in a group, silently waiting. Alquist glances up at them.]
What do you want?
[They go swiftly to his table.]
Be quick!—I have no time.
Radius
Master, the machines will not do the work. We cannot manufacture Robots.
[Alquist returns to his book with a growl.]
Fourth Robot
We have striven with all our might. We have obtained a billion tons of coal from the earth. Nine million spindles are running by day and by night. There is no longer room for all we have made. This we have accomplished in one year.
Alquist
[Poring over book]: For whom?
Fourth Robot
For future generations—so we thought.
Radius
But we cannot make Robots to follow us. The machines produce only shapeless clods. The skin will not adhere to the flesh, nor the flesh to the bones.
