"We are habermans in the flesh. We are cut apart, brain and flesh. We are ready to go to the Up and Out. All of us have gone through the Haberman Device."
"We are habermans then?" Vomact's eyes flashed and glittered as he asked the ritual question.
Again the chorused answer was accompanied by a roar of voices heard only by Martel: "Habermans we are, and more, and more. We are the Chosen who are habermans by our own free will. We are the Agents of the Instrumentality of Mankind."
"What must the others say to us?"
"They must say to us, 'You are the bravest of the brave, the most skillful of the skilled. All mankind owes most honor to the Scanner, who unites the Earths of Mankind. Scanners are the protectors of the habermans. They are the judges in the Up-and-Out. They make men live in the place where men need desperately to die. They are the most honored of Mankind, and even the Chiefs of the Instrumentality are delighted to pay them homage!'"
Vomact stood more erect: "What is the secret duty of the Scanner?"
"To keep secret our law, and to destroy the acquirers thereof."
"How to destroy?"
"Twice to the Overload, back and Dead."
"If habermans die, what the duty then?"