She gave a mirthless laugh. “I’m sure it is true even in your own case! You appear to be a somewhat sophisticated man. You’ve lived in the city for five years—you’ve mentioned knowing at least one gulden man, and you talked of him as if he was a friend. But if you were brought up in-country on a Higher Hundred estate, I’ll wager you were taught that guldmen were completely inferior, and even now you can’t quite bring yourself to believe they’re your equals.”

He was silent for so long that she thought he might not answer. His face looked troubled, and he folded his hands tightly together before him.

“To a large extent,” he finally said, in a slow, considering voice, “you’re right. I was—my mother considered herself a liberal woman, and always taught us that we should treat people who were not of our own social level with—with dignity and respect. But firmness. We should not let them encroach. We should not let them get too familiar. This applied mostly to the mid-caste and low-caste servants who worked in the house. We were always taught that the world runs best when everyone knows his place—and stays in it.

“But that rule applied even more to the gulden. We didn’t see many, of course—a few, probably brought into the towns specifically to do some of that electronic work you talked about. My mother was very clear on our behavior to them. Treat them with great gentleness but reserve, as you would treat some kind of afflicted child. The worst sin in her eyes was to be rude, but stepping out of your place in the social order was a pretty close second.

“Actually, my mother believed that gulden were about on a par with animals—fairly intelligent and occasionally useful animals, but no higher. I don’t know that she ever used the word. I do know that that is how I viewed them myself. As primitive creatures. Without thought processes. Without refined emotions. Without—without any of the characteristics that distinguish men from beasts.”

He paused a moment, squeezing his hands together even more painfully. “When I came to the city,” he said, “I was—it’s impossible to convey how profoundly I was shocked. Not only because there were so many guldmen, but because they walked around on the streets of their own free will, choosing which doors to open and which trolleys to catch. You understand, I had never seen a guldman—never seen a guldman—unattended before. The few I saw in-country were always being directed by some blueskin in some task. It didn’t occur to me they could have independent motives and schemes. It hadn’t crossed my mind.