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    "Riviera, you ever figure out this money thing?"
     "Ah, Dick::::there's so much here to gather. You know that they've created artificial sub-atomics?"
     "No!"
     "Yes. No::::you don't get it. Feel this::::feel this sleeve. What is it?"
     "Cotton."
     "No. It's cottonate::::a wholly man-made non-woven substance::::not only man-made, but made from artificial molecules. Ask your machine to show you the periodic table."
     "Shitforbrains, engage."
     "Yes."
     "Create a screen and print the periodic table of elements."
     Suddenly a screen shoots up which contains at least a thousand symbols.
     "Can I help you find a substance?"
     "The last discovered."
     The screen rapidly blurs through and ends up on a page.
     "How many elements have been discovered?"
     "There are 11,812,214 elements currently discovered."
     "How can that be?"
     Pause.
     "Turn it off."
     "See?"
     "I don't understand."
     "We manufacture organic elements."
     "Impossible."
     "That's what I said. Not only is this shirt organic, and breathable like cotton::::but it's made from a substance which did not exist in our time. Your chair::::man-made emollients mixed with, I believe, corn starch. Seriously. Buildings::::clothes. All made from stuff that we've invented::::no strain on natural resources, the manufacturing process a fairly benign cold-process. It takes a machine twenty seconds to manufacture enough non-wovens to dress everyone in this building. Another thirty seconds for machines to cut and assemble the material into designer clothes. Standard houses are manufactured in under a minute::::from artificial organic materials. Just got to register with your community to own a house::::zap, you own a house."
     "No money."
     "The notion of a monetary economy is ridiculous at this point."
     "Food?"
     "What we would call organic::::though a lot of it hydroponically grown. Meat has been outlawed."
     "Yeah, I heard."
     "But you can get it::::just got to know where to look."
     "So I want a double cheeseburger::::I tube over to Wyoming community, or wherever. So, how do I pay for the privilege of eating my burger?"
     "Money isn't even a viable concept, my friend. They want you to eat their burger. They want you to::::no charge. It's a pride thing. Maybe even fame attached. I mean they are outlaws. But it's pretty much tolerated. I have heard of raids."
     "Raids? Like, they swoop down on an underground McDonald's and confiscate all the beef?"
     "Yeah, from time to time."
     Dick laughs.
     "Where's the beef?::::Takes on a whole new meaning. What about distribution?"
     "Machines do all the accounting. They have their own supply tubes. Each community has one or several supply centers::::everything's shipped there. Robots package the orders as they come in, deliver them."
     "Let's say I'm Imelda Marcos and just gotta have 100,000 pairs of shoes?"
     "No, no. You got one living space in your community::::and maybe one or two others::::like summer homes, in other communities::::possible::::but they're strickly regulated. So, you have maybe an office space or a workshop or something, also::::but that's it. Where you going to keep your shoes? And, besides, every request goes through a terminal::::they know how many pairs of shoes you own::::request something fishy, they ask you to come in and process your order in person::::verify your need. People aren't greedy::::not really. First thing I noticed::::hard for someone like me to understand. You, it's money::::can't live without it."
     "No greed."
     "Nope. And people are all equal. There are scientists, academics, artists and people who are special::::but even they tend to keep a low-profile. Just the way it is. Ambitious?::::Then go for it, make what you can make::::but don't brag about it. It's weird::::this contentment."
     "Boredom."
     "Yeah::::that's how we translate it, but it's not. Imagine all the struggles being gone in life. Food, shelter::::expectations. All gone. You just find yourself something to do. Even education is vastly different. Kids in the first grade discuss quantum theory::::they don't recite the alphabet. And it's not our fear of robbing them of their childhood::::they're kids::::they play hop-scotch and all, only instead of mindlessly hopping, they're able to mathematically gauge their trajectory in their heads."
     "Is that true?"::::Dick asks Estoli.
     "New math."
     "If machines are so wonderful::::why are you helping this renegade?"
     "First of all it's my ticket. The old men have a point::::o.k.::::I get rid of all my twenty-first century hobgoblins. What about human supremacy? Let's say that other life we've discovered out there, comes for a visit. What do they see? They see a race of beings so flawed that they had to invent a machine to take care of their basic needs."
     "Embarrassment?"
     "I wouldn't call it that. Human beings are evolving now quicker than at any point in our history::::but all of this evolution is geared toward the machines. Our evolution is being measured solely by the evolution of the machines."
     "But you just said kids know quantum theory?"
     "Is that a leap, or simply learned behavior? And that's exactly the point::::the machines are evolving, they're evolving because they control::::where does that leave humankind?"
     "But, in that human beings are organic structures, they can't help but evolve."
     "The machines are organic structures too."

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