Gelsen gloomily stood up, stretched, and walked to the window. The sky was blank. Looking out, he realized that his uncertainties were over. Right or wrong, he had made up his mind.
"Tell me," he said, still watching the sky, "what will the Hawks hunt after they get all the watchbirds?"
"Huh?" Macintyre said. "Why—"
"Just to be on the safe side, you'd better design something to hunt down the Hawks. Just in case, I mean."
"You think—"
"All I know is that the Hawks are self-controlled. So were the watchbirds. Remote control would have been too slow, the argument went on. The idea was to get the watchbirds and get them fast. That meant no restricting circuits."
"We can dope something out," Macintyre said uncertainly.
"You've got an aggressive machine up in the air now. A murder machine. Before that it was an anti-murder machine. Your next gadget will have to be even more self-sufficient, won't it?"
Macintyre didn't answer.