Free Foundation And Chaos by Greg Bear

him, and tears welled up in her eyes.
    “Oh, Vara, so sensitive! It's not as bad as all that. We need you there, to help us find
     this particular needle in the straw. If she's as talented as you say, well... ”
    “I will go if you wish me to, ” she murmured. “I had hoped you would have enough to go on.
     ”
    “Well, we don't. I don't. I doubt I'll be given much more time to come up with hard
     evidence. ”
    She forced herself to brighten, and asked the first question that came into her head.
     “What will these robots do if they know we know?”
    Sinter's face stiffened. “That is our greatest danger, ” he said darkly. He lowered his
     gaze for a few seconds. “Sometimes I think they will replace us with replicas of
     ourselves, and we will go on doing everything we have ever done, just as we used to do it.
     But without spirit, nothing inside. ” He dug for the ancient word that sounded so
     mysterious and alien when spoken. “No soul. ”
    “I don't understand what that means, ” Vara said.
    Sinter shook his head briskly. “Nor do I, but it would be terrible to lose it!”
    For a moment, they enjoyed this grisly prospect together, savoring the sense of shared and
     secret danger.
13.
    “Your request to see me is a little odd, ” the Emperor said, “considering that Linge
     Chen's Commission is putting you on trial for treason next month. ” Klayus waggled his
     head from side to side and raised his eyebrows. “Don't you think it's unseemly for me to
     agree to a meeting?”
    “Very, ” Hari said, hands folded, head bowed. “It bespeaks your independence, Highness. ”
    "Yes, well I'm far more independent than anyone gives me credit for. In truth, I find the
     Commission convenient, because it does a lot of the uninteresting work of managing little
     details I care nothing for. Linge Chen is wise enough to let me handle my own affairs and
     projects without interference. So, why
    should I be interested in you? Other than your professorial eminence. "
    “I thought you might be interested in the future, Highness, ” Hari said.
    Klayus snorted faintly. “Ah, yes, your eternal promise. ”
    Hari followed the Emperor through a central circular chamber at least twelve meters in
     diameter and perhaps thirty meters high. Above, all the inhabited star systems of the
     Galaxy rotated across the dome, blinking in order of settlement, tens of millions of them.
     Hari glanced up and squinted at the immensity of humanity's reach. Klayus I ignored the
     display. His pinched lips and wide, yet somehow vacuous eyes disturbed Hari.
    Klayus pushed open a huge door to his entertainment room. Silently, the door-more like the
     entrance to a vault- swung on its immense hinges, and insects, green and gold, crawled
     over the frame. Hari assumed they were projected, but would not have been surprised to
     discover they were real.
    “I have very little interest in your future, Raven, ” the Emperor said lightly. “I do
     manage to keep informed. I won't stop the trial, and I won't second-guess Chen on this. ”
    “I refer to your own immediate future, sire, ” Hari said. / hope Daneel's message was not
     just a dream, a fancy! This could turn deadly, if so.
    The Emperor turned, smiling at this dramatic turn of phrase. “You're on record as saying
     the Empire is doomed. That sounds treasonous enough to me. On this, Chen and I agree. ”
    “I say Trantor will be in ruins within five hundred years. But I've never predicted your
     future, sire. ”
    The entertainment room was filled with hulking sculptures of giant creatures from around
     the Galaxy, all savagely carnivorous, all caught in poses of attack. Hari regarded them
     with little appreciation for the artistry. Art had never interested him much, and
     certainly not the more popular forms, except where
    he could abstract entertainment trends as indicators for social health.
    “I've had my palm read, ” Klayus said, still