I know as well as you do that I myself am not attractive by Auroran standards. The trouble is that we cannot altogether control gene combinations and intrauterine influences. Nowadays, of course, with ectogenesis becoming more common—though I hope it shall never be as common as it is on Solaria—I would be eliminated in the late fetal stage.” “In which case, Dr. Fastolfe, the worlds would have lost a great theoretical roboticist.” “Perfectly correct,” said Fastolfe, without visible embarrassment, “but the worlds would never have known that, would they?—In
