Against the Fall of Night

A truly intelligent race is not likely to be unfriendly.

Man sank into a superstitious barbarism during which he distorted history to remove his sense of impotence and failure

The world’s history was a mass of such disconnected threads, and none could say which were important and which were trivial.

They were, perhaps, as contented as any race the world had known, and after their fashion they were happy. They spent their long lives amid beauty that had never been surpassed, for the labour of millions of centuries had been dedicated to the glory of Diaspar.

Long ago, Alvin, men sought immortality and at last achieved it. They forgot that a world which had banished death must also banish birth. The power to extend his life indefinitely brought contentment to the individual but stagnation to the race. You once told be that you were the only child to be born in Diaspar for seven thousand years - but you have seen how many children we have here in Airlee. Ages ago we sacrificed our immortality, but Diaspar still follows the false dream. That is why our ways parted - and why they must never meet again.

Of all the machines in this great cavern, it was the only one which had shown any cognizance of man, and its greeting seemed a little contemptuous. For on the screen appeared the words: STATE YOUR PROBLEM PLEASE THINK CLEARLY Ignoring the implied insult, Alvin began his story.