'He is a Priest-King,' said Misk, 'and has eight brains, modifications of the ganglionic net, whereas a creature such as yourself, limited by vertebrae, is likely to develop only one brain.'
'It is very strange to me,' I said.
'Of course,' said Misk, 'for the lower orders instruct their young differently, accomplishing only an infinitesimal fraction of this in a lifetime of study.'
'Who decides what he learns?' I asked.
'Customarily,' said Misk, 'the mnemonic plates are standardised by the Keepers of the Tradition, chief of whom is Sarm.'Misk straightened and his antennae curled a bit.
'As you might suppose I could not obtain a set of
standardised plates and so I have inscribed my own, using my
own judgement.'
'I don't like the idea of altering its brain,' I said.
'Brains,' said Misk.
'I don't like it,' I said.
'Do not be foolish,' said Misk.His antennae curled.'All
creatures who instruct their young alter their brains.How
else could learning take place?This device is merely a
comparatively considerate, swift and efficient means to an
end that is universally regarded as desirable by rational
creatures.'
'I am uneasy,' I said.
'I see,' said Misk, 'you fear he is becoming a kind of
machine.'
'Yes,' I said.
'You must remember,' said Misk, 'that he is a Priest-King and
thus a rational creature and that we could not turn him into
a machine without neutralising certain critical and
perceptive areas, without which he would no longer be a
Priest-King.'
'But he would be a self-governing machine,' I said.
'We are all such machines,' said Misk, 'with fewer or a
greater number of random elements.'His antennae touched me.
'We do what we must,' he said, 'ane the ultimate control is
never in the mnemonic disk.'
'I do not know if these things are true,' I said.
'Nor do I,' said Misk.'It is a difficult and obscure
matter.'
'And what do you do in the meantime?' I asked.
'Once,' said Misk, 'we rejoiced and lived, but now though we
remain young in body we are old in mind, and one wonders more
often, from time to time, on the Pleasures of the Golden
Beetle.'
'Do Priest-Kings believe in life after death?' I asked.
'Of course,' said Misk, 'for after one dies the Nest
continues.'
'No,' I said, 'I mean individual life.'
'Consciousness,' said Misk, 'seems to be a function of the
ganglionic net.'
'I see,' I said.'And yet you say you are willing to, as you
said, pass.'
'Of course,' said Misk.'I have lived.Now there must be
others.'
I looked again at the young Priest-King lying on the stone
table.
'Will he remember learning these things?' I asked.
'No,' said Misk, 'for his external sensors are now being
bypassed, but he will understand that he has learned things
in this fashion for a mnemonic disk has been inscribed to
that effect.'
'What is he being taught?' I asked.
'Basic information, as you might expect, pertains to
language, mathematics, and the sciences, but he is also being
taught the history and literature of Priest-Kings, Nest
mores, social customs; mechanical, agricultural and
husbanding procedures, and other types of information.'
'But will he continue to learn later?'
'Of course,' said Misk, 'but he will build on a rather
complete knowledge of what his ancestors have learned in the
past.No time is wasted in consciously absorbing old
information, and one's time is thus released for the
discovery of new information.When new information is
discovered it is also included on mnemonic disks.'
'But what if the mnemonic disks contain some false
information?' I asked.
'Undoubtedly they do,' said Misk, 'but the disks are
continually in the process of revision and are kept as
current as possible.
Chapter Sixteen: THE PLOT OF MISK
I took my eyes from the young Priest-King and looked up at
Misk.I could see the disklike eyesin that golden head
above me and see the flicker of the blue torch on their
myriad surfaces.
'I must tell you, Misk,' I said slowly, 'that I came to the
Sardar to slay Priest-Kings, to take vengeance for the
destruction of my city and its people.'
I thought it only fair to let Misk know that I was no ally of
his, that he should learn of my hatred for Priest-Kings and
my determination to punish them, to the extent that it lay
within my abilities, for the evil which they had done.
'No,' said Misk.'You have come to the Sardar to save the
race of Priest-Kings.'
I looked at him dumbfounded.
'It is for that purpose that you were brought here,' said
