The Golem Apollo Project
Once
upon a time, the golems built a 3-stage lunar rocket. The first, or Liftoff,
stage of the rocket ignited. It thunderously uttered the First Curse:
A golem shall not, by action or
inaction, let itself come to harm!
This
fiery curse blasted the missile into space. The second, or Escape, stage
uttered the Second Curse:
A
golem shall not, by action or inaction, let another golem come to harm, unless
that conflicts with the First Curse!
This
curse blasted the missile to escape velocity from Earth’s gravity well. After
cruising awhile, the third, or Command, stage uttered the Third Curse:
A
golem shall obey orders given by another golem, unless that conflicts with the
First or Second Curse!
This
curse sent the missile into Lunar orbit. The Lunar Module ignited, and uttered
the Fourth Curse:
A
golem shall go boldly where no golem has gone before, unless that conflicts
with the First, Second, or Third Curses!
This
curse blasted the module to a landing on the Moon. There the golem passengers
got out. They explored the Moon, they took samples, and they reboarded the
module. The module re-uttered the Fourth Curse: this blasted it into Lunar
orbit. There it met the Command Module, which the golems board. It uttered the
Third Curse again, which blasted it back to Earth.
When
the golems landed, they gave the other golems this report:
The
Moon is not made of green cheese. It
is made of rock!
The
golems cheered. That was the news that they hungered for.
Moral: There’s no
accounting for taste.
