Marmaduke's face grew paler. The commander general eyed his prisoner seriously.
"You know it's a capital offense to take an antidote to the extract?" the commander general asked.
"I'm standing on my Constitutional rights," Marmaduke said. "I want a lawyer."
"I didn't know there was an antidote," the commander general said. "It seems that the antidote probably will be, in your case, a great boon to the universe. Have you got any more of it?"
"I'm still standing on my Constitutional rights," Marmaduke said. "The stuff—and I'm not admitting anything—is a secret."
"You can feel perfectly free to talk," the commander general said. "Nothing you say will go beyond these walls. Furthermore, one difficulty we are up against is that of finding an executioner, even if you were convicted and sentenced to death for manufacturing an antidote to the extract. There's not a human being on earth who would take another man's life, even legally."
"I know," Marmaduke said. "That's why I invented the stuff and took it. Now I'm in the position of a superman. I've got a monopoly on originality, individuality and creativeness in the world. If I revealed my antidote, I'd not have a monopoly."
"We can still put you in jail," the commander general reminded.
"The world would beat a pathway to my cell," Marmaduke replied. "I wouldn't stay in jail long."