E. G. Von Wald

“ Death? He had always fancied that death would be a complete absence of sensation, and no consciousness of effort whatever. Instead, his breath was coming in deep, heavy sighs, his head hurt, his arm was aching, and something was tickling his nose.
"Come on, wake up," a voice said briskly.
Hal opened his eyes and looked up at a golden-framed face. It was the face that had been speaking, and the pleasingly shaped lips now moved again. "You aren't hurt, you know. Just a little shaken up."
Hal continued to stare at the woman for a moment, then muttered "Umph," and struggled to a sitting posture. ”

“ Of all people to be stranded with in the wilderness, I have to get one of you insipid, gutless Proprietors."
"Oh yes?" Hal said with unconscious anger, lurching to his feet. "Who's insipid and gutless? I'm considerably more civilized than you are." Quick surprise crossed her face as she listened. Hal continued his angry speech. "Why is it that all you savages always think you know how to live better than your superiors? If you are so clever, why aren't you civilized?" ”

“ Hal Webber leaned back in the soft Formair Executive's seat. Although he twisted and shifted his position restlessly, he received the same sensation of perfect, comfortable support no matter which way he sat in it. Which was only natural, of course. Formair was the best suspend-field furniture manufactured. ”

“ His parents were there, watching a vic-entertainment, which Hal promptly turned off.
"Who did that?" his father mumbled, coming immediately out of the trance. "Hal? That wasn't a very nice thing to do, son."
"Why Hal," his mother sighed mildly. "You're not dead after all. How nice. Don't pay any attention to your father—it wasn't a very interesting vic anyway."
"Shouldn't turn it off like that, though."
"Um, sorry," Hal apologized gently. He relaxed into the comfortable, perfect fit of a Formair lounge. "Just thought I'd let you know I'm still alive." ”

“ He told me that there was a factor in the CC Treatment that provided for such things.
"It seems that the Civilization Conditioning they give you is only designed to enable a man to survive in a city. In order for the conditioning to function, you have to have that civilized urban environment. Once the environment is removed, the conditioned complex has nothing to react against, and the man immediately becomes almost—but not quite—as savage as a typical Outlander.
"That way, a civilized man can always manage to live in the wilderness, given half a chance. ”

“ The colonies pay us by sending unusually gifted technicians like your father to work for us. Naturally, Outlanders have no rights, whatsoever, here. Not even the right to life or freedom or payment of the material allotment. But unless they commit a crime or otherwise interfere with the Proprietors, there is not the slightest danger of being molested by any citizen, because citizens are civilized."
Hal stopped his history lecture and looked back up at her. "The Treatment is responsible for the entire rational order of our culture, as you probably know." ”

“ Velocity reduced to two hundred nine point nine miles per hour. Locus: seven hundred point eight miles from nearest civilized metropolis, which is York." The voice continued, but became unintelligible as the mangled circuits faltered.
Seven hundred miles from civilization! Wilderness. Chaos; that settled it, of course. Hal smiled gently as he realized that he was about to die. A civilized man obviously could not be expected to survive in chaos. He observed that he was breathing more strenuously, and realized that it was the result of the rapid failure of the antigravity field. ”

“ The vast majority of the population couldn't stand it. They developed all kinds of psychogenic illnesses. The impact of the uncontrolled inclinations of individuals meeting the absolute self-control required by civilization was killing them.
"Then, gradually, the Civilization Conditioning process was developed. What happened then was just what you would expect—the people who took the Treatments were so much better adapted to civilized living conditions that the others simply didn't have a chance. Just as soon as planetary colonies were opened up, the savages were all shipped off. ”

“ If you give them money, they will be able to buy more than their allotment, and that could very easily upset our own economic balance, you know."
"Quite true," Webber agreed. Then he smiled with placid inspiration. "I know. We'll give him fame. We'll name the process after him."
"Well," Hal said doubtfully, "I guess that would do it."
"I think so. He's been a great help. As a matter of fact, though, most of the Outlanders are helpful. A pity they won't take the Treatments and become citizens. It seems sort of sad the way their emotions cut them up at times. ”

“ Did it practically all by himself. He is a very intelligent man, even if he is an Outlander."
"Bruchner," said Hal with mild irritation. "All I hear around here lately is Bruchner. What is he, anyway? Nothing but a savage."
"Eh?" said his father softly, raising his eyebrows again in polite inquiry.
"If Bruchner is such a brilliant fellow, why doesn't he take the Treatment and become civilized? I sometimes get a little tired of an employee who tells me I'm wrong all the time."
"But he is almost always right when he makes such statements, Hal," Webber pointed out mildly. ”

“ She nodded her head at the map. "From that it looks like those emasculating treatments do some good after all."
"Don't talk like that," he reproved her. "The Civilization Conditioning Treatment is the basis of our culture."
She started to speak, hesitated, and then blurted out, "What, precisely, does it do for you?"
"Don't you know?" Hal asked astonished, and then answered his own question. "Oh, of course, Outlanders would hardly know much about civilized history. Well, before interplanetary exploration was started, there weren't any areas at all like this wilderness. ”

“ We can now provide flexible hue and chroma for the complete Formair line—Airchair, Aircab and Airdome. We'll be the only one who has it, and since every Proprietor on the planet will want our new equipment as fast as we turn it out, we'll put every other firm completely out of the business. I've already worked out a method so that we can convert to export goods, too, without waiting for the economic balance to be readjusted. Of course, the colonies will have to curtail a little, but we don't have to concern ourselves with them."
"Yes," agreed Hal. ”

“ There isn't a noble or even a strong sentiment in your entire society."
"That is how the process works. It is nothing but a series of checks and balances artificially installed in the subconscious which make strong sentiments unnecessary, and which prevent unstable activity. ”

“ There was nothing in sight that indicated civilization. These regions had not been inhabited for two hundred and fifty years—ever since the severance of the planetary colonies from political control by the motherland, and the settling of the Proprietors into their well-separated, civilized cities. ”

“ The pleasant, silent, effortless motion of the Aircab soon produced its usual somnolent effect on him, and he dozed comfortably off. He slept the entire trip.
At Knoxville, he spoke to the Center Technician briefly, advising the master robot of the possibility of his altered economic status, and the matter was thoroughly checked by the computer at Central Authority. Every conceivable source of psychosomatic tension and internal conflict was studied, and suitable alterations on Hal's master curve plotted. ”