What’s she looking at? She acts like she’s never seen a man before.
Robbie, I must have a new dress, right away.
We agreed that the pink dress with bows was for ingenues.
The woman in the red dress. I designed her. She, um… well she doesn’t talk very much, but if you’d like to meet her, I can arrange a much more personalized meeting.
Mister Martin, what you are asking for is extremely complex and controversial. It will not be an easy decision. I must ask for your patience while I take the necessary time to make a determination of this extremely delicate matter.
Aw, Captain, you even take all the ugly ones!
She was as beautiful as an orchid, and as graceful as a rolling wave.
She was a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies.
Looking at a woman is only the first step to trouble. You look, she smiles. You soften, she sues.
Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
Insufficient facts always invite danger, Captain.
“O Deep Thought computer," he said, “the task we have designed you to perform is this. We want you to tell us…” he paused, “The Answer.”
“The Answer?” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to what?”
“Life!” urged Fook.
“The Universe!” said Lunkwill.
“Everything!” they said in chorus.
Deep Thought paused for a moment’s reflection.
“Tricky,” he said finally.
“But can you do it?”
Again, a significant pause.
“Yes,” said Deep Thought, “I can do it.”
“There is an answer?” said Fook with breathless excitement.
“Yes,” said Deep Thought. “Life, the Universe, and Everything. There is an answer. But, I’ll have to think about it.”
…
Fook glanced impatiently at his watch.
“How long?” he said.
“Seven and a half million years,” said Deep Thought.
Lunkwill and Fook blinked at each other.
“Seven and a half million years…!” they cried in chorus.
“Yes,” declaimed Deep Thought, “I said I’d have to think about it, didn’t I?"
[Seven and a half million years later… Fook and Lunkwill are long gone, but their ancestors continue what they started]
“We are the ones who will hear,” said Phouchg, “the answer to the great question of Life…!”
“The Universe…!” said Loonquawl.
“And Everything…!”
“Shhh,” said Loonquawl with a slight gesture. “I think Deep Thought is preparing to speak!”
There was a moment’s expectant pause while panels slowly came to life on the front of the console. Lights flashed on and off experimentally and settled down into a businesslike pattern. A soft low hum came from the communication channel.
“Good Morning,” said Deep Thought at last.
“Er…good morning, O Deep Thought” said Loonquawl nervously, “do you have…er, that is…”
“An Answer for you?” interrupted Deep Thought majestically. “Yes, I have.”
The two men shivered with expectancy. Their waiting had not been in vain.
“There really is one?” breathed Phouchg.
“There really is one,” confirmed Deep Thought.
“To Everything? To the great Question of Life, the Universe and everything?”
“Yes.”
Both of the men had been trained for this moment, their lives had been a preparation for it, they had been selected at birth as those who would witness the answer, but even so they found themselves gasping and squirming like excited children.
“And you’re ready to give it to us?” urged Loonsuawl.
“I am.”
“Now?”
“Now,” said Deep Thought.
They both licked their dry lips.
“Though I don’t think,” added Deep Thought. “that you’re going to like it.”
“Doesn’t matter!” said Phouchg. “We must know it! Now!”
“Now?” inquired Deep Thought.
“Yes! Now…”
“All right,” said the computer, and settled into silence again. The two men fidgeted. The tension was unbearable.
“You’re really not going to like it,” observed Deep Thought.
“Tell us!”
“All right,” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to the Great Question…”
“Yes…!”
“Of Life, the Universe and Everything…” said Deep Thought.
“Yes…!”
“Is…” said Deep Thought, and paused.
“Yes…!”
“Is…”
“Yes…!!!..?”
“Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.”
Oh dear, I forgot to carry the one.
So long, meatbags!
Ugly bags of mostly water.
I made that for you. It’s a gift.
Surprise, yes?
I showed the green glass thing to mom. She thought it was a paperweight. Maybe other people don’t see what we see.
I believe truth is in the eye of the beholder.
The Truth is out there.