“Quite a problem, isn’t it?” observed Simon Wright. And just then Roger Newton, accompanied by his wife, stepped into the room.
The dazed robot’s eyes shifted from one Roger Newton to the other. The newcomer caught Simon Wright’s glance, and smiled.
“So, Otho, you still retain your childhood passion for disguises?”
The false Roger Newton grinned in delight. “You should have heard the way I fooled him, Master — first as Simon, then as yourself. He didn’t know what to do.”
GRAG SEES BIG LIGHT
A light of understanding was dawning in the robot’s photoelectric eyes.
“Why, it’s that rubbery son of a test tube,” he roared. “That mess of colloid, that white-faced imitation of a man!”
“Imitation yourself,” returned Otho. “You’re nothing but a collection of rusty rivets, a refugee from a scrap yard. You have a muddled brain to go with your metal body. You’re —”
Otho’s flow of insults was cut short as Grag roared and lunged at him. But almost as the robot’s fingers reached him, the android had slipped aside and flashed into the next room. With a bellow of rage, Grag followed.
Roger Newton’s wife was laughing so hard that tears were starting from her eyes.
STAY FRIENDS DESPITE JOKES
Suddenly she stopped short.
“But suppose Grag catches him?”
“He’ll give Otho a walloping that he well deserves. But he won’t harm him.”
Simon Wright nodded. “They insult each other like deadly enemies, but in actuality, there’s a great deal of affection between them. They’re going to be the best comrades in the world.”
“I’m so pleased.” She smiled. “I don’t think I’m going to be lonely from now on. Now that Otho’s here, even Grag seems more human. And when they start to insult each other — it’s as good as being back on Earth watching a show.”
“I thought Otho would please you. I’m glad, for your sake, if for nothing else, that we decided to make him differently from Grag. And I think,” he added, “that none of us will ever regret making either of them.”
Years later, Simon Wright was to remember those prophetic words.
THE END
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Captain Future 26 - Earthmen No More (March 1951) Page 6