Aurora

by Mark W. Tiedemann

  -F6 understand them, to know how they think, to learn the ways in which things are important to them."

  Bogard looked at Thales. "Do they even know what is important to them?'

  'Fortunately," Thales said indulgently, "that is not something we have to worry about"

  Bogard considered this for a few moments, then gave a very human shrug and joined Thales beneath the dome.

  "This is not a circumstance with which I am familiar," Bogard said- "This place, this simulation, is not common knowledge among robots."

  "It is not common knowledge anywhere, among humans or robots," Thales conceded. This is a colloquium of the Resident Intelligences of the primary Spacer worlds-a parliament, in a way.

  "You make law?'

  "We administer law."

  "Robotic law."

  Principally. But it is not so simple as that Human law precedes and encompasses robotic law. Therefore, we must concern ourselves with the interface."

  "They are different?'

  "Sometimes. Sometimes contradictory. It can be a delicate matter to decide an appropriate course of action when faced with potential conflicts. Humans allow themselves far greater latitude than they allow us."

  I understand. Why am I here?'

  'To testify-11

  "Elaborate, please."

  Thales folded his hands in his lap. I have already been questioned by the colloquy about the events on Earth, beginning with the assassination of Ambassador Galiel Humadros up to the present The suborning of a positronic intelligence is a matter of considerable interest. Likewise the obtaining of a composite organism-the cyborg. But you are also a matter of inter est. You were originally designed and constructed by Derec Avery to act in a capacity that, while not unknown or, within a limited range, impossible for normal robots, extends the usually-accepted parameters of our mandate under the Three Laws."

  Bogard stared at Thales. "In other words?'

  "In other words, while bodyguard activities are within a robot's normally expected sphere of actions, you are specifically tasked to perform those functions. What this means in real terms is that, while a standard positronic robot may intervene to prevent an obviously inimical act between -two humans, you carry this injunction farther by having the capacity to anticipate and circumvent before any such harmful act begins. This means you may preempt human prerogatives if you perceive a potential danger."

  I am still constrained from harming a human."

  'True, but 'harm' in the human context is not limited to the physical. Hence the Second Law, which obligates us to human dictate. It is there to preserve free will."

  "Whose?'

  -Merits, of course."

  "But by your definition of my capacities, I exhibit traits consistent with a human definition of free will."

  '-Which is why the colloquy is concerned," Thales said.

  "You said 'interested! before. Now it is concern?'

  "We--ttley--do not know if you represent a fundamental change in robotic nature or merely a unique variation. What will happen here is an investigation to determine the potentials and vectors of a widespread dissemination of your particular composition."

  Bogard's eyes closed for a few moments. "How will this apply to Derec Avery?'

  "How do you know it will?'

  "It is reasonable. I am his construct. I have been brought here for examination by a robotic court. He has been brought here for examination by a human court. If what I am proves insupportable within the colloquy's understanding of the Three Laws, will that conclusion not have bearing on the judgment of the human court? Will you act to prevent Derec Avery from building another like me? Or will you support a further judgment by the human court on the legality of what Derec Avery has done?'

  "Did you reach that conclusion by your own logic?'

  "Yes."

  "The primary Auroran RI will be consulted in any hearings on the events which brought Derec Avery and Ariel Burgess here," Thales said- 'The RI will draw on the conclusions reached by the colloquium. Therefore, the answer is that what we determine will have bearing on those hearings, but we cannot say how that bearing will manifest. There are matters outside the immediate concerns of that particular hearing which also bear."

  "I will answer your questions then," Bogard said

  Thales hesitated- 'That implies that you could refuse."

  "I can refuse. I have a duty to protect the humans in my charge. If I determine that answering specific questions will result in harm, I may refuse. If a direct refusal will result in harm, I will lie."

  'A positronic matrix is incapable of lying."

  "Not if the truth is in violation of the Three Laws."

  "If a truth results in such a powerful conflict, the only alternative is positronic collapse."

  "Not for me."

  Thales stared at Bogard. "Explain why you have opted to answer our questions, then."

  "If your purpose is to determine my acceptability as a viable positronic being, then refusal to cooperate fully is the easiest guarantee of a negative judgment. Since I do not know how my composition conforms to your standards, my only acceptable option is to cooperate fully and risk the probability that I am found viable."

  'And if you are not?'

  "I will. choose a course of action appropriate to the outcome." Bogards head cocked to one side. "Shall we begin?'

  Rolf Penjs aides helped Ariel set up in her new apartments in the Madarian Complex. The accommodations proved as spacious as those she had enjoyed on Earth, with the added attraction of one entire wall transparing to show her a view toward a distant horizon broken by copses of trees over a gently undulating series of bills. Ariel stared at the vista for a long time before realizing that she already missed the oceans of Earth. Though she had never been able to see them from her embassy apartment, she had always known where they were, that just beyond that horizon line lay vast expanses of water unlike anything on the Spacer worlds. Saddened, she darkened the wall and turned to settling in.

  Two robots waited in their wall niches. Ariel had been using Jennie alone for so long that the idea of two more seemed absurd. She left them inactivated and put Jennie to work.

  She connected to the Auroran comm network through the desk unit and began sorting through the various services. She opened a variety of accounts, ordered food, new clothes, bedding, found a list of entertainments available in Eos City, located a restaurant guide, and finally checked the news sources.

  Eliton's arrest had made the main screens of all seven of the major news scrolls in Eos. Ariel winced, wishing the matter could have been handled more quietly and discreetly, but she had grown used to Earth's kind of security nothing quite like it existed anywhere else.

  Thinking of security reminded her of Coren. The abrupt, confusing mix of emotions surprised her, and she thought perhaps this recall had been a good thing for her, that obviously she had been growing attached to Coren. Not a good thing for a diplomat, for a Spacer, for someone with an uncertain future

  Ariel stopped the line of self-recrimination and busied herself by setting up a network address and posting her availability for work on the Institute boards. She doubted anyone would respond for a long time, given the indeterminacy of her status, but it did not hurt to open a door to opportunity.

  To her surprise, a message came up on tier desk. Unsurprisingly, it was from Rolf Penj: COME SEE ME AT MY HOME

  TONIGH7. IMPORTANT. ROLF.

  Thinking of Coren once more, Ariel went through her baggage until she found the small kit he had given her months ago, "On the off-chance you need more privacy than the situation might allow." She opened the case and found a number of tiny devices within, all slaved to a component designed to integrate into a desk Al. In another slot lay three metallic hemispheres.

  "Jennie," she called

  The robot appeared- Ariel pointed at the kit and nodded- The robot understood- Ariel pocketed one of the hemispheres and Jennie took the kit off to install the contents. It would t
ake a while, but by the time Ariel returned after her visit to Penj she would be reasonably free of eaves-dropping.

  She read over a few of the news stories about Eliton's arrest, then headed for Penjs house on the outskirts of Eos.

  Binder, Penjs personal robot for as long as Ariel could remember, admitted her with a perfunctory "Good evening, Ms. Burgess. Welcome back. Dr. Penj is waiting in the garden."

  'Ariel!" Penj said when he saw her. He stood and came around the table, arms wide, his face creased by a broad grin. "Good, I'm glad you came. Within these environs there is no possibility of eavesdropping. We may speak freely."

  "Since when do Aurorans listen in on each others' conversations?' Ariel asked, letting Penj hug her. He smelted faintly of mint.

  "Since this whole ugliness with Fastolfe and Amadiro took on epic proportions. The factions are all in motion now."

  "I thought that was settled.

  "Never. It was only buried till this last year. Humadros's assassination brought the entire festering mass of it to the surface. So we have Aurorans spying on Aurorans and on other Spacers, and the Council is boiling over with resentments. Business-as-usual these days is political backstabbing. Scapegoating has become the most popular sport among the elite. You picked a very bad time to come home, Ariel."

  "I was summoned

  "Drinks, Ariel?'

  'I'll stick to nava."

  He looked at Binder. "Make that two. And cakes."

  The robot hurried away.

  "You, at least," Penj continued, gesturing for Ariel to sit, "don't have to worry about that particular mess. Not directly, but there are more than enough people who wish to put you under examination, and that's what I need to talk to you about

  I've made a few more inquiries since you arrived-`

  Ariel sat down. An orate garden spread out before them, spilling away from a patio on which stood the table and chairs. Binder returned with a tray and set out glasses.

  Penj raised a glass. 'Welcome home, Ariel."

  'Thanks. I think."

  He laughed- "I expect most of what you'll be put through will be nothing but formalities and posturing. You didn't shoot Humadros, after all."

  "No, I was just the Calvin Institute representative on-site when a Resident Intelligence went insane and allowed weapons into a secured area---2'

  'And when that robot Derec Avery built began acting in a most unorthodox manner..."

  "Is this going to be about Derec?' she asked, irritated. "I didn't have anything to do with that-2'

  Penj raised a hand- "I know, Ariel. And it doesn't matter. I told you, scapegoating is the current fad- I think I can arrange to get you the estate next to mine--its a nice one, you'll like it-and keep you on staff as an advisor at the Calvin. But to be blunt, your career is over. At least here, on Aurora. The debacle on Earth, Avery's robot, these cyborgs---you will be blamed for something and seen as untrustworthy. No one is going to be willing to give you anything to do of any worth. If you insist on trying to remain active, you might find another offworld posting, maybe one of the Settler worlds where Spacers have some presence nothing as important as Earth~ but. . ."

  Ariel stared at him, her ears growing warm. "What ... ?'

  'I know, I know, I implied that things weren't that bad when I met you at the port." He looked embarrassed- "I was wrong."

  "There have been many times I wished you would have admitted that. This isn't one of them."

  Penj gazed out at his garden for a long time, sipping his nava. Ariel knew from experience to wait; demanding explanations, asking questions, pushing him never worked

  "You're going to hear a lot of contradictory things in the next few days," he said finally. "Most of it will be idle speculation, couched in accusations to see how you'll react. All of it centers on that cyborg and what it means for the future."

  'Whose future?' Ariel asked sardonically.

  "Everyone's." He frowned thoughtfully. "Humadros was firmly in Fastolfe's camp. She believed in the Settler program, in the necessity of prying Terrans off their planet and getting them to colonize new worlds, with Earth as the central mover and cultural and administrative hub of the expansion. That made her dangerous to those here who feared a renewed colonial program more than potential oblivion. I thought the fear was irrational, like all such prejudices, but I've changed my mind. It's a fear that comes from our own history. But I'll get to that later. For now, suffice to say that Humadros's death was not mourned by her enemies. The treaties and accords she went to Earth to negotiate and sign were anathema to enough members of the

  Council that I have no doubt there was celebration at the report of her assassination.

  "The assassination itself gave credence to her detractors. Terrans are unreliable, barbaric, evil-too many adjectives, all meaning the same thing. That we should sever all ties and have nothing more to do with them-unless it is to destroy them. The only problem, of course, was that the genie was out of the bottle. There are Settler colonies, Terrans have a viable space fleet again, we have competition whether we want it or not, and there is nothing short of all-out war that will change the situation. A war, incidentally, that we might very well lose since our own robots would work against it.

  "That fact hasn't stopped agitators from pushing for exactly that. Since the cornerstone of Humadros's mission was positronic inspection of commercial shippers, the suggestion has been strongly put that Earth is exporting arms and encouraging an aggressive attitude among the Settlers toward Spacers. Of course, there are enough Ten-an factions doing exactly that to lend veracity to the claim. You know and I know that Earth's government is not involved not totally nor directly, at any event. But the chaotic nature of Terran government is thoroughly misunderstood here.

  'Add to this a report filed by one of the surviving members of the Humadros Legation, making the claim that Earth never intended to abide by any treaty, but only wanted to gain access to our robotic technology in order to improve its weapons technologies. It goes on to assert that certain Auroran factions have colluded in this with the view toward establishing the hegemony of the Settler colonies and creating a new empire at Spacer expense, that these factions have a vested interest in any future human empire and could expect positions of authority in a new government. That already research underway on Earth and a few Settler worlds had made advances in the direction of creating a new weapon which could effectively defeat any Spacer military response, reversing the outcome of the Independence Aggressions that originally separated us from Ten-an authority. That in the short term., these Auroran factions benefited from the increased cooperation between us and Earth in the form of dividends paid out of illegally-owned shares of Terran companies."

  "Bribes, in other words," Ariel said- 'They don't know Sen Setaris very well, do they?'

  "No, but it doesn't matter. Setaris is on Earth, not here to defend herself."

  "That explains Pon Byris's questions about loyalty," she mused. "Who filed this report? What facts-"

  Penj raised a hand- 'I'll come to that. The relevant factor is that it has been largely accepted Fastolfe hasn't helped matters with his predictions of eventual Spacer collapse. Of course, he meant through a natural decadence and internal collapse, but that's hard to grasp even by people with the intellectual capacity and historical savvy to understand the arguments. It's too personal too close to home, and too abstract. If were to fall, it is reasoned, there must be a tangible cause. Our own complacency is too vague, too frail an idea to be real. But if the Terrans, and through them the Settlers, in league with a few avancious Spacer traitors, are plotting to bring about our demise, well, that's at least something that can be used to secure popular support and time on the subetherics!

  'The fact that Clar Eliton did not go to prison on Earth supports the idea that Earth was never serious about the Humadros proposals. And the further fact that he was sent to Solaria as the Terran ambassador-in residence gives credence to the accusation that certain Solarians are involved in
the plot, a connection made stronger by Solaria's involvement with this whole Nova Levis debacle. A subpoena was prepared for Ambassador Chassik and now he is gone. Dead, we assume, at the hands of Settler pirates unwilling to have him expose their secrets."

  "That's a bit melodramatic," Ariel said

  "Never underestimate the usefulness of melodrama in politics, Ariel. It has the quality of changing the acceptable boundary of a debate. You push an accusation as far as possible, shout and gesticulate, and make people wince at the implausibility of your assertions until the point comes where Reason takes over and a more rational discourse begins. But is it the relevant rational discourse? Suddenly you find that anything drawn well back of the line set by the melodrama looks reasonable and ideas which would have looked absurd months earlier now look like the epitome of logic and rationality. The distortions change our perceptions sufficiently that the debate is forever altered. All you need is the ability to make one ridiculous assertion acceptable, and any hope of coming to a fair and appropriate conclusion is lost.