Doctor Gess Fayle, Lyad reported, had died very shortly after leaving the Manon System. And with him had died every man on board the U-League's transport ship. It might be simplest, she went on, to relate the first series of events from the plasmoid's point of view.
"Point of view?" Professor Mantelish interrupted. "The plasmoid has awareness then?"
"Oh, yes. That one does."
"Self-awareness?"
"Definitely."
"Oho! But then—"
"Professor," Trigger interrupted politely in turn, "may I get you a drink?"
He glared at her, growled, then grinned. "I'll shut up," he said. Lyad went on.
Doctor Fayle had resumed experimentation with the 112-113 unit almost as soon as he was alone with it; and one of the first things he did was to detach the small 113 section from the main one. The point Doctor Fayle hadn't adequately considered when he took this step was that 113's function appeared to be that of a restraining, limiting or counteracting device on its vastly larger partner. The Old Galactics obviously had been aware of dangerous potentialities in their more advanced creations, and had used this means of regulating them. That the method was reliable was indicated by the fact that, in the thirty thousand years since the Old Galactics had vanished, plasmoid 112 had remained restricted to the operations required for the maintenance of Harvest Moon.
But it hadn't liked being restricted.