Finally he said, “It’s a proof, but is it a process? Can it actually be lived? What would you do here and now, here and now,” and his voice became almost harshly definite, “with this young couple? With the Mole?? With me??? “You’ve put the series of questions rightly,” the other remarked with a smile, “but before I can answer them I must begin even before the young. I have to say something about myself—why I venture to answer these your questions. I described myself accurately as an Elevator man. I’ve already said that there are three levels on which the present process is working; the lowest is a protest, then the middle is a pretext, and, at the limit of what I can see, is a prospect. “I see,” he smiled again at their bewilderment, “that my effort at definition hasn’t cleared things much for you. All I want to say is that the three levels, though they may seem antagonistic, are really three points in a circuit. But two poles are better than three. I have been sent, as I said, on a double message.
