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We even have a ‘15 model Mat-O-Mot in working order. One of the original automatics. It was the first car here.” Good old Matthew. He stayed in the garage most of the day now, but then he was the granddaddy of all positronic-motored cars. Those were the days when blind war veterans, paraplegics and heads of state were the only ones who drove automatics.
We take it for granted now, but I remember when the first laws came out forcing the old machines off the highways and limiting travel to automatics. Lord, what a fuss. They called it everything from communism to fascism, but it emptied the highways and stopped the killing, and still more people get around more easily the new way.
“Gently, the steward patted the man’s shoulder. ‘Cheer up, sir,’ he murmured. ‘I know it seems bad, but really, you know, nobody ever dies of seasickness.’ “The afflicted gentleman lifted his greenish, tortured face to his comforter and gasped in hoarse accents. ‘Don’t say that, man. For heaven’s sake, don’t say that. It’s only the hope of dying that’s keeping me alive.’“
“I have a thought about that. I think he’s trying to build up a store of jokes in Multivac’s memory banks in order to get back new variations. You see what I mean? He’s planning a mechanical jokester, so that he can have an infinite number of jokes at hand and never fear running out.” “Good Lord!”
I never met anyone who ever claimed to have constructed a joke.
“Science has advanced to the point where the only meaningful questions left are the ridiculous ones. The sensible ones have been thought of, asked and answered long ago.”
