"Of course," answered Carrowick, "the situation has been so, for
perhaps two hundred years--we've come to take it for what it is."
"I'll wager that the Poors don't take it quite as calmly as you do.
Don't tell me that they're satisfied with their position."
"I wouldn't say they were satisfied," was the answer, "but they know no
other way of life, and don't have much choice in the matter."
Kramvit was finding it difficult to picture the situation. "Well, as
I've told you," he said, "we have T.V. on Six, but we've been stressing
variety and drama shows. Don't you have any big V.C. stars, like
comedians or singers here?"
"No, we don't. I've never seen any variety or drama shows on V.C."
"I'm surprised. You see, we have been using all the air time, or most
of it, for entertainment purposes. Commercially, T.V. is just a baby
with us. We've been using it much longer than you have, technically,
but not commercially. I'd say that we've had sponsored shows for about
fourteen years."
"Oh, then it is a comparatively new thing with you," said Carrowick.
"We've had commercial Vidcope for over five hundred years."
Kramvit shook his head. "I still can't see why your Poors have to live
in such poverty. Don't they get paid on their jobs?"
"Why, sure they do," answered Carrowick, "but their rate of pay is
not particularly high. You see, only the Poors do all the menial and
service work; aside from high service positions like government work,
of course. There are so many Poors and so few jobs for them, that those
that work are little better off than those that don't."
"I see," said Kramvit, "and is there no protection for these
unemployed? I mean Social Security or unemployment insurance, which I
know you did have a long time ago."
"No, there isn't. We had to stop that because if we kept it up we'd
have no workers at all," replied Carrowick. "Believe me, Marryl, I
don't particularly like the situation. We've tried integration in one
or two sections, but only riots resulted. I think that eventually we'll
eliminate some of the prejudices, but it can't be pushed or hurried.
It'll take many years to do it. I'm sure I won't live to see it gone
completely."
"And," asked Kramvit, "have _you_ been a winner on a Qua show?"
"Oh, no. I'm not one of those nouveau riche; my great grandfather won
eight million dollars, tax free, when he was just a boy. That took care
of us, and will take care of us from here on in."
"I see," said Kramvit. "Vincent, I want to visit some of these people
in their homes. Will you take me?"
Carrowick was shocked again. "I don't think you'll enjoy it, Marryl. Do
you really feel it's necessary?"
"Please don't refuse me, Vincent. I do feel it's important. I've
understood almost everything I've seen here on Earth. Either because
we've been faced with it ourselves on Six, or I've read about it. But
this is entirely new to me."
"All right," agreed Carrowick reluctantly. "I'm supposed to show you
anything you want to see, but you won't like it."
"Let me be the judge of that."
* * * * *
They had ridden to the end of the upper level moving street in
comfortable armchairs. All of Carrowick's arguments couldn't swerve
Kramvit from his idea of visiting some Poors. Kramvit was just about
through with his explanation of how all the automobiles on Six drove
underground, and didn't have to use the lower street level, as they did
here; when they came to the end of the moving street.
Now they were both walking through the filthy, garbage laden streets of
the Poors' village. The smell wrinkled Carrowick's nose, and he was not
displeased to see that Kramvit wasn't quite enjoying it, either.
"Doesn't the sanitation department know about this?" asked Kramvit.
"Don't they ever remove this dirt?"
"No," answered Carrowick, "the Poors have to carry it to appointed
garbage dumps themselves. They let it pile up until even they can't
stand it, then they usually get rid of some of it."
He went on to explain that in all the cities, except in Poor villages,
all garbage recepticles led to giant underground incinerators. Here the
fires burned continually. But in the hot weather, the heat from these
fires was used as power to run an underground air conditioner, so that
all the streets were cooled. In the wintertime, of course, these same
fires warmed the cities and highways.
As they walked, they were both aware of the many Poors scrounging and
searching in the debris. They were also aware of the silence that fell
as they neared groups of people. The Poors just stared at them, and
talked excitedly when they were out of earshot.
"They're not used to seeing any of us in their villages," remarked
Carrowick.
Kramvit smiled, somewhat bitterly, it seemed to Carrowick, "No, I
shouldn't think they would be."
As they rounded a corner, Kramvit pointed to a car parked about a
hundred feet away. It was almost leaning against a broken down shack,
and was so dirty that it was impossible to make out its color.
"How did that get here, Vincent? Surely, nobody here can afford a car."
Carrowick laughed, "No, they can't. That happens to be this year's
Sputzmobile, one of our most expensive cars. Although you wouldn't know
it from the looks of that one. They are given as consolation prizes to
losers on almost all the larger Qua shows."
"I see. Why don't those people sell the cars? It seems to me they could
use the money."
"I guess they could," answered Carrowick. "But to whom could they sell
it? Very few of us ever buy a second hand car. We all change our cars
as soon as the new ones appear. Anyway, most of the losers want to keep
them; they consider it a mark of distinction."
He frowned, and continued, "They drive them around the villages
whenever they can beg, borrow or steal some regular grade atomic
pellets. And, whenever they can maneuver through these streets. Those
that own them sort of look down their noses at the other Poors. They
consider themselves aristocrats of their village, because they, at
least, have been called to appear on a Qua. Actually, they're to be
pitied, they're worse off than the others."
"Why is that?" asked Kramvit.
"Well, once they've appeared on a Qua show, and lost, they'll usually
never be asked again. That's the worst of it, since they have nothing
more to look forward to. Also, I believe that most of the Poors leave
whatever jobs they may have, as soon as they get the call. They feel
it's beneath their dignity somehow. No Poor that gets on a Qua ever
expects to lose. Of course, once they do lose, they can't get their
jobs back. Because when they leave it's like creating a vacuum--all the
Poors in the vicinity flock to apply for his position."
They were just adjacent to one of the Poors' houses at the moment, and
Kramvit asked if he could visit the people that lived there. Carrowick
said he could, but he doubted if they'd find anyone home. It was after
four o'clock, and the large network Quas had already begun. All the
Poors that could navigate would be at the large open air V.C. centers,
which were usually located near the garbage dumps.
These centers were sometimes miles away from many of the Poors, but
that's where they were, no matter what the weather, from four in the
afternoon to eleven at night, when the Quas finished and the news
flashes began.
These centers consisted of a large empty lot, many of which got the
overflow from the adjacent garbage dumps, with two scopes seemingly
suspended about six feet off the ground in the middle. They were
rectangular; about five feet long, and four feet wide. Only a little
over an inch thick, the pictures appeared on both sides of each scope.
They were at right angles to each other, so that the picture could be
seen from any part of the lot.
Carrowick knocked on the old wooden door. There was no answer, and they
were about to turn away, when the door opened creakily to display an
elderly man. He was clean, except for the dirty rags that were tied
around his throat.
Carrowick explained who they were, and the elderly gentleman invited
them in.
"Come in, come in. I'm honored by your visit," he said in a hoarse
voice. "Well, now I'm almost glad that I have this bad throat,
otherwise I would be at the center, and I'd have missed your visit. By
the way, my name is Poor Mr. Alex Smith."
The shack consisted of two rooms, one of which was obviously a bedroom.
Obviously, because there were a number of flattish mounds of rags,
straw and excelsior on the floor, which could serve no other purpose
than for sleeping. It was completely devoid of any furniture. The room
they were in was the combination living-room, dining room and kitchen.
A few old chairs, some crates and a wobbly card table on a bare floor
just about filled the room.
Carrowick and Kramvit introduced themselves, and Kramvit started to
ask Poor Mr. Smith questions. These were all answered eagerly, and
Kramvit was almost convinced that the Poors didn't mind their situation
too much; they were all quite used to it.
Poor Mr. Smith asked some questions of Kramvit too, and was answered
good naturedly. He showed particular interest in the pin microphone
Kramvit wore, and seemed awed when he was told that he was probably
being seen and heard by people on Six at this very moment.
While Carrowick showed signs of impatience over the length of the
visit, Kramvit asked Smith, "Tell me, my friend, wouldn't you like
to see some entertainment on V.C.? Comedians or singers, or dancers,
perhaps?"
Poor Mr. Smith laughed, "Why no. Comedians and singers? Who wants to
see them when we can watch some lucky souls winning anywhere from one
to sixty-four million dollars, or more. I remember about forty years
ago, Mr. Krackel, our largest food pill manufacturer at that time,
tried something like that."
"Oh, did he?"
"Yes. He had the biggest two hour Qua show on the scopes. His daughter
liked to sing, and she talked him into devoting the first fifteen
minutes to singing. Well," Smith laughed, "that was the last time he
tried that. I read that the ratings for the show that evening went down
to zero. The studio was swamped with angry letters. Everyone wanted
to know why fifteen minutes of a good Qua show was wasted with such
nonsense."
Kramvit smiled and said, "Yes, I can understand that. Tell me, Poor Mr.
Smith, what would you do if you won on a Qua?"
"I'd try to help my people, of course. Perhaps like Legislator Brown.
He's an ex-Poor, you know, but he worked himself up the hard way. Won a
Qua, then studied and studied, and finally made the Legislature. He's
the one that passed the law to give us our V.C. centers. He's a great
man."
"That's a worthy ambition," said Kramvit.
"Do you people on Six have Qua shows, too?" asked Poor Mr. Smith.
"Yes. But not as many as you do."
"And do you have Poors like me on your planet?"
Kramvit said that they didn't, and went on to explain a little of the
situation of Six and the other five planets.
Poor Mr. Smith was amazed. He couldn't believe that there was any place
that didn't have Poors.
"Well, don't let it happen, then," he said. "Don't do it. Don't let
those Qua shows take over." His voice seemed to be getting stronger, or
was it just louder, now.
He leaned closer to Kramvit, his head only a foot away from the pin
microphone, and almost shouted, "Do you hear me? Don't let it happen
to you." He was near to sobbing now. "Be smart, stay happy--stop those
Quas. They'll only...."
Carrowick practically pulled Kramvit out the door, and started to
hurry away.
"Well," said Kramvit, "you told me that they didn't mind their
situation too much; Poor Mr. Smith almost had me believing the same
thing, but he sure didn't convince me."
"He's just a sick, old man," was Carrowick's answer.
* * * * *
Kramvit had insisted on visiting another Poor village the next day.
Earlier, this time, so that they'd find most of the people home. After
five or six visits, Kramvit was persuaded to leave by Carrowick, who
reminded him that he was to appear on Earth's largest Qua show himself
that very evening. Kramvit didn't want to appear, but Carrowick
convinced him that all preparations had been made. This was Earth's way
of honoring him, and he simply mustn't and couldn't refuse. Also, his
own people would be watching for him on the show. Kramvit had to agree
to do it.
When they had arrived at the studio, Kramvit was amazed at the hustle
and bustle that went on around them. The usual investigations,
interviews and testing that contestants went through were eliminated
for Kramvit, since he was an honored guest.
Air time approached rapidly, and Kramvit couldn't help feeling a
bit apprehensive. He wasn't used to appearing before multitudes of
this size, and it all made him feel uncomfortable. Carrowick assured
him that there was nothing to fear; this was simply a good will
appearance. The questions he would have to answer would all be in the
science category, and he should have no trouble with them.
Finally, Kramvit found himself standing in the wings of the vast stage.
The previous contestant was just answering his last ten part question.
He answered all the parts correctly, and left the stage to loud
applause. Now the Master of Ceremonies asked who was to be the next
guest. A booming voice whose body was nowhere to be seen, went through
a flowery introduction of Marryl Kramvit. Two beautiful young ladies,
dressed in almost nothing, appeared on each side of him. As the voice
finished the introduction, the girls all but dragged him into camera
range.
Kramvit jumped with fright as eight young men, each over six feet tall,
heralded his entrance with long, loud trumpets. He shook hands with the
Master of Ceremonies, chatted for a while, and finally was told to get
ready for his questions.
The first group of queries pertained to his particular field, and he
answered them correctly and easily. It took about ten minutes to arrive
at the $10,000 question. Kramvit knew that if and when he reached a
million dollars, he would be asked to come back in a week, which of
course he couldn't do, to tell if he would go for two million or keep
the one he had. He made a mental note to ask Carrowick as to the fate
of those who stopped at one or two million. He wondered if they were
looked down upon too.
Right now, the M.C. was telling him that he would have to enter the
sound proof booth for the $10,000 question. The booth appeared from
nowhere, and he was escorted into it by the two lovely, almost nude,
young ladies, who didn't seem to hear the trumpet blasts from the eight
young men.
When the door of the booth clicked shut, the booth moved out and over
the studio audience, and finally came to a stop in mid-air. There were
no wires or cables to be seen attached to the booth, but this didn't
bother Kramvit, since he knew the principles involved. He did feel
quite ridiculous, hanging suspended, with hundreds of faces upturned to
watch him.
It seemed to him that they must be awfully uncomfortable with their
necks craned like that. But he knew that the producers of the show were
only interested in the effect on the home viewers.
Kramvit lost count of the questions he answered, but he was now being
told that he was going for $500,000. A half million dollars! That was
the largest amount of money given away on the biggest quiz show on Six;
here it was just the beginning.
The question consisted of sixteen parts, and he answered them without
interruption until the fourteenth part. After he gave his answer to
this one, the M.C. asked him to repeat it. He did, hesitantly, and saw
the M.C. look nervously towards the control booth.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kramvit, that's not the correct answer."
Kramvit felt himself being lowered towards the stage. He was helped out
of the booth by the young ladies, and escorted to the M.C. No trumpets,
now. The audience was silent as the M.C. thanked Kramvit, and told him
how honored he was to be the first to welcome the first visitor from
another planet on V.C. He also told him how sorry he was that Kramvit
had lost.
Kramvit walked off stage while the audience applauded.
... "The funny thing is, I really knew the answer," Kramvit was saying
to Carrowick, with a sheepish grin. "I was just so nervous. I'm not
accustomed to this at all."
"Well," said Carrowick, "it's nothing to worry about. As I said, it was
just a good will appearance."
They were leaving the studio, when a young man in uniform approached
Kramvit.
"Excuse me, sir, a Phonogram for you."
Kramvit looked at the envelope and saw that it was from the High
Council of Six. He turned the envelope over and read the name.
It was addressed to, "_Poor Mr. Marryl Kramvit"_!