Auberson paused for breath. The words were coming out in a rush. “No, it’s not HARLIE that’s out of control. It’s the game. We can’t play it any more; we lost control of it a century ago, maybe longer. It’s too complex for us — but it’s not too complex for HARLIE. He’s taken over the socio-economic game we call Stellar-American as if he had been designed to do so. Maybe he was. Maybe that’s why we really built him — to take over the game for us. And because that’s exactly what he’s done, everything is under control, once and for all. Don’t you see? Human beings are free now — free to be anything we want. And HARLIE will do it for us!”
He stopped abruptly and waited for their reaction.
Annie was the first to speak. Her eyes were bright. “Do you really think so?”
“Annie, if it’s not HARLIE that’s taking over, then it’ll be something else sooner or later. That’s why we’ve been building computers. HARLIE must know it. Maybe that’s the real reason he designed the G.O.D. To give him the capacity to take over all the rest of the games.”
Handley asked slowly, “What about his emotional immaturity?”
Auberson shook his head. “The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a red herring. HARLIE is too smart. Much too smart. He’d recognize the signs of it in himself and he’d stop it before it got out of control. He’s self-correcting that way. Any way. He can’t make mistakes because he’s too aware of the consequences — that means every action of his has to be deliberate.
“Maybe he wants us to think he’s frightened and emotionally disturbed — that way we’ll feel important to him. We could spend years running and rerunning programs to make him feel secure — when all the time he’d be running us. I think HARLIE’s way beyond us already.”
Handley winced. “I’m not sure I like the idea of being obsolete.”
“Obsolete? Uh uh. HARLIE still needs us. What good’s a game without any players?”
Annie shuddered, just a little bit. “I don’t like it, this business of ‘taking over.’ It sounds so — wicked.”
Auberson shrugged. “Annie, you’d better get used to it. The wicked people run this world — they deserve it.”
Handley said, “Aubie, if your theory is right, what do we do now?”
“Well, offhand, I’d say us humans will have to get ourselves a new game, Don — one that HARLIE can’t play. We can’t win this one any more.”
“A new game—? But what?”
“I don’t know,” Auberson said. He spun around in his chair and looked out the window. The city twinkled brightly below. The stars glittered in the night. “I don’t know, but we’ll think of something.”