"And this one for you personally, sir."
"Oh—after the disarming?"
"Yes, sir!"
Norman read the second order and the lines of his mouth tightened suddenly. The note was brief but to the point:
"Comrade Norman Worth will report to the regent at ten o'clock for orders.
"Herman Wolf,
"Regent."
For five minutes after the guards had gone Norman stood in silence staring at this order. It was the first he had ever received in his life except the one from his own father which he had disobeyed.
To be driven into another man's presence to take orders as from a master to a servant was an idea that had never entered his imagination. He had seen such things. He had given orders, but he had never, somehow, counted himself in the class of men who took them.
For the first time he began to realize the meaning of the work he had been doing, and began to see how deftly and unconsciously he had been forging the chains of a system of irresponsible slavery on his fellow men. While the motive which impelled him was one of unselfish love, and he had thought only of their best interest, he saw now in a flash with what crushing cruelty this power could be used.
It all seemed simple enough when he regarded his own will as the centre and source of power. Now that another man had grasped the lever and applied this power, the whole scheme of artificial life which he had created took on a new and darker meaning.