Asimov’s Future History Volume 6 Read online

  “Research 1,” Surgeon 1 said warningly.

  “I will escort him,” said Research 1. “The repair crews must be very cautious, in the event that we are mistaken. They must understand the situation, so that no Laws will be violated.”

  Derec jerked his thumb at Jeff. “We know who he is, but until he quits play-acting, we can’t have much of a dialogue.”

  Ariel caught his eye and inclined her head toward the door. Derec followed her out and they returned to the O. R. to talk. Surgeon 1 remained with Jeff.

  “Maybe we can sucker him,” said Ariel.

  “All right. How?”

  “Loosen the watch on him. He’s still trying to play-act being a robot because there’s a microscopic chance that a positronic brain could have malfunctioned this way. But if he tries to escape, he’ll have to admit we know.”

  A few minutes later, everyone gathered in the testing room again in front of Jeff, except for the robot still motionless in the hall.

  “We’ve decided to move on to the next phase,” said Derec. “Research 1, please escort the other robot to be repaired.”

  Research 1 left the room.

  “Now,” said Derec. “Alpha, please leave the room but remain out in the hall — at the end of the hall, out of the way. We definitely have to talk to you.”

  “Yes, Derec.” Alpha left.

  “Surgeon 1,” said Ariel. “We are no longer completely sure that this robot is really Jeff. Return to your regular duties in the facility. Derec and I are going to have to figure out what to do next.”

  “Very well.” Surgeon 1 left the room.

  Derec casually put his arm around Ariel and walked her toward the door. “Maybe we should get something to eat and relax a little. Then we can work out our next move.”

  Ariel closed the door behind them. Alpha was waiting motionless at the far end of the hall; they went out the front door, in the opposite direction. Without speaking, since they didn’t know how well Jeff could hear, they walked outside and looked around.

  The Human Experimental Facility was a simple rectangular block. It had none of the striking geometic design of most of Robot City; with their usual efficiency, the robots had built it without frills. Derec saw nowhere to hide except around the corner.

  They sat down on the pavement just around one corner, still silent, by prior arrangement. Jeff was likely to be cautious, so they knew they could have a long wait. Surgeon 1, also by agreement, had taken up his “regular duties” in a room across from the testing room. With his own robotic hearing, he also was waiting for Jeff to make his escape.

  Derec found himself grinning in anticipation of using Alpha’s spacecraft. They could help the robots take care of Jeff, of course, but now that they could look forward to leaving when the job was done, waiting didn’t seem so bad. He looked at Ariel, who was also smiling when she turned to him. With suppressed laughter, they didn’t have to talk to feel close.

  The day wore on, and Jeff’s patience was at least as good as theirs. Derec did notice that Ariel seemed as content as he was to keep waiting. He kept thinking that he would soon go somewhere and find out who he was, or even find a cure for his amnesia. Maybe she was dreaming of finding her own cure off the planet.

  Finally, a single, moderately loud robotic shout went up inside the facility: “Derec!”

  He recognized Surgeon 1’s voice, and jumped up with Ariel. Around the corner, Jeff was just now walking out the front door with controlled, casual steps.

  “Got you!” yelled Derec, pointing at him. “Give it up.” He and Ariel ran up to block Jeff’s way.

  Jeff reached for them both with his powerful robot arms. He was free of the First Law, but Surgeon 1

  wasn’t, and he leaped on Jeff from behind, pinning his arms back.

  “Alpha!” Derec called. “Come out here!”

  “Release me,” Jeff yelled at Surgeon 1, pulling and jerking to no effect.

  “You may not harm them or yourself,” Surgeon 1 answered.

  “I have no intention of harming anyone,” Jeff shouted angrily. “I order you to release me.”

  “Hold him, Doc,” said Ariel, keeping her distance.

  Derec saw that Surgeon 1 was hesitating, probably experiencing a positronic conflict from the fact that Jeff had never really shown a desire to harm anyone. The weight of conflicting human orders was otherwise near neutral. Before, and now, he had only pushed them so that he could get away.

  “Release me and freeze,” ordered Jeff. He wrenched himself free and started to run.

  Surgeon 1 had not frozen, but he was moving slowly, uncertainly, as he worked through the conflicting human orders.

  “Alpha!” Derec shouted, seeing him emerge from the building. “That’s Jeff. He needs medical care and doesn’t know it. First Law applies — stop him!”

  In surprise, Jeff paused to look back. Surgeon 1 was again galvanized to action by the First Law application, since it overrode the problems of the Second Law. He tackled Jeff around the knees as Alpha ran up to pinion his arms.

  Jeff’s robot fist swung low and jerked back Surgeon 1’s head. He also raised a knee and then kicked upward, throwing Alpha back. Surgeon 1 held on, though, preventing him from getting away.

  As the three robot bodies wrestled and thrashed together, Derec saw the difficulty: Alpha and Surgeon 1

  could only subdue Jeff without risking any damage to him, and in the confusion of combat, they were being particularly careful, since no one had ever really tested the cranial protection around Jeff’s brain.

  On the other hand, Jeff was free to smash, twist, and rip at their bodies in any way he thought would get him free.

  Derec skipped helplessly around the three tussling bodies. With two opponents, Jeff could not get free, but with the unequal restrictions placed on them, the other two could not pin him down, either. Ariel looked from them to Derec questioningly — then turned and ran, looking for more help.

  Now Alpha was lying flat on his back, with Jeff trying to get up off him while Surgeon 1 again had his arms pinned behind him. Jeff managed to get one of his legs under him, and struggled to stand. Alpha’s standard arm was caught beneath his body, and Jeff was still gripping his other one above the elbow.

  His other one.

  “Alpha,” shouted Derec. “Make your arm flexible — loosen it up. Use it however you need to in order to stop him!”

  Instantly, Alpha’s arm lost its elbow entirely and became a fully flexible coil. The hand curved back and tightened on Jeff’s wrist to pull it free. Then the arm curved around, locking the joints on Jeff’s arm to make it immobile.

  Surgeon 1 released Jeff’s arms and encircled his knees. Alpha and Surgeon 1 stood up and finally held Jeff immobile, off the ground, as Ariel ran up with a couple of other robots she had commandeered with an emergency First Law appeal.

  Jeff was still thrashing about in his captors’ arms. “You slag heaps! You traitorous can heads! You can’t hold me! I’m human, you understand? Let go of me! Now! I order you to put me down!”

  “Can you sedate him?” Derec asked. “You can’t just hang onto him this way while we figure out what to do next. Making him sleep wouldn’t be harming him.”

  “I will sedate him,” said Surgeon 1, still holding Jeff’s legs with effort. “We are making progress, I believe. When Research 1 returns, we must consult on the matter of treatment. I experienced a moment of hesitation while in physical conflict just now over a First Law question that must be addressed.” He took a step backward, reacting to a convulsive kick by Jeff. The other robots took hold as well, assuring that the cyborg could not escape.

  “I’ll kill you! I’ll melt you all down!” Jeff screamed. “Just wait till I’m in charge!” He thrashed and kicked again.

  “Go ahead and do what you need to,” said Derec. “We’ll hang around; don’t worry about that.”

  “Into the O. R.,” said Surgeon 1. He and the others trooped inside the building, carrying their screaming carg
o.

  Derec let out a sigh of relief and turned to Ariel, ready to make some kind of joke. He stopped when he saw the look of disappointment on her face.

  Chapter 17

  WOLRUF

  JEFF WOKE UP in dim light again, but this time he recognized the room. He was not connected to any monitors now, though. His eyes adjusted quickly; he was used to that now, too, and didn’t really notice it. He felt firm restraints of some sort holding him in place.

  So they had him again. His memory was clear enough — with the bunch of robots forcing him down, Surgeon 1 had somehow introduced a substance into his neck. Jeff supposed it had gone into one of the nutrient avenues to his brain. In any case, he had been sleeping, and still felt drowsy and languid.

  He was alone in the room, which was silent, but he could hear faint noises beyond the walls. His enemies were probably holding a meeting of some sort. By concentrating, he was able to turn up his aural acuity, and just make out some familiar voices.

  “The First Law problem I experienced was this,” said Surgeon 1. “We have reason to believe that the transplantation of Jeff’s brain into a robot body has adversely affected him. If so, then the First Law requires that we undo the transplant, once we have scanned Derec for the knowledge we need to repair Jeff’s body.”

  “So what’s the problem?” Ariel asked.

  “The problem is Jeff’s resistance,” said Surgeon 1. “We are not certain that the transplant has adversely affected him. Without the imperative of the First Law, we cannot transplant his brain — or even test him — without his permission.”

  “And he certainly doesn’t seem inclined to give it,” Derec observed. “There’s not much doubt about that.”

  Jeff muttered to himself, “You’re right about that, frost head. You’re absolutely right about that. You want to take my body away from me again? You want to make me into a weakling again, like you? Stop me from taking over this planet? Ha.”

  “When is he due to wake up?” asked Research 1. “Any time now,” said Surgeon 1.

  “Then I suggest, first, that we be more cautious in discussing him, since he may hear us,” said Research 1, “and, second, that we consult with him and make certain that he understands our position.”

  “Good idea,” said Derec. “Alpha, you and Wolruf stay here. That room won’t hold all of us comfortably.”

  The moment the door opened, letting in a shaft of bright white light, Jeff shouted, “Let me out of here!

  You have no right to hold me prisoner — none of you do! Now let me up!”

  They lined up at the foot of his bed, shoulder to shoulder, watching him in silence: Research 1 and Surgeon 1 on the left, and Derec and Ariel on the right.

  “Frost! Don’t you understand your own Laws?” Jeff demanded of the robots.

  “Yes,” said both robots in unison. They looked anxiously at Derec and Ariel.

  “It’s not that simple, Jeff,” said Derec. “Look, there’s a possibility that a medical problem —”

  “Sure it is,” Jeff growled. “I want to get up and out. That’s very simple. So, let me up and out. What are you after me for, anyway? I didn’t do anything.”

  “You’re not yourself, Jeff,” said Ariel sympathetically. “A little while ago, you were shouting about taking over. You remember talking to me through some sort of broadcasting link? You told me we could be very powerful here. But I don’t think that’s really you.”

  “It is now,” Jeff said haughtily. “They created the new me, and now this is me. And you have no right to make me over again.”

  “All they really need at this stage,” said Derec, “is to run some tests on you. They want to find out if there’s a chemical imbalance in your brain that they caused —”

  “Making me crazy? Is that it? You telling me I’ve gone crazy? I’m not stupid; I’ll tell you that much. I know you want to get rid of me. You don’t like having someone as powerful as I am around, do you?

  Huh?” Jeff laughed triumphantly, and loudly.

  “Jeff,” said Ariel. “They have to act according to the Laws, and they can’t do that fully unless they run their tests. That way, they’ll know exactly where you stand.”

  “Frost!” Jeff yelled angrily. “If they have to obey the Laws, then why don’t they let me go when I tell them to? Huh?”

  “Their responsibility is larger than that,” said Derec. “Since they put you in this condition, the Laws demand that they make sure you’re really okay. The tests alone won’t hurt you any, or change you.”

  “Oh, yeah? How do I know that? Huh?” Jeff looked around at them all. “Supposedly this transplant couldn’t hurt me, either, only now you’re all saying they might have made a mistake. Well, what if they make another one? What about that?”

  Derec glanced at the robots, who said nothing.

  “Let’s leave him alone for a while,” said Derec. “Come on.” Before they left, Research 1 turned on one of the machines in the room. Jeff understood its purpose. The white noise would drown out his ability to eavesdrop any more.

  When Jeff was alone again, with the door closed, he tested his restraints. He couldn’t see what they were, since he was flat on his back, but they were stronger than he was. If he was going to get out of this untouched by the robots, he would have to argue his way out.

  Somehow.

  Back in the testing room, Derec turned to his companions with an exaggerated shrug. “Well? Now what?”

  “I regret to interrupt,” said Alpha, “but I must inform you of a fundamental change in my identity.”

  “What?” Derec turned to him. “What are you talking about?”

  “At the time you instructed me to use my cellular arm, I experienced a signal from it changing my designation from Alpha to Mandelbrot.”

  “Mandelbrot?” Ariel said. “Why?”

  “I do not know.”

  “What does it mean?” Derec asked. He was annoyed at the interruption in his train of thought about Jeff, but he could not ignore the mystery.

  “It means nothing other than a name change to me,” said Mandelbrot.

  “And it came from your cellular arm at the time I gave you the order to use it.” Derec thought a moment.

  “It was encoded in your arm when I found the part, then. Using your flexibility triggered the signal....”

  “Could it be a safety measure of some kind?” Ariel asked. “Maybe a warning. This whole planet seems to be programmed with fear and security in mind. His arm came from an Avery robot on that asteroid, didn’t it?”

  “That’s right,” said Derec. “I don’t know exactly what the signal means. Perhaps it was triggered by the combined use of some Avery parts and some standard robot parts together.” He looked at Ariel.

  “Maybe it means another signal has been sent out to call Avery back.”

  “If he’s alive.”

  “Yeah.” Derec shook his head. “First things first. Let’s get back to Jeff.”

  “That theory is consistent with another important change in me,” said Mandelbrot.

  “What is it?” Derec asked impatiently.

  “My store of data pertinent to the location of this planet was erased at the time of the name change.”

  Derec and Ariel both turned to him.

  “How important is that?” Derec demanded. “You can still program a ship away from here to a major spacelane, can’t you?”

  “Given the considerable length of spacelanes, I believe so. However, this memory erasure suggests that the signal from my arm was definitely related to the security and isolation of this planet.”

  “Good point,” said Derec, “but once we leave this place, I’m not going to care. Let’s get back to Jeff.”

  “I surmise that your visit was not productive,” said Mandelbrot. “May I assist you in any way?”

  “I haven’t thought of how yet,” said Derec. “The trouble so far is that the robots can’t treat him without permission, and Ariel and I, who don’t need permission, d
on’t have the skill to treat him. Anybody have any suggestions?” He looked around at all of them.

  “Is there anything we can do to prove that Jeff is out of his head?” Ariel asked. Then she covered her mouth in embarrassment. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to phrase it that way.”

  Derec smiled wryly. “We’re all under a strain.”

  “I cannot think of anything,” said Research 1. “The kind of unmistakable scientific evidence we require to reach a conclusion is only available through a direct analysis of his physical condition.”

  “Frost, Derec!” Ariel turned to Research 1. “How about us? Can you teach us to help just a little? If we extracted samples of fluid for you, and you analyzed them afterward — would that be acceptable?”

  Research 1 hesitated just long enough to reveal some doubt behind his answer. “The acceptability of that arrangement would ultimately rest on how skillful you became. Drawing a sample of synthetic blood would not be difficult, I believe. However, he does not have much margin for error. Unlike naturally evolved biological bodies, Jeff’s robot body has almost exactly the amount of fluid he requires. Taking too much could be fatal.”

  “You could make extra,” said Derec. “Give him a transfusion while the procedure is going on.”

  “You would have to administer the transfusion, as well,” said Surgeon 2. “And you would have to avoid flooding his system as well as starving it. Nor could you risk mixing the new fluid with the old, or the analysis would be worthless. At this point, we have confronted more complex procedures, including constant study and understanding of the monitors. We would be in violation of the First Law if we allowed Jeff to take significant risks in this manner.”

  Derec nodded, though he was disappointed. “I can’t argue with that. The truth is, I’m not sure I’m ready for responsibility over his life that way, myself.”

  Ariel sighed. “Then we need the permission of a crazy guy. Any idea how to get it?”

  Jeff wasn’t tired, really, but he had closed his eyes and rested for lack of anything else he could do. He was imprisoned by enemies who were afraid of his power, but he had not given up hope. He could afford to be charitable, once he had taken over.