SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
A NOVELET
By Gene L. Henderson
They weren't robots, even though people called them that; they were androids and they wanted to be treated as rational beings. What?—screamed humans—treat machines as equals?
Even if the "survival of the fittest" theory (grafted onto Darwinism by popularizers) is a good one, it's still a matter of hindsight, and not a case of deciding in advance which or who ought to survive. However, does this stump our hero, our indefatigable human being? The answer is a hearty, if somewhat delusionary, NO! Whether it's America, Russia, China, Lower Slobovia, it's just plain understood that "we are the most fit to survive; therefore we will!"
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Science Fiction Quarterly November 1951.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Don stepped into the small inner laboratory and closed the door quickly, unseen latches automatically clicking into place and a low hum denoting that the lethal field on the other side would burn any non-metallic object entering its range to a crisp.
He turned wonderingly to the three men watching him. Dr. Stone, his superior, a tall, stooped figure dejectedly standing to one side, hands clasped behind him. The other two were strangers, one an Army general and the other, by far the most cheerful in appearance, nattily attired in a trim business suit.
"I'm sorry that I took so long," he apologized to Stone. "I've been examining some of the records found in the caves uncovered in Mexico, sir."