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"Then you certainly want mine. It's state-of-the-art."
"Just what does that mean?"
"There's none better, Mr. Minderbinder, and no good reason for the government to choose any other. Look down at my foot again. See the flexibility? The shoe looks new when you first start to wear it; when it's older it looks used as soon as you break it in. If it's dull you can polish it, or you can leave it the way it is or wear it scuffed, if that's what you want. You can make it lighter or darker and even change its color."
"But what does it do?"
"It fits over the foot and keeps the sock dry and clean. It helps protect the skin on the sole of the foot against cuts and scratches and other painful inconveniences of walking on the ground. You can walk in it, run in it, or even just sit and talk in it, as I'm doing with you now."
"And it changes color. How did you say it does that?"
"You just put this magic plastic insert into the slot of the heel and then take them to the shoemaker and tell him to dye it to whatever color you want."
"It seems like a miracle."
"I would say that it is."
"Can you make them for women too?"
"A foot is a foot, Mr. Minderbinder."
"One thing escapes me, Mr. Winkler. What does your shoe do that the ones I'm wearing will not?"
"Make money for both of us, Mr. Minderbinder. Mine is state-of-the-art. Look down at the difference."
"I'm beginning to see. Are you very rich?"
"I've had trouble with my timing. But believe me, Mr. Minderbinder, I'm not without experience. You are doing business with the man who devised and still manufactures the state-of-the-art chocolate Easter bunny."
"What was so different about yours?"
"It was made of chocolate. It could be packaged, shipped, displayed, and, best of all, eaten, like candy."
"Isn't that true of other Easter bunnies?"
"But mine was state-of-the-art. We print that on every package. The public did not want a second-rate chocolate Easter bunny, and our government does not want a second-rate shoe."
"I see, I see," said Milo, brightening. "You know about chocolate?"
"All that there is to know."
"Tell me something. Please try one of these."
"Of course," said Winkler, taking the bonbon and relishing the prospect of eating it. "What is it?"
"Chocolate-covered cotton. What do you think of it?"
Delicately, as though handling something rare, fragile, and repulsive, Winkler lifted the mass from his tongue, while maintaining a smile. "I've never tasted better chocolate-covered cotton. It's state-of-the-art."
"Unfortunately, I seem unable to move it."
"I can't see why. Have you very much?"
"Warehouses full. Have you any ideas?"
"That's where I'm best. I will think of one while you bring my shoe to your procurer in Washington."
"That will definitely be done."
