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 main roads. At present we have only seven aeroplanes; you sprinkle Krakatit where you like; then you turn on a switch in the station and there you are. Well, would you like to try?”

Prokop felt that it was all a dream. “No! Why should I do such a thing?”

Daimon shrugged his shoulders: “Because you must. Force will out. Why should some State do it on your account, when you can do it yourself? I don’t know what you couldn’t do; you must begin to experiment. I can assure you that you’ll acquire a taste for it. Do you want to be the ruler of the world? Good. Do you want to blow up the world? You can. Do you want to make it happy by forcing upon it continual peace. God, a new order, a revolution or something of the sort? Why not? You’ve only to begin. It doesn’t matter about the programme. Finally you will only do what you are compelled to do through the conditions which you have yourself created. You can destroy banks, kings, industrialism, armies, eternal injustices or what you like; as you go along you will see what you want to do. Begin where you like and the rest will follow by itself. Only don’t look for analogies in history. Don’t ask yourself what you may do; your situation is unprecedented. There is no Dzhinghiz Khan or Napoleon to tell you what you have to do or to say what your limits are. Nobody will be able to give you advice; nobody will be able to abuse your power. You must be alone if you want to take things to their limits. Don’t let anybody come near you who would set you any boundaries or suggest any particular line of action.”