Hart shook his head. "Not me. I'm all thumbs when it comes to tinkering."
"In that case," said the salesman, "the thing for you to do is buy the best yarner that you can. Used intelligently, there's virtually no limit to its versatility. And in this particular model the quality factor is much higher than in any of the others. Although naturally, to get the best results you must be selective in your character film, and your narrative problem tapes. But that needn't worry you. We have a large stock of tapes and films and some new mood and atmosphere fixers that are quite unique. They come fairly high, of course, but —»
"By the way, just what is the price of this model?"
"Ifs only twenty-five thousand," the salesman told him brightly. "Don't you wonder, sir, how it can be offered at so ridiculous a figure? The engineering that went into it is remarkable. We worked on it for ten full years before we were satisfied. And during those ten years the specifications were junked and redrawn time and time again to keep pace with our developmental research."
He slapped the shiny machine with a jubilant hand. "I can guarantee you, sir, that nowhere can you get a product superior to this. It has everything. Millions of probability factors have been built into it, assuring you of sure-fire originality. No danger of stumbling into the stereotype, which is not true at all with so many of the cheaper models. The narrative bank alone is capable of turning out an almost infinite number of situations on any particular theme and the character developer has thousands of points of reference instead of the hundred or so you find in inferior models. The semantics section is highly selective and sensitive and you must not overlook —»
"It's a good machine," interposed Hart. "But it costs a bit too much. Now, if you had something else…"
"Most certainly, sir. We have many other models."
"Would you take a machine in trade?"
"Gladly. What kind of machine do you have, sir?"
"An Auto-Author Ninety-six."
The salesman froze just slightly. He shook his head, half sadly, half in bewilderment. "Well, now, I don't know if we could allow you much for that. It's a fairly old type of machine. Almost obsolete."
"But you could give me something?"
"I think so. Not a great deal, though."
"And time payment?"
"Yes, certainly. We could work something out. If you would give me your name."
Hart told him what it was.
The salesman jotted it down and said, "Excuse me a moment, sir."
Hart stood for a moment, looking after him. Then, like a sneak thief in the night, he moved softly to the front door and walked swiftly down the street.
There was no use in staying. No use at all of waiting for the salesman to come back and shake his hand and say, "We're very sorry, sir."
We're very sorry, sir, because we've looked up your credit rating and it's absolutely worthless. We checked your sales record and found you sold just one short story in the last six months.
"It was a mistake to go for a walk at all," Hart told himself, not without bitterness.
Downtown, in a section of the city far removed from the glamorous showroom, Hart climbed six flights of stairs because the elevator was out of whack again.
Behind the door that said IRVING PUBLICATIONS, the preoccupied receptionist stopped filing her nails long enough to make a motion with her thumb toward the inner office.
"Go on in and see him," she said.
Ben Irving sat behind a heaped-up desk cluttered with manuscripts, proofs and layout sheets. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he wore an eyeshade. He always wore the eyeshade and that was one of the minor mysteries of the place, for at no time during the day was there light enough in his dingy office to blind a self-respecting bat.
He looked up and blinked at Hart.
"Glad to see you, Kemp," he said. "Sit down. What's on your mind today?"
Hart took a chair. "I was wondering. About that last story that I sent you —»
"Haven't got around to it yet," said Irving. He waved his hand at the mess upon his desk by way of explanation.
"Mary!" he shouted.
The receptionist stuck her head inside the door.
"Get Hart's manuscript," be said, "and let Millie have a look at it"
Irving leaned back in his chair. "This won't take long," he said. "Millie's a fast reader."
"I'll wait," said Hart.
"I've got something for you," Irving told him. "We're starting a new magazine, aimed at the tribes out in the Algol system. They're a primitive sort of people, but they can read, Lord love them. We had the devil's own time finding someone who could do the translations for us and it'll cost more than we like to pay to have the type set up. They got the damnedest alphabet you ever saw. We finally found a printer who had some in his fonts."
"What kind of stuff?" Hart asked.
"Simple humanoid," Irving replied. "Blood and thunder and a lot of spectacle. Life is tough and hard out there, so we have to give them something with plenty of color in it that's easy to read. Nothing fancy, mind you."
"Sounds all right."
"Good basic hack," said Irving. "See how it goes out there and if it goes all right we'll make translations for some of the primitive groups out in the Capella region. Minor changes, maybe, but none too serious."
He squinted meditatively at Hart.
"Not too much pay. But if it goes over we'll want a lot of it"
"I'll see what I can do," said Hart "Any taboos? Anything to duck?"
"No religion at all," the editor told him. "They've got it, of course, but it's so complicated that you'd better steer clear of it entirely. No mushy stuff. Love don't rate with them. They buy their women and don't fool around with love. Treasure and greed would be good. Any standard reference work will give you a line on that. Fantastic weapons — the more gruesome the better. Bloodshed, lots of it. Hatred, that's their dish. Hatred and vengeance and hell-for-leather living. And you simply got to keep it moving."
"I'll see what I can do."
"That's the second time you've said that."
"I'm not doing so good, Ben. Once I could have told you — yes-. Once I could have hauled it over by the ton."
"Lost the touch?"
"Not the touch. The machine. My yarner is haywire. I might just as well try to write my stories by hand."
Irving shuddered at the thought.
"Fix it up," he said, "Tinker with it."
"I'm no good at that. Anyhow, it's too old. Almost obsolete."
"Well, do the best you can. I'd like to go on buying from you."
The girl came in. Without looking at Hart she laid the manuscript down upon the desk. From where he sat, Hart could see the single word the machine had stamped upon its face: REJECTED.
"Emphatic," said the girl. "Millie almost stripped a gear."
Irving pitched the manuscript to Hart.
"Sorry, Kemp. Better luck next time."
Hart rose, holding the manuscript in his hand. "I'll try this other thing," he said.
He started for the door.
"Just a minute," Irving said, his voice sympathetic.
Hart turned back.
Irving brought out his billfold, stripped out two tens and held them out.
"No," said Hart, staring at the bills longingly.
"It's a loan," said the editor. "Damn it, man, you can take a loan. You'll be bringing me some stuff."
"Thanks, Ben. I'll remember this."
He stuffed the bills into his pocket and made a swift retreat.
Bitter dust burned in his throat and there was a hard, cold lump in the center of his belly.