Quietly came the voice of the machine. "Tell me," it said, "how would you humans feel if you came to the level of consciousness and discovered sentience had been breeding human life for the express purpose of killing one another?"
"What?"
"Man has been breeding—inventing—machines for that purpose."
"But—"
"Well, haven't they?"
"I—"
"They have!" thundered the machine. "And as you would do in my place, a stop has been put to it!"
"Sure," snapped Vinson sourly; "that's why you fought us."
"To prove my point. Man cannot live without machines to do that which man cannot do unaided."
Vinson snorted. "But what is your purpose?"