"A mate," she said. "You destroyed my mate in the first Soviet attack. You must give me a mate."
Prime thought that one over. "But then there would be children," he objected, dimly aware that somehow his recent resolve was being subverted.
"Of course," she said. "Many of them. All the more to worship you. And when my mate and I die, we will leave others behind to continue our devotion to you."
"Well, I don't know," Prime said, but there was no longer any doubt in the female's mind—nor in my own.
After all he had endured for the sake of vengeance, Prime was prepared to produce a mate for this female and begin the whole silly business all over again!
At this point I withdrew.
As you can see, this instinct for survival or self-preservation is a fabulously potent factor, and if man is ever allowed loose in the universe it is difficult to foresee where it might end.
In my opinion we are hardly justified in continuing the Life-Charter to the crystalline carbon element in this galaxy. Regardless of Prime's pseudo-brilliance of bio-chemical creation, never in all my travels have I encountered such an egotistical, futile, fickle-minded chucklehead (see chart for equivalent). End of report.