Page 16 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Unloading the Warehouse of Nim

“Simply this: once it has been accepted that a situation cannot be
reversed, then the mind can turn to finding ways of guiding its future
development. History does not repeat itself by constantly reverting to
earlier conditions; rather, it does so by a forward swing through the
range of possibilities, like a pendulum. This describes a path of least
resistance, an arc of entropy. A little energy expended in pushing the
pendulum in the direction of its travel will accomplish a lot more
than trying to—”
“Kaga!” yelled Lugo. “I don’t want to hear all this theorizing! Just
tell me what you did.”
“Calm down,” said Kaga, smiling smugly. “You created this mess,
so you’ll just have to let me tell it my way. Now, where was I? Ah,
yes. After I convinced the Colonel that we couldn’t turn back the
clock, I then sold him on my reconstruction of the lost history of the
Nworg.”
“The what?”
“Has it never occurred to you as odd that the Nworg have been
unable to cope with the loss of the Engineers? That just these three
highly specialized types of Nworg could all by themselves perform all
the functions of a technologically sophisticated species? No? Well,
I’ve often wondered, and this problem with the warehouse stimulated
me to arrive at some conclusions.”
“The economy of Nim as the PKU found it is very strange. The
Rulers and Cultivators participate in making the subsistence sector
work; the production and distribution of food is very well-regulated.
But the Appliances, highly desirable luxury items, are utterly outside
this economy. A totally mechanical system processes this need of the
Nworg, with no marketing or consumer feedback. Had the Cultivator
population not been reduced by plague, the automated cycle of
production, distribution, and collection would have broken down
long ago. Why? Because the Engineers are gone, and sooner or later
the supply of recycled materials would simply diminish by attrition
beyond the point of being able to provide every Cultivator with a
new Appliance on schedule. If that day ever were to come, there
likely would be a complete breakdown in social order on Nim. And it
inevitably would come, had you not disrupted the cycle and
precipitated this crisis.”

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