Page 34 - Nutshell 4

BARGELLO: Eh? Couldn’t take it? Why not? Don’t tell me you
forgot the film!

MINIMAX: No, the camera is ready to go, but if this were the
biggest thing there is, we couldn’t go outside it to take its picture.

BARGELLO: Why not? The Great Bargello can break through any
barrier!

MINIMAX: But then it couldn’t be the biggest thing, because you
would have gone out beyond it into something even bigger.

BARGELLO: You mean the biggest thing there is couldn’t have any
outside? Then even if we ever did travel to an edge that we couldn’t
cross, we still couldn’t take the picture for Dr. Pesky. How would he
know it was the biggest just because we couldn’t get to the other
side? Wait a minute: we just said it couldn’t have another side if it was
the biggest. Is that possible, Minimax? Can there be a one-sided
edge?

MINIMAX: I’m just a robot with a mechanical brain, Great Bargello;
my logic tells me that it’s a contradiction in terms: therefore not
possible.

BARGELLO: Bah! This is a waste of time. I could be eating lunch
instead. Obviously this Extreme cannot be reached either. Let’s go
back home. (hits barrier, gets tangled up; MINIMAX helps) Grr! Where is
Earth, by the way? (they get in)

MINIMAX: Oh, it’s back there, somewhere. Don’t worry, we’ll find
it, though we may have to make a few false turns and detours. Point
the light back in that direction and we’ll be off. (effects)

SCENE 3: Dr. Pesky’s room at Bellevue

PESKY: (hears knock) Come in, come in.

BARGELLO: (enters) Dr. Pesky, I’m back.

PESKY: I know you! You’re the man who sells perpetual motion
machines! Well, I’d definitely like to place an order with you this
time.