"Wife and I still have it piped in for our anniversary," Mr. Harrison
admitted.
"Good for you! But R-215 is for normal, happily well-balanced young
people who'd probably fall in love without it. R-147 is sure-fire for
emotional opposites."
"Well, we finally got the program piped in, so what do we do now?"
Scholar Ross smiled quietly. "We wait. We get acquainted, because there
is a very high probability that you two families will be united through
the marriage of your children. Then I shall enter a new file in the
Genetics Bureau of the Department of Domestic Tranquility. We shall
watch through the years as your grandchildren grow, and make periodic
checks, and thereby advance mankind's knowledge of genetics."
"Doesn't this sort of master-minding ever give you a God complex?"
asked Mr. Hanford.
"Not at all. Were I God, I'm sure I could arrange things a lot better."
"In what way?"
"By Man's own laws, we are prevented from doing active genetic research
on the human race. We apply what happens to mice and fruit flies
to the human family tree. We've known for centuries how to breed
blue-eyed or brown-eyed people, or, if we wanted, we could make the
race predominantly fat or thin, tall or short. However, our main aim is
not the ultimate purity of any physical characteristic. Our goal is to
produce a stable, happy people by eliminating the lethargic personality
below and the excitable types above."
The scholar thought for a moment, and then, remembering Bertram's error
in forgetting to take his go-pills, said, "But we are blocked by law.
I can prescribe medication and therapy, but I have no power to force
the patient to take the treatment. This is a most difficult problem,
believe me."
"In what way?" asked Mrs. Harrison with some interest.
"The lethargic types are very apt to forget, or to dismiss the
medication or the therapy as too much trouble. The overactive type
is more likely to be water skiing on Lake Superior than sitting and
listening to the tranquilizing strains of prescribed music, and the
medication dumped down the drain instead of taken."
"You do have your problems, don't you?" said Mrs. Hanford
sympathetically.
"Ah, yes. But our greatest problem is the overactive young female.
Young males can be siphoned off in one way or another--work to be done
that, unfortunately, females, can't also do." Scholar Ross smiled at
Mr. and Mrs. Harrison. "So we actually are grateful for the lethargic
types. They provide us with a fine sobering influence upon the--"
The scholar was interrupted by a wordless cry from beyond the French
windows.
* * * * *
The Harrisons, the Hanfords, and Scholar Ross leaped to their feet and
started for the terrace. They did not get all the way to the French
doors, for Gloria Hanford came stamping in. Her eyes were bright, and
she was dusting one palm with the other.
"What--?"