and materials.
The only thing they really had in common was that they were
unrecognizable. They looked, Forrester thought, as if a truckload of
non-objective twentieth-century sculpture had collided with another
truck full of old television-set innards. Then, in some way, the two
trucks had fallen in love and had children.

The scrambled horrors scattered throughout the room were, Forrester told
himself bleakly, the children.

Vulcan sat down on the only empty chair with a sigh. "This is my
workshop," he announced gravely. "It is not arranged for visitors, nor
for the curious. I must advise you to touch nothing, if you wish to save
your hands, your sanity, and very possibly your life."

Forrester nodded dumbly. Vulcan's tone hadn't been unfriendly; he had
merely been warning a stranger, in the shortest and clearest manner
possible, against the dangers of feeling the merchandise. Not, Forrester
thought, that the warning was necessary. He would as soon have thought
of trying to fly as he would of touching one of the mixed-up looking
things.

"Now," Vulcan said, "if you'll--" He stopped. "Pardon me," he said, and
levered himself upright. He went to a chair, swept a few constructions
from it and put them carefully on a table. "Sit down," he said,
motioning to the chair.

Gingerly, Forrester sat down.

Vulcan returned to his own chair and climbed onto it. "Now let us get to
business."

"Business?" Forrester said.

"Oh, yes," Vulcan said. "I imagine you were pretty well bewildered for a
while. No more than natural. But I think you've figured it out by now.
You know you are going to be given the powers of a demi-God, don't you?"

"Yes. But--"

"Do not worry about it," Vulcan said. "The powers are--simply powers.
They are not burdens. At any rate, they will not be burdensome to you.
We know that--we have researched you to a fine point, as you may have
gathered from the fol-de-rol back there." He gestured toward his right,
evidently indicating the Court of the Gods.

"But," Forrester said, "suppose I'm not what your tests say. I mean,
suppose I--"

"There is no need for supposition. Beyond any shadow of doubt, we know
how you, as a mortal, will react to any conceivable set of
circumstances."

"Oh," Forrester said. "But--"

"Precisely. You have realized what yet needs to be done. We know what
your abilities and limitations are--_as a mortal_. The tests you have
yet to pass are concerned with your actions and r