Leo Frankowski

itself. Come on. I want show you the rest of the place.”
    “Just a minute.”
Mona ran over to her clothes.
    “Leave
them.”
    “But I bought
them especially for you! I’d hoped you would like them.”
    “I do. But I
like the outfit you’re wearing better.”
    Mona thought a
moment, then smiled. “Thank you.”
    Copernick led her to
a small room.
    “This elevator
is one of my animals. Nonsentient, of course. It’s really little more than a box
hanging at the end of a single muscle, with a door at each floor. It works like an
ordinary elevator. Press these nubs for the floor you want.” Copernick
pressed for the second basement.
    Mona ran her fingers
through the fur on the wall. “Mink?”
    “Pretty close.
As I said, these things don’t cost extra. I do most of my work down here. The lights
are biolu— minescent.
And automatic.”
    “But they are on
now.”
    “Because we are
not alone.” Copernick started to lead her to the computer room.
    “Ay, boss!
Them’s nice tits on that one!” a heavy voice shouted from a strong steel cage. A hulking
shape was
barely visible.
    Mona cringed.
“Who was that?”
    “One of my
failures. I wanted something to do heavy labor and defense work. At the time,
modifying a great ape seemed to be the easiest route.”
    “He’s so
ugly.” The black bull mountain ape had a bulging forehead.
    “Them bastard!
He don’t make no girls like me!”
    “And I’m not
going to make any more boys like you, either.” Copernick led Mona away.
    “What went
wrong?”
    “Nothing. And
everything. I thought that by increasing his gray matter and giving him an
adequate vocal apparatus, I’d get something useful.”
    “And that
didn’t work?” Mona asked.
    “It worked. The
problem is that intelligence, in any animal, is the servant of more basic
emotions and drives. That ape has the ability to be useful, but not the motivation.”
    “But can’t you
do something about that?”
    “I’ve tried.
I’ve chemically taken him apart three times and put him together four. But I’ve never been able to come up with a reliable computer analog of
his motivational matrix. It’s as if he takes a perverted joy in confounding me. I’ve wasted two years on him. But
no more.
    “Anyway, I’ve
come up with something better for a labor and defense unit. I’m giving up on that
ape; I started
the reversion process a week ago.”
    “Reversion?
What do you mean?” Mona said.
    “I built him up
and I can tear him down. I’m going to change him back to a normal mountain ape and sell him.”
    “You’re going
to destroy his brain? Isn’t that like murder?”
    “What am I
supposed to do with him? I can’t let him out. He’s a killer! It isn’t even safe to
keep him in a cage. He’s
bright enough to figure a way out of it. No. It’s either kill him or revert him. And as an ape, he’s worth a lot of money
to a zoo.”
    “But
still…”
    “He was an
animal when I bought him and he’ll be an animal when I sell him. I fail to see where
I’ve commit ted any crime.”
    “But there must be something…”
    “I’m open to
suggestions,” Heinrich said.
    Mona was silent.
Heinrich took her arm—her skin was so incredibly soft!—and led her into the next hall.
    “This is
something that I want your help with. If you want to, that is.” Copernick
opened the door on a surrealistic scene. One wall was a computer bank with multicolor displays that
changed periodically. The wall opposite was a complex array of automated chemical apparatus.
    Mona’s eyes locked in
on a line of twenty glass cylinders in the center of the room. Each was a yard
tall and a foot in diameter. Each contained a small humanoid form floating motionless
in the fluid.
    “Are they
alive?” Mona said.
    “Certainly.”
Heinrich inhaled. “At present, not one human child in ten is getting a solid basic
education. The poorer countries can’t afford to feed their children, let alone send them to
school. And things are getting worse, not better. A poor educational level results
in a poor allocation of limited resources, and hence more poverty. I’m hoping
that these beings will help break that downward spiral. They are to act as
tutors and primary school teachers. I call them fauns.”
    From the waist down
the fauns were covered with fur. They had hoofs rather than feet, and their
ears were pointed.
Each faun had a large umbilical cord running from her naval to a placenta at
the bottom of the