize I was gone."

Seldon snorted.

Dors said, "As for communications devices, I doubt that they are easy to come by in Mycogen. It would mean easing communication with tribespeople outside and I suspect the leaders of Mycogen are bound and determined to cut down on any possible interaction with the great beyond."

"Yes, " said Seldon, tossing the Book to one side, "I would expect that from what I see in the Book. Did you find out about the whatever you called it . . . the temple?"

"Yes, " she said, removing her eyebrow patches. "It exists. There are a number of them over the area of the sector, but there's a central building that seems to be the important one. -Would you believe that one woman noticed my eyelashes and told me that I shouldn't let myself be seen in public? I have a feeling she intended to report me for indecent exposure."

"Never mind that, " said Seldon impatiently. "Do you know where the central temple is located?"

"I have directions, but Raindrop Forty-Five warned me that women were not allowed inside except on special occasions, none of which are coming up soon. It's called the Sacratorium."

"The what."

"The Sacratorium."

"What an ugly word. What does it mean?"

Dors shook her head. "It's new to me. And neither Raindrop knew what it meant either. To them, Sacratorium isn't what the building is called, it's what it is. Asking them why they called it that probably sounded like asking them why a wall is called a wall."

"Is there anything about it they do know?"

"Of course, Hari. They know what it's for. It's a place that's devoted to something other than the life here in Mycogen. It's devoted to another world, a former and better one."

"The world they once lived on, you mean?"

"Exactly. Raindrop Forty-Five all but said so, but not quite. She couldn't bring herself to say the word."

"Aurora?"

"That's the word, but I suspect that if you were to say it out loud to a group of Mycogenians, they would be shocked and horrified. Raindrop Forty-Five, when she said, 'The Sacratorium is dedicated to-', stopped at that point and carefully wrote out the letters one by one with her finger on the palm of her hand. And she blushed, as though she was doing something obscene."

"Strange, " said Seldon. "If the Book is an accurate guide, Aurora is their dearest memory, their chief point of unification, the center about which everything in Mycogen revolves. Why should its mention be considered obscene? -Are you sure you didn't misinterpret what the Sister meant?"

"I'm positive. And perhaps it's no mystery. Too much talk about it would get to tribespeople. The best way of keeping it secret unto themselves is to make its very mention taboo."

"Taboo?"

"A specialized anthropological term. It's a reference to serious and effective social pressure forbidding some sort of action. The fact that women are not allowed in the Sacratorium probably has the force of a taboo. I'm sure that a Sister would be horrified if it was suggested that she invade its precincts."

"Are the directions you have good enough for me to get to the Sacratorium on my own?"

"In the first place, Hari, you're not going alone. I'm going with you. I thought we had discussed the matter and that I had made it clear that I cannot protect you at long distance-not from sleet storms and not from feral women. In the second place, it's impractical to think of walking there. Mycogen may be a small sector, as sectors go, but it simply isn't that small."

"An Expressway, then."

"There are no Expressways passing through Mycogenian territory. It would make contact between Mycogenians and tribespeople too easy. Still, there are public conveyances of the kind that are found on less developed planets. In fact, that's what Mycogen is, a piece of an undeveloped planet, embedded like a splinter in the body of Trantor, which is otherwise a patchwork of developed societies. --and Hari, finish with the Book as soon as possible. It's apparent that Rainbow Forty-Three is in trouble as long as you have it and so will we be if they find out."

"Do you mean a tribesperson reading it is taboo?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Well, it would be no great loss to give it back. I should say that 95 percent of it is incredibly dull; endless in-fighting among political groups, endless justification of policies whose wisdom I cannot possibly judge, endless homilies on ethical matters which, even when enlightened, and they usually aren't, are couched with such infuriating self-righteousness as to almost enforce violation."

"You sound as though I would be doing you a great favor it I took the thing away from you."

"Except that there's always the other 5 percent that discusses the never-to-be-mentioned Aurora. I keep thinking that there may be something there and that it may be helpful to me. That's why I wanted to know about the Sacratorium.

"Do you hope to find support for the Book's concept of Aurora in the Sacratorium?"

"In a way. And I'm also terribly caught up in what the Book has to say about automata, or robots, to use their term. I find myself attracted to the concept."

"Surely, you don't take it seriously?"

"Almost. If you accept some passages of the Book literally, then there is an implication that some robots were in human shape."

"Naturally. If you're going to construct a simulacrum of a human being, you will make it look like a human being."

"Yes, simulacrum means 'likeness, ' but a likeness can be crude indeed. An artist can draw a stick figure and you might know he is representing a human being and recognize it. A circle for the head, a stalk for the body, and four bent lines for arms and legs and you have it. But I mean robots that really look like a human being, in every detail."

"Ridiculous, Hari. Imagine the time it would take to fashion the metal of the body into perfect proportions, with the smooth curve of underlying muscles."

"Who said 'metal, ' Dors? The impression I got is that such robots were organic or pseudo-organic, that they were covered with skin, that you could not easily draw a distinction between them and human beings in any way."

"Does the Book say that?"

"Not in so many words. The inference, however--"

"Is your inference, Hari. You can't take it seriously."

"Let me try. I find four things that I can deduce from what the Book says about robots--and I followed up every reference the index gave. First, as I say, they--or some of them-exactly resembled human beings; second, they had very extended life spans-if you want to call it that."

"Better say 'effectiveness, ' " said Dors, "or you'll begin thinking of them as human altogether."

"Third, " said Seldon, ignoring her, "that some--or, at any rate, at least one-continues to live on to this day."