"Yes."
"The lay open to me the Library of Man."
"Very well. There is, of course, a price."
"'Price'? What is a 'price'?"
Mordel opened his turret, revealing another volume. _Principles ofEconomics_, it was called.
"I will riffle the pages. Scan this book and you will know what theword 'price' means."
Frost scanned _Principles of Economics_.
"I know now," he said. "You desie some unit or units of exchange forthis service."
"That is correct."
"What product or service do you want?"
"I want you, yourself, great Frost, to come away from here, far beneaththe Earth, to employ all your powers in the service of Divcom."
"For how long a period of time?"
"For so long as you shall continue to function. For so long as you cantransmit and receive, coodinate, measure, compute, scan, and utilize yourpowers as you do in the service of Solcom."
Frost was silent. Mordel waited.
Then Frost spoke again.
"_Principles of Economics_ talks of contracts, bargains, agerements,"he said. "If I accept your offer, when would you want your price?"
Then Mordel was silent. Frost waited.
Finally, Mordel spoke.
"A reasonable period of time," he said. "Say, a century?"
"No," said Frost.
"Two centuries?"
"No."
"Three? Four?"
"No, and no."
"A millenium, then? That should be more than sufficient time foranything you may want which I can give you."
"No," said Frost.
"How much time _do_ you want?"
"It is not a matter of time," said Frost.
"What, then?"
"I will not bargain on a temporal basis."
"On what basis will you bargain?"
"A functional one."
"What do you mean? What function?"
"You, little machine, have told me, Frost, that I cannot be a Man," he