"Your attention, please," said a voice at his shoulder. He recoiled, noticing for the first time a small yellow mechanoid rolling silently beside him. Its face screen watched him steadily.
"May I remind you that this is no longer the human zone? I can whistle an autocar for you, if you wish."
Sethos felt a twinge of terror as he said, "No, thank you," and continued to walk.
Now it will begin, he thought. They'll be on me every block. Turn back. No, don't give up now. What can I lose? They won't hurt me—it's just a matter of regulation. They can't do anything to me for disobedience.
Looking up, he saw stars between the clouds. For a moment he could imagine that perhaps, once upon a time, men must have longed to reach out in some way across the tremendous distance to the stars. It was a strange sensation, this longing for something obviously unattainable.
"Hello," said another voice. "Are you lost?"
Sethos glanced at the new figure that accompanied him. It was human in shape, but the fact that it skated on rollers betrayed its nature.
"No. I'm ... just walking." His voice sounded small and guilty in the strange city.
"I see. For exercise?"
"No—I mean, not exactly. Well, I wanted to see what things were like outside our zone."