Age of anxiety

by Robert Silverberg

Age of Anxiety

By ROBERT SILVERBERG

Illustrated by SCHOENHERR

"Choose!" said the robonurse.
"Choose!" echoed his entire world.
But either choice was impossible!

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Infinity June 1957.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

---

That morning, when Larry awoke, the robonurse was standing at the foot of his bed, smiling benignly. It made no attempt to help him into his housecoat and give him his morning unworry capsule. Instead it waited, poised delicately on its humming treads, making no motion toward him.

"I'm awake," Larry said sourly. "Why aren't you functioning?" He paused, frowning slightly, and added, "And where's my capsule?"

"This morning is different," said the robonurse. "This is your birthday, young man!" It clicked twice, hissed, and rolled forward at last, holding Larry's capsule-box in its grips. The box flew open as the robot approached Larry's bed, and the boy saw, within its gleaming interior, three capsules—one the usual light blue, the other two a harsh green and a bright yellow respectively.

"What's this?"