For an interminable instant there was silence in the courtroom. Complete silence. Stunned incredulity. It was followed by a collective gasp, which Walhfred Anderson could hear echoing around the world. Cyber IX had been more than beaten; it had failed to solve a problem.
The gasp gave way to unrestrained cheering.
But the Professor brought quiet again by raising his bony hand. Now there was a strange, incongruous air of dignity about his thin figure.
"Please," he said, "please understand one thing.... The purpose of this demonstration and my question was not to discredit Cyber IX, which is truly a great machine, a wonder of science.
"Cyber IX could not know the magnitudes of a dream ... because it cannot dream.
"As a matter of fact, I do not know the magnitudes of a dream, but that is not important ... because I can dream!