They went into a cave being drilled in the side of a mountain, walking toward the light at the end. The operation had only been going a couple of days; another week, and people wouldn't be allowed in the mining area anymore, just the automaton miner.

"so you see, Mr. Millen," said Colin, when they arrived at their destination, "the Burrowing Independent Robotic Drill does a very efficient job, better and faster than any human miners could ever do. it can find any ores it has been programmed to recognize as valuable to its owners, take them out of the earth and begin processing them immediately. it takes nothing but what is needed, and anything of no interest is left behind."

"Yes, that's all well and good, Mr. Cruise, but like the press has been saying, this robot of yours is puting people out of work. And i feel a certain loyalty to my employees. if i bought one of your machines, i'd have to lay off the vast majority of them. then what would they do?"

"well, first let me say, if you really care about the people working for you, you must understand that despite whatever precautions you take, mining has always been and will be a dangerous line of work for human beings. there are always chances of cave ins, inhalation of hazardous fumes, radiation poisoning, and so on. If humanity didn't rely so heavily on technology, and technology didn't rely so heavily on the various minerals, no one would ever want to so endanger their lives. miners have for centuries been demanding more and more safety precautions, and people like you, who care about your fellow man, have always accomodated, as well you should. but there comes, eventually, a point beyond which no further precautions can be found. this doesn't mean they are enough, or that the workers will stop demanding more. and well they shouldn't. they are, after all, human beings, mr. Millen, and as such, deserve the very best. well, my robots may force them out of a job, but not a job they should have had to begin with. my robots, by replacing human workers, will actually be saving lives."

"Yes, i understand all that, Mr. cruise, i really do. but still, I must provide for my people..."

"Yes yes yes, of course you must. tell me, how fast could a team of ...how many people are working for you?"

"100 men."

"how fast could 100 men mine a mountain of this size?"

"Oh, take em about ...a year and a half, i guess."

"and would they mine it completely?"

"Well, no, of course they can't-"

"of course they can't. but my Burrowing Independent Robotic Drills can. and, they can do it within a month. how much money do you think your corporation could make from all the ore in one mountain like this, not to mention underground caves and such?"

"Oh, i'd say ...well, if it came to everything in the mountain, and it didn't even have to be refined...around 7 million dollars."

"Or more, Mr. Millen, or more. now, each of my robots costs only 100,000 dollars. that leaves you with at least 6 million, 900,000 dollars profit. how much do you usually make from a mountain like this?"

"in profit, you mean, after paying all my workers, refining, and all that?"

"yes."

"I guess about a million dollars for myself...and my corporation..."

"so if you kept that much, that would still leave 5.9 million dollars. and that's on the first project. the second one, the robot would already be paid for, and you'd have an extra hundred thousand."

"that's good...but..."

"and that's just in a month. what you usually make is in a year. so if you did this every month, think what you could make. or, you could just do it the once or twice, and take the rest of the year off."

"but about my people?"

"how much do you usually pay the lot of them, in a year?"

"oh...let's see...about 4 million..."

"well, mr. Millen, we've already established that you now have nearly an extra six million lying around from your first month's project, and an even six from the second."

"So..."

"so, my good man, you can give it to your workers. and since they were making a combined 4 million before, this represents a considerable raise for each of them. and that's in one month. they too can make that every month of the year, or take the rest of the year off."

"well, that makes sense. yes. yes. yes, i believe i'll take one. i'll take one of your Burrowing Independent Robotic Drills."

"you've made a very wise decision, Mr. Millen."

"yes. oh, but wait...tell me, Mr. Cruise, how long does one of these machines of yours last?"

"what? didn't i tell you? i thot i had. well, it's only really good for a couple of months, but considering all the benefits, i'd say it'd be well worth your while to buy a new one every other operation."

"i suppose it would at that. well, have one shipped to my company as soon as possible, mr. Cruise."

"I will sir. And your check?"

"is right here," said Mr. Millen, making it out on the spot.

"You have made a very good choice, mr. Millen."

"don't i know it, mr. Cruise. I've always wanted to kill two stones with one BIRD."