# 5HC: Is the Wolfe line necessarily doomed to failure?

*The Urth list — 1 messages, 1 voices, 19 Apr 2002*

<https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/3178>

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### Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
*19 Apr 2002, 22:50*

I'm not sure what this means, but it appears that Number Five does
something no previous Gene Wolfe has done. In the conversation in
which he discoveres the nature of Mr. Million, this happens (Ace 
ed'n, p45):

	[Mr. Million] paused agian, and for an instant his
	face dissolved into myriad sparkling dots, swirling
	like dust motes in a sunbeam. "I am sorry. For once
	you wish to listen but I do not wish to lecture. I 
	was told, a long time ago, just before the operation,
	that my simulation - this - would be capable of 
	emotion in certain circumstances. Until today I had
	always thought they lied."

Okay, I freely admit that I'm not sure what this is about. The
preceding conversation is all about what Mr. Million is. Is it
possible that no preceding generation has _asked_? Or...

At any rate, it appears that _something_ has happened here that did 
not happen with the previous GW clones. Does this imply that the 
GWs can evolve after all? (After all, the real GW believes in some 
"heretical" ideas about inheriting acquired characteristics.)

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