Asimov’s Future History Volume 6

by Isaac Asimov

“Why do you believe me?”

  “If you had a positronic brain, you would not be able to lie to me and say otherwise. Therefore you must be, or possess, the human brain in the robot body.”

  “Okay, okay, fair enough. Say, why didn’t I think of ordering around search robots before? Jeffrey, you’re not yourself. That’s why.” He giggled to himself. “You certainly aren’t, are you?”

  “Do you have further instructions for me?” asked Air Quality 6, in the same bland voice as before.

  “Oh, yeah — you bet. I sure do. The first order is, you don’t let on to anyone who I am. Understand?

  I’m just another robot here in town. Got it?”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. Now we’re going to be a team. I’ll give you the orders and you’ll obey them. Since you have a comlink that works, you’re going to help me get away from all these search teams. If you detect the presence of one of those teams, you alert me and help me avoid them. We’re going to get out of here.

  Got it?”

  “I understand that we are going somewhere. I do not know what ‘here’ we are getting out of.”

  “I’ll explain one step at a time,” said Jeff, eyeing the robot thoughtfully. “Well, well. I think we’re going to get along. You know, taking over this town is going to be easier than I thought. Let’s go down to the nearest tunnel stop. You know where it is?”

  “Yes. Follow me.”

  Derec was munching bacon and wiping out the inside of the chemical processor’s receptacle when Ariel sat up straight in her chair by the computer console.

  “Derec, we’ve got something. He’s been found. Sort of.”

  “What do you mean, sort of? What is it?” He hurried to her and leaned down to read over her shoulder.

  “A partial alert came into the central computer just now. All it says is, ‘Jeff Leong located.’”

  “That’s all? That doesn’t sound like an efficient robot message. Move over. I bet the message was aborted somehow — maybe Jeff punched him or something.” He leaned in front of her and quickly keyed for the location of the report and read the coordinates. “Hey — that’s right outside! Come on!”

  He turned and ran out, aware of Ariel following right behind him.

  Derec skidded to a stop on the street, looking all around. Various humanoid robots were in sight, but none were doing anything unusual. He had no way of picking out one over another.

  “Derec, how about those two?” She pointed at a pair of humanoid robots just going around a corner. “I think that one looks sort of like Jeff, don’t you?”

  “Could be, I guess.... There’s a tunnel stop over there. I think I’ve got it — he’s ordered another robot to run the tunnel booths for him. If he does, he can go anywhere. The whole search will be a waste of time.

  Come on!” He ran back inside and got on the console.

  “What are you doing? Shouldn’t we try to catch them?”

  “We are. Here it is — the destination he’s chosen. I see he’s only going a couple of stops from here. He must be pretty sharp. Instead of just heading out as far as he can go, and risking interception, he’s going to leave a broken, unpredictable trail. Maybe I can alert some robots in that area, somehow —”

  “That’s a waste of time!” Ariel shouted. “Look where he’s going — it’s right next to the Key Center. He still has a distance to go. We can beat him there ourselves!”

  “What? How?” Derec turned to look at her, but she was already running out the door. He hesitated, then got up and ran after her.

  Jeff and Air Quality 6 had had to squeeze into the same tunnel booth, of course, and it was very crowded. Jeff decided to make this stint a short one, to test Air Quality 6’s reliability. He still wondered if some kind of programming might have allowed the robots to act in unusual ways for the sake of trapping him. Air Quality 6 activated the booth, and they took off through the tunnel.

  The awkward fit in the booth made the trip seem longer than it was. Finally, they slowed into the siding loop and got out. Jeff led the way up the ramp.

  The great bronze dome he had often seen rose up in front of them, gleaming in the sunlight. He didn’t know what it was, but it was a visual reference point he had often used. Air Quality 6 had brought him here faithfully, so he supposed he could trust the robot after all.

  “Good job, pal,” Jeff said to the robot. “Well, I guess we can take a longer trip now, maybe out to the edge of town. You probably know this place better than I do. You got any suggestions?”

  “I detect the approach of two humans from one direction and a robot from another.”

  “What? Where?”

  “There.” Air Quality 6 pointed to a transparent, horizontal chute lined up with a loading dock not far away. Derec and Ariel were climbing out of the vacuum tube. “And there. The robot is not in sight yet, but is about to come around a corner. He had been using his comlink to contact me.”

  “You didn’t respond, did you?” Jeff growled in a low voice.

  “No.”

  “Good. You freeze — don’t speak, move, or communicate in any way till I give you the counter order.”

  Jeff froze himself into position at the same moment, just as Derec and Ariel came running up.

  “Is that you, Jeff?” Ariel asked breathlessly.

  Jeff held himself still, and was relieved to see that his last order to Air Quality 6 was being obeyed, as well.

  “One of you has a positronic brain,” said Derec. “I order that one to answer us. Which one is Jeff?”

  Jeff spent a very long moment waiting, but was glad to realize that his order to Air Quality 6 for silence had taken precedence. He might just figure a way out of this problem yet.

  “You are Derec and Ariel?” asked another robot, joining them. “I am Assistant Planner 3. I have been participating in the random search for Jeff Leong and received your emergency message from the central computer.”

  “Thanks for coming,” said Derec. “We seem to have a problem here. They aren’t responding.”

  “So I understand. I have been attempting to communicate with them through my comlink ever since I received your message, but I have not had a response, either.”

  Ariel stood right in front of Jeff and peered into his eyeslit. “I think this one’s Jeff. I’m not real good telling these robots apart, but they all have slight differences. This looks like him. You in there, Jeff?”

  “All right,” said Derec. “This is going to take some effort. We’ll have to get them together with the other robots whose comlinks don’t work; I understand that two or three more have been found. Assistant Planner 3, please arrange for this. Make sure the medical team joins us.”

  Chapter 16

  SIMON SAYS

  FIVE SUSPECT ROBOTS were taken to the Human Experimental Facility. Two were frozen into position and completely uncommunicative. The other three were mobile, apparently cooperative, and could speak aloud.

  As Derec and Ariel entered the building, she shook her head and said, “I’m sure that one is Jeff. We really don’t have to waste time on the others.”

  “I’m not doubting you,” said Derec. “I’m certain that one of those two is Jeff. The problem is that their bodies are the same model, so the medical team can’t tell them apart, and I’m not sure you can, either. In any case, it appears that we’ll have to smoke him out to make him admit which one he is.”

  “Welcome to our facility,” said Research 1. “Please follow me down the hall. We have the suspect robots here waiting for you. It is large enough to accommodate everyone.”

  He led them into a room from which all furniture and equipment had been removed. From the marks on the floor, Derec saw that it had been cleared for this project. The five suspects were standing in a line against one wall.

  “Derec,” said one of them.

  He looked up in surprise. “Alpha? Alpha, is that you?” He laughed and walked over to the one robot whose physical details were unique, suppres
sing an impulse to embrace him. “Hi. How did you get here?”

  “Hi,” said Alpha. “I was able to obtain a very small spacecraft and trace the source of the asteroid-disassembling operation to this planet. Wolruf accompanied me. More recently, I was detained by a robot search team and brought here.”

  “Spacecraft?” Derec suppressed a giggle of delight and caught Ariel’s eye. “And Wolruf, too. How is she?”

  “She is recovering from a difficult trip.”

  “Recovering?” Ariel said. “But she’ll be all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m glad,” said Derec. “We’ve worried about her. We’ll want to see her when we can. What about the spacecraft? Does it still work? And is it here and available and all that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Step out of line, Alpha.” Derec turned, grinning to the medical team. “This is not Jeff. I put Alpha together myself.”

  “Hi, Alpha,” said Ariel, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. “I’m real glad to see you. But why did they stop you? You have a comlink, don’t you.”

  “Greetings, Katherine. My comlink was originally set at a slightly different frequency. I altered it but was detained anyway, I believe for having an anomalous comlink.”

  “I’m Ariel Welsh now.”

  “I do not understand,” said Alpha.

  “Not now, not now. We’ll catch up with each other later,” said Derec. “For the business at hand, we’re down to four,” said Derec, looking over the others. “Research 1, were you able to begin testing, like you said?”

  “Yes. According to our standard maintenance scanning procedure on their bodies, all four are in good condition, other than their common lack of functioning comlinks. Their heads have not been scanned. The two speaking robots have given identification that has been verified by the central computer. Their comlinks simply malfunctioned.”

  “Dismiss them,” said Derec. “Alpha, you stay right here until further notice.”

  “Report to the nearest repair facility,” said Research 1.

  The other two robots left.

  “So.” Derec stood in front of the two remaining robots, looking back and forth between them. “One of you is almost certainly Jeff. Unless you’ve fallen asleep, which I really doubt under the circumstances, you can hear me and you just aren’t letting on. Well, we’ll be right back.” He turned away, then paused to grin over his shoulder. “Don’t go anywhere, now. You’ll give yourself away.”

  “Surgeon 1, you stay and watch them. Research, you and Ariel step outside with me for a minute.”

  Derec paused in the hall, but Research 1 shook his head. “This is not sufficient for privacy. If you want to talk privately, we must go into another room and I will create sonic camouflage. Do not forget that Jeff has robotic hearing.”

  “Lead the way.” Derec could hardly keep from dancing around with joy. Alpha had a working spacecraft somewhere here — once he and Ariel had smoked out Jeff, they could turn him over to the robots and take off. As they followed Research 1 into another room, he saw the smile on Ariel’s face and nudged her playfully with his elbow. She elbowed him back, a lot harder, but still grinning.

  They entered what was obviously the facility’s operating room. Research 1 flipped a switch on some sort of scanning apparatus and a faint hum came on.

  “They will not hear us. What do you wish to discuss?” Research 1 asked.

  “They?” Ariel asked, “I don’t get it. One of them is an inoperative robot, isn’t he?”

  “Immobile is not necessarily inoperative,” said Research 1. “We must be cautious.”

  “Exactly,” said Derec. “Here’s how I figure it so far — correct me if I’m off. Jeff saw us coming in time to order another robot to freeze, and probably to follow only his instructions to activate again. I did basically the same thing with Alpha once. However, in order to hear Jeff’s instruction to reactivate, the other robot has to maintain hearing sensitivity and at least some mental activity. Right?”

  “Correct,” said Research 1.

  “What about a shortcut?” Derec asked. “Can’t you just scan their heads and find out which has the biological brain in it?”

  “No,” said Research 1. “In constructing his special cranium, we used materials that would be extremely resistant to the entrance of any forms of energy, as well as to physical impact. Turning up our scanning beams to a strength that would penetrate his cranium would endanger the brain inside.”

  “Hold it,” said Ariel. “You could use your normal scanning beam, and when you get a reading for one positronic brain and one null reading, we’d know by elimination.”

  “We dare not,” said Research 1. “The cranium was tested before use, but not with the human brain inside. Even the normal scanning beam could be dangerous. The First Law does not allow us to take a risk of this magnitude.”

  “All right. Somehow, I’m not surprised.” Derec sighed.

  “The Laws of Robotics still hold precedence on them, too, though,” said Ariel. “I assume our tests will still work — won’t they?”

  “Yes. They are based on the following,” said Research 1. “If Jeff had a positronic brain, he would have to obey the Laws — for instance, if one of you were in danger, he would have to save you. However, as a human, he could allow you to come to harm if he wished.”

  “The problem,” said Derec, “is that Jeff knows the Laws and can masquerade as a robot.”

  “We also don’t know what he told the other robot,” said Ariel. “If the other robot knows that we are setting up tests, then he won’t believe we’re really in danger and he won’t have to obey the Laws, either.

  They’ll still behave the same way.”

  “Let’s get started and see what happens,” said Derec. “We’ll go in order, with tests one, two, and three.”

  Derec and Ariel went back into the room with the suspect robots. The medical team had to leave, accompanied by Alpha, in order to avoid confusion. If they did not respond according to the Laws, the real robot would see it was a test; if they did respond, they would get in the way.

  “I’ve had it with you,” Derec was yelling at Ariel. “You’re crazy.” He turned toward her in front of both robots.

  “Oh, yeah?” She demanded. Then, according to their agreement, she swung back her fist and punched him in the stomach.

  Even though he had been expecting the blow, Derec doubled over from the impact — partly from her very solid punch and partly as an act. Both robots jumped forward, no longer frozen in place, and pulled them apart. If one had been a shade faster, he couldn’t tell.

  “Let go of me! Him, too!” Ariel shouted, as they had prearranged. Both robots obeyed, but remained between them, close enough to prevent more violence.

  Derec, gasping for breath, looked up and found that they had both apparently deactivated again. It was time for the second test. He caught Ariel’s eye, saw that she was ready for him, and leaped at her throat as if to strangle her.

  Instantly, both robots grabbed him in their powerful arms and held him fixed and helpless.

  “Let go of me,” he ordered.

  Neither one let him go. Now that the violence had been repeated, the First Law was going to remain in force over the Second, until they judged that the threat was over.

  “You,” Ariel ordered, tapping one on the arm. “You go stand in the hall. The other one will keep me safe here. And you — Derec won’t hurt me right now. I know that. You can stand close if it makes you feel better, to stop us again if necessary.”

  When both robots had complied, Derec and Ariel spoke amiably to demonstrate that the immediate threat of violence was over. Then the robots allowed them to retreat to the O. R. once again to consult with each other.

  “Jeff’s pretty good,” said Derec. “He was right with the real robot every second — whichever one it was.” He grinned. “You’ve got a pretty good punch.”

  Ariel shrugged. “Well, you said it should be the r
eal thing. But now we know a little more. Direct application of the Laws activates the real robot, but only as long as the Laws apply. Then he freezes again, like Jeff ordered him.”

  “We’d better keep them separate. If Jeff is picking up his cue by watching the other robot, he’ll never mess up.”

  “Good idea. Ready for test three?”

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  In the hallway, Surgeon 1 handed him a small gray cylinder that fit conveniently into his hand. It was an intermediate laser scalpel, used for certain types of repair on robot bodies, capable of cutting through any portion of a robot body. Derec hefted it, shifted it comfortably, and held it up as he entered the testing room.

  “I’m going to cut your leg off with this,” he said to the suspect robot. “In return for your interfering with me.” He turned it up to full power, stood where he was, and aimed the beam at the robot’s knee joint.

  “The Third Law says you can’t allow this to happen. Right?”

  The robot slid to one side, avoiding the beam. Derec followed him with it, and the robot moved away again. When Derec started shooting at his legs in spurts, like it was a gun, the robot danced around, backing up, dodging, watching the beam intently.

  “I’ll get you,” Derec growled. “Ha! Close. Ha! Again. Almost. Ha! Hold still! I’ll take your leg off —”

  The robot continued to shuffle away from the beam with its quick and reliable robot reflexes.

  Derec laughed triumphantly and shut off the laser. “Got you, Jeff. An old Simon Says trick — remember that game? I ordered you to hold still, and in the heat of the moment, you forgot that the Second Law takes precedence over the Third. You didn’t hold still!”

  The robot in front of him had frozen again, but now Derec was certain.

  “You can’t fool me now; it’s too late. A positronic brain wouldn’t forget the order of the Laws for even a second, under any circumstances.” Derec called in everyone else and explained the situation.

  “This is convincing to me,” said Research 1. “Since the other suspect is by elimination almost certain to be a true robot, we can verify beyond any doubt by sending him to a repair facility.”