Blair smiled a little. "I think you could explain it all logically enough, if you really wanted to. But, actually, I don't blame you for not wanting to give a trick like that away."
"This is no trick, and it is not what you understand as logical," said Naito, shaking his head stubbornly. "I know that you must have logic to understand; you crave the drug of logic. You want everything labeled, and explained in terms of cause and effect. You cannot conceive that cause and effect may be one—or indeed exist independently. And do you see what this way of thinking has led to?"
"What has it led to?" Blair tried to be patient.
"You have developed a huge, powerful monstrous science of cause and effect. You fly at vast speeds, you build huge edifices, you change the face of the earth with dams and canals, you will soon no doubt escape the gravity of the earth itself and reach outer space, and you are quite capable of making an explosion big enough to destroy the earth itself. It is awesome. You, indeed, are awed by the monster you've created. Now you begin to worship it. Now the scientific method becomes the only method for anything. Now you cannot understand, nor can you tolerate anything that does not show logic and exhibit a clear pattern of cause and effect."
"I think I'd better get along and catch that train, now," said Blair. "Would you mind producing the young lady again? I'd like to say good-bye to her."
"You haven't heard all of my story yet."
"I think I've heard enough."
Naito nodded at the spot where the girl had apparently disappeared. "Watch," he said. Presently a blur came into sight, and as its velocity decreased he saw that it was the girl, spinning now in the opposite direction. He took more pictures. It was not long before she stood there, no longer moving, and seemingly calm and not exhausted. She opened her eyes, saw Blair, and smiled.
"I still say it's a great trick," said Blair.
"It's only the beginning," said Naito. "We can do these few cheap tricks you've seen, but they're only exercises in control. We are still learning. Some day we—or more likely our descendants—will be able to control most of the entropy of the universe. By willing it, we will be able to halt the explosion of a star, change the orbit of the moon, reverse the tides. Then, more important, we can freeze a soldier's bullet in his rifle before he fires it, and we can keep any nuclear bomb ever from exploding. Then we can make order. Then we can properly control mankind itself, and give it the order it has sought so long. Now you know why I am here, and what I am trying to do."