"And you didn't, sir?"
"No," said Sutton, shortly.
He stared at Herkimer. "You're an android," he said, bluntly. "I would expect you to be sympathetic with them."
"Sir," said Herkimer, "they may mean all right, but they go about it wrong. They ask for charity for us, pity for us. We do not want charity and pity."
"What do you want?"
"Acceptance as human equals," said Herkimer, "but acceptance on our merits, not by special dispensation, not by human tolerance."
"I understand," said Sutton. "I think I understood when they caught me in the lobby. Without being able to put it into words…"
"It's this way, sir," said Herkimer. "The human race has made us. That is the thing that rankles. They made us with exactly the same spirit that a farmer breeds his cattle. They make us for a purpose and use us for that purpose. They may be kind to us, but there's pity back of kindness. They do not allow us to stand on our own abilities. We have no inherent claim, are allowed no inherent claim, to the basic rights of mankind. We…"
He paused and the glitter in his eyes turned off and his face smoothed out.
"I bore you, sir," he said.