First published in Foundations Friends: Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov (1989), by George Zebrowski. This Science Fiction Short Story is a Distant Sequel, taking place in 1056 F.E., post-dating the 116th edition Encyclopedia Galactica entries published in 1020 F.E.
An unidentified narrator is researching Hari Seldon for the 117th edition of the Encyclopedia Galactica. However, out of the six known appearances of Hari Seldon, three recordings are missing. His appearances during "The Encyclopedists", "The General (Foundation)" (never shown on-screen), and "The Mule" are accessible, but the ones during "The Mayors", "The Traders" (never shown on-screen), and the Foundation's 1000th anniversary are missing.
The researcher gets caught up in philosophizing while they wait for their search algorithms to retrieve any mention of the missing records. When they do, we watch as Seldon's sixth appearance reveals how he used these appearances to encourage the previous five events. The aged Seldon gives a rousing speech about his dreams for humanity, including the way he hopes that humanity will grow free from psychohistorical prediction.
"Foundation's Conscience" provides examples of:
- All According to Plan: The sixth appearance of Hari Seldon was scheduled to occur on the Foundation's 1000th anniversary, on the 190 d. 1000 F.E. It was one of three
Missing Episodes discovered by the unidentified researcher. In this holographic recording, Seldon reveals that he expects humanity to grow beyond the laws of psychohistory, to recreate itself and society so much that they become a better and more noble race of people, a people free from negative impulses. - The All-Concealing "I": This entire story is in First-Person Perspective, with an unnamed and undescribed researcher as The Protagonist. Nothing about them is known, and even their status as human must be inferred, since they make explicit mention of positronic intelligences.
- Contemplate Our Navels: The unidentified researcher gets caught up in mulling over the conflict between destiny and free will.
- Distant Sequel: This story takes place centuries after Foundation and Earth, which was the latest volume by In-Universe chronology. It even takes place after the Encyclopedia Galactica edition that gets quoted in most of the other books, and is designed to be a story that brings closure to the series. However, context suggests only The Foundation Trilogy is Canon for this story.
- Distant Finale: This Short Story takes place centuries after Foundation and Earth, which was the latest volume by In-Universe chronology. It even takes place after the Encyclopedia Galactica edition that gets quoted in most of the other books, and is designed to be a story that brings closure to the series. However, context suggests only The Foundation Trilogy is Canon for this story.
- Immune to Fate: The final appearance by Hari Seldon, where he reveals the end of his millennia-long Plan, has him explaining that he hopes that humanity will take advantage of the new galactic civilization to become "a rational intelligence which would be immune to psychohistorical prediction".
- Minimalist Cast: The only two characters to appear in this Short Story are Hari Seldon (who died a thousand years ago, leaving recordings) and the unidentified researcher providing the narration.
- Missing Episode: The In-Universe conflict for the story comes from the unidentified researcher trying to make an Anthology of Hari Seldon's appearances in the Time Vault. However, they're initially prevented from doing so, because appearances two, three, and six are mislabeled. They eventually find the missing recordings; we see Seldon's final description of his Plan for the galaxy.
- Patrick Stewart Speech: The final appearance by Hari Seldon, where he reveals the end of his millennia-long Plan, has him explaining how he loves the noble impulses of humanity, and that in the years to come, he hopes that humanity, free from the irrational darkness of anarchy, will become a rational species that can shape their own destiny.
- Rousseau Was Right: The final appearance by Hari Seldon, where he reveals the end of his millennia-long Plan, has him explaining that he hopes that humanity will be able to eliminate the "darkness rising out of a given human nature", because he loves the noble impulses of humanity, and wishes for society to be rational and unpredictable, with freedom from inner darkness and psychohistory.
