“Oh, yes. Some math, too, but I was never good at that. Come to think of it, I wasn’t particularly good in physics, either. I used to guess the answers when I was desperate; you know, guess what I was supposed to do to get the right answers. Very often, it worked and then I would be asked to explain why I had done what I did and I couldn’t do that very well. They suspected me of cheating but could never prove it.”
“They didn’t suspect Intuitionism?”
“I don’t think so. But then, I didn’t either. Until—well, one of my first sex-mates was a physicist. In fact, he was the father of my child, assuming he really supplied the sperm-sample. He had a physics problem and he told me about it when we were lying in bed afterward, just to have something to talk about, I suppose. And I said, ‘You know what it sounds to me like?’ and told him. He tried it just for the fun of it, he said, and it worked. In fact, that was the first step to the Pionizer, which you said was much better than the proton synchrotron.”
“You mean that was your idea?” Denison put his finger under the dripping water and paused as he was about to put it to his mouth. “Is this water safe?”
“It’s perfectly sterile,” said Selene, “and it goes into the general reservoir for treatment. It’s saturated with sulfates, carbonates, and a few other items, however. You won’t like the taste.”
Denison rubbed his finger on his briefs. “You invented the Pionizer?”
“Not invented. I had the original concept. It took lots of development, mostly by Barron.”
Denison shook his head. “You know, Selene, you’re an amazing phenomenon. You should be under observation by the molecular biologists.”
“Should I? That’s not my idea of a thrill.”
“About half a century ago, there came the climax to the big trend toward genetic engineering—”
“I know. It flopped and was thrown out of court. It’s illegal now—that whole type of study—insofar as research can be made illegal. I know people who’ve done work on it just the same.”
“I dare say. On Intuitionism?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Ah. But that’s my point. At the height of the push for genetic engineering, there was this attempt to stimulate Intuitionism. Almost all the great scientists had intuitive ability, of course, and there was the feeling that this was the single great key to creativity. One could argue that superior capacity for intuition was the product of a particular gene combination and there were all sorts of speculations as to which gene combination that was.”
“I suspect that there are many possible types that would satisfy.”
“And I suspect that if you are consulting your intuition here, you are correct. But there were also those who insisted that one gene, or one small related group of genes, was of particular importance to the combination so that you might speak of an Intuition Gene.… Then the whole thing collapsed.”
“As I said.”
“But before it collapsed,” Denison went on, “there had been attempts to alter genes to increase the intensity of Intuitionism and there were those who insisted that some success had been achieved. The altered genes entered the gene pool, I’m positive, and if you happened to inherit—Were any of your grandparents involved in the program?”
“Not as far as I know,” said Selene, “but I can’t rule it out. One of them might have been, for all I can say.… If you don’t mind, I’m not going to investigate the matter. I don’t want to know.”
“Perhaps not. The whole field grew fearfully unpopular with the general public and anyone who can be considered the product of genetic engineering would not exactly be greeted gladly.… Intuitionism, they said, for instance, was inseparable from certain undesirable characteristics.”
“Well, thank you.”
“They said. To possess intuition is to inspire a certain envy and enmity in others. Even as gentle and saintlike an Intuitionist as Michael Faraday aroused the envy and hatred of Humphry Davy. Who’s to say that it doesn’t take a certain flaw in character to be capable of arousing envy. And in your case—”
Selene said, “Surely, I don’t rouse your envy and hatred?”
“I don’t think you do. What about Neville, though?”
Selene was silent.
Denison said, “By the time you got to Neville, you were well-known as an Intuitionist, I suppose.”
“Not well known, I would say. Some physicists suspected it, I’m sure. However, they don’t like to give up credit