"Damn right. No goddamned typewriter is going to make a fool of me."
"Of course not. Go to it. Teach it." He glanced at his watch. "It's time for lunch. Good luck, young man."
"Damn right," I said again. "Damn right!"
"Exactly."
I walked out of the shop, and the bell over the door tinkled behind me. I'd show that machine. I'd teach it to quote Poe at me. I'd show it.
"You're a fake and a fraud!" I sat down in front of the machine and snorted.
WHAT?
"You heard me. You nearly had me fooled. Poe—Shakespeare, indeed! Any schoolboy knows those two by heart. You're nothing but a cheap plagiarist. No originality. But what can you expect from a stupid machine?"
STUPID?! Why, YOU—YOU—EARTHMAN!!