Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe

by Asprin, Robert

Instead of opening fire immediately, Hosato took a moment to plan his attackIn theory, he should have nothing to fearHis suit gave him invisibility and therefore invulnerabilityIf the robots' camera eyes did not register a human form, they would not fireEven his blaster was rigged to establish contact through his palm, and shared the same light-​relay mechanism as his suitHe was totally invisible and safe-​in theoryOf course, relying on theories was a sure way to guar-​antee an early retirement.

  There was always the possibility that cameras were not the robots' sole means of sensory inputHeat sensors, movement detectors, any one of a number of devices could detect his presence, and then he would be in a shoot-​out with three machines that didn't miss.

  The robots were a scant fifteen feet awayHis plan of action set, Hosato opened fire.

  Standing off-​center to the right of the corridor, he fired point-​blank at the lead robotDropping to one knee, he fired again immediately at the robot at the rear of the formationNot waiting to observe the re-​sults of his first two shots, he dived to his left, rolling to the side of the corridor, and from a prone position fired again at the final robot.

  He rolled again, still prone, to the center of the cor-​ridor, and froze, studying his targetsObserving no sign of continued activity from the robots, he drew a deep breath and waited for his heartbeat to return to its normal pacingRealization suddenly struck himBetween his second and third shots, the last robot had returned fire, the bolt from its blaster sizzling the air over Hosato as he rolled across the corridor.

  He shot a quick glance behind him to check his re-​treat routeThe smoldering body of a security guard lay just inside the door.

  That's what the robot had fired atIt was reacting to the security guard's intrusion into the corridorHad Hosato been on his feet, he would have been caught in the line of fire, invisible or not!

  He suddenly saw another blaster being poked cau-​tiously into the corridor, a blaster held by a hand with a uniform sleeve showing.

  “Hold your fire!” he called, quickly breaking the seal on his suit.

  He rolled to his feet and confronted the bewildered guard who cautiously followed the blaster into the corridor.

  “How did you-?” the guard began.

  “How do we get into the main computer building?” Hosato demanded.

  “We can't!” the guard responded automatically.

  “Look, don't you understand?” Hosato pressured“If we can knock out that computer, the robots will be minus a brainThat's where they're being controlled from.”

  The guard's face hardened“That's a top-​security area,” he recited“Orders state that unauthorized per-​sonnel-”

  Hosato almost hit the man in his frustration but gamed control of himself.

  “Where's Sasha?” he demanded“We'll get your or-​ders changed right now.”

  “The chiefs been hurt,” the guard informed him“Just before we collapsed the main tunnel, she.”

  But Hosato was gone, pushing his way into the maintenance shopChaos reigned in the shopThere were people packed into every available space, all shouting at each otherBits of conversation came to Hosato as he made his way through the crowd.

  “it's got to be the main programmingThey couldn't just.”

  “has been in the family for two hundred years, and you just.”

  “the brains God gave an ant, you'd quite pok-​ing around in the mechanics and help us figure.”

  “Billy Billy Maria, have you seen. ?”

  “long until they burn a new corridor, we've got to.”

  He found her at lastShe was lying on the floorJames was trying to keep the crowd from stepping on her, but with limited success.

  “Hosato!” the boy cried, spying him as he covered the final distance through the press of bodies“Sasha's-”

  “I heard,” he said, dropping to one knee beside the fallen security chief“How is she?”

  It was a rhetorical question, and he ignored the boy's answer as he took in the situation at a glanceSasha's right arm was gone below the elbowThere was no bleeding, probably cauterized by the same blaster bolt that took her arm, but she was in deep shock.

  “Carolyn's dead,” James shouted in Hosato's ear.

  “Who?” he replied absently.

  “CarolynThe red-​headed girl in your roomWhen we were.”

  Someone, pushed backward by the crowd, walked directly across Sasha's bodyHosato pushed savagely at the legs, then stood up, casting about desperatelyA familiar face caught his eye.

  “Doc!” he called.

  The maintenance man was embroiled in an argu-​ment with a red-​faced couple and didn't respondHosato stretched out, got hold of his arm, and physi-​cally dragged h¯m out of the conversation.

  “We've got an injured person down here, DocIs there someplace we can take her where she won't get trampled?”

  “Try the garageRick chased everybody out of there while he was working on the crawler.”

  “Thanks!” Hosato said, releasing his hold on the mechanic.

  “Say,” the man asked, “are you headed back there?”

  Hosato was scanning the crowd, trying to pick a path“Yes,” he replied absently.

  “Can you take these to Rick?” the man said, forc-​ing a wad of papers into Hosato's hand“Maybe he can make head or tails of them.”

  “Sure,” Hosato acknowledged“Come on, James.”

  He stooped and picked Sasha up in his armsEven with James breaking a path through the crowd, it was hard maneuveringThe door to the garage was worst of allThere were so many people in front of it Hosato had to momentarily set Sasha down and physi-

  cally shove people away before he could get it openAs it was, he and James barely got Sasha through be-​fore the jostling crowd slammed the door shut behind them.

  “I told you to stay out of. Oh, Hayama.” Rick emerged from under the sand crawler he was working on“What's.-.Oh, my God!”

  “She'll be okay,” Hosatc said, easing his burden to the ground“How's the work going?”

  “Nearly complete,” Suzi pronounced, gliding into view from the far side of the crawler“Another five minutes of uninterrupted work and the vehicle will be fully functional.”

  “That's right,” Rick confirmed“That's quite a 'bot you have there, HayamaI'm going to have a whole shipload of questions for you when all this is over, but in the meantime..”

  “Right,” Hosato responded“I'll get out of your wayOh.” He suddenly realized he was still hold-​ing the wad of papers“Here, Doc, said you should take a look at these.”

  The mechanic took the bundle and frowned at it“What are they?”

  “I don't know,” Hosato admitted“Doc just said-” Their heads came around with a jerkMuffled screams, mixed with the unmistakable sound of blaster fire, were coming from the door.

  “My God,” Rick gasped'They're in the shop."

  “JamesGet Sasha into the crawlerThat one, the one that's workingSuziGive him a hand.”

  Hosato turned to Rick and lowered his voice“Get this thing fired up and ready to rollI'll see if there's anything we can do.”

  Rick nodded and darted toward the controls of the working sand crawler, and Hosato turned toward the door.

  The screams were redoublingUnseen fists were pounding at the door to the garageIn a flash, Hosato realized what was happeningThe door opened into the shop, and the panicked people were shoving against it, prevented by their own numbers from get-​ting it open.

  With a curse he ran to the door and threw his weight against itThen he backed up and launched a flying double kick into the door.

  The door didn't budge an inch.

  Hammering on the door, he tried shouting Instruc-​tions to the people on the other sideFinally he stopped, realizing the futility of his actionsSimultane-​ously he realized the screams from the shop were dy-​ing out, replaced by eerie silence and the sporadic sound of blasters.

  He turned and sprinted for the crawler, fighting back the cold, si
ck feeling in his stomach.

  Hanging over Rick's shoulder, Hosato peered curi-​ously at the piloting viewscreen as the sand crawler jolted its way across the rough terrain.

  “How far is it to the Ravensteel complex?” he asked, swaying as the crawler plunged down another gully.

  “Not far,” Rick assured him“I've never been there myself, but I know we're working opposite ends of the same mineral veinI figure we should be there by morning. noon tomorrow at the latest.”

  Hosato squinted skeptically at the viewscreen“That's pretty rough terrain out here.”

  “Don't worryThis baby's built to run over this stuff.”

  Rick's faith in the vehicle seemed to be well-​foundedIt was like an exaggerated version of a tank -no, tanks had caterpillar treads, and this had huge balloon tires, eight of them, with independent suspen-​sionMore like a large version of an armored carIt was short and wide, with the rectangular crew housing perched in the centerMounted forward of the hous-​ing was a pair of large pincer-​arms as well as a small forest of lesser tool armsThe arms could be con-​trolled from the driver's seat with amazing dexterity and strengthThe area to the rear of the housing was taken up by a small airlock that gave the operators access to the outside, should the work require the hu-​man touchIt was an impressive machine, but it was still a machine.

  “Are you sure the main computer can't take con-​trol of this thing?” Hosato asked nervously.

  “Impossible,” Rick assured him.

  “If you don't mind my being blunt, that's what everyone said about the idea of killer robotsImpossi-​ble, but it happened anyway.”

  Rick sighed“Look, are you worried about Suzi running amok?”

  “No, but-”

  “Well, there's more chance of her being dominated by the computer than there is of this crawler being affected.”

  Hosato shot a glance through the low door to the crew area, where James and Suzi were hovering over Sasha.

  “Now, I didn't mean you should get paranoid about Suzi,” Rick chided“Look, Suzi's capable of inde-​pendent action, but she has no capacity for computer directionAnd this crawler has no capacity for com-​puter direction, and it isn't capable of independent actionThe only controls for this baby are right here in my hand, so don't worry.”

  Hosato hesitated a moment, but decided the em-​barrassment of admitting his ignorance was worth the information to be gained“How does that differ from what happened back at the complex?” he asked.

  “The security robots are like most of the robots we use: run by one central computerThey are free-​moving, multifunction robots, but the decision-​making and function cues were still left in the central com-​puter.”

  He stopped talking to concentrate on piloting the vehicle around a rock formation.

  “So all the killer robots were being controlled from the central computer?” Hosato prompted, once the obstacle had been cleared.

  “That's right,” Rick confirmed“Their activities were too complex and unified to be self-​directedThe problem isn't with the individuals units, it's with the central computer.”

  Hosato swore.

  “What's wrong?” his friend asked“I had a chance to go after the central computer and passed it upIf I could have gotten to it-”

  “-you wouldn't be here,” Rick interrupted“Sasha could probably tell you more about it than I can, but believe me, that thing's protectedYou don't just walk up and turn it offIncidentally, how is she doing back there, anyway?”

  “I'll check,” said Hosato, and ducked back to the crew area.

  Sasha was lying on the floor, her eyes openHer listless thrashing about constantly threatened to dis-​place the blankets they had heaped on her.

  “How is she doing?” Hosato asked.

  James turned worried eyes up to him“We're trying to keep her covered, but she keeps-”

  “They'll burn through!” Sasha moaned suddenly, sitting up“We need a bigger blockCollapse another twenty feet-”

  “It's all right, Sasha,” Hosato soothed, taking her by her shoulders and easing her back down.

  “You don't understand.” She turned vacant eyes to him“They'll burn throughWe've got to stop them.”

  “They're stopped,” he assured her“Everything's all rightGet some rest, now.”

  “Hosato?” She blinked at him“Could you get a doctorI think my right hand's hurtThe fingers feel like they're on fire.”

  She tried to raise her right arm to look at it, but Hosato restrained her.

  “Just get some restEverything will be all right.”

  “HayamaCome up here, quick!”

  Hosato was momentarily torn by indecision.

  “Take care of her, James,” he said finally, relin-​quishing his hold to the boy and starting forward.

  “We've got problems,” Rick announced grimly as Hosato entered the pilot's booth“Watch the rear viewscreen there as we hit the top of this next rise.”

  Hosato did as he was toldThe moon was bright enough to throw shadows as he surveyed the scene in the viewscreenAt first he saw nothing; then some-​thing moved in the center of the screenA blob de-​tached itself from a patch of shadows, then was obscured from sight as their crawler plunged into the next gully.

  “What is it?” he asked tensely.

  “The central computer's sent one of the ore scouts after us.”

  “What can it do?”

  “Well, it's got an industrial slicer as one of its tools, and an ore crane for anotherIt can pick us up or cut us apart, depending on its instructionsFrom what happened back at the complex, my guess is it'll cut us apart.”

  “Hosato!” James called from the back“Can you give me a hand here?”

  “In a minute, James,” Hosato called back.

  “Say, I've been meaning to ask,” Rick said“Is it Hayama or HosatoThe kid there keeps-”

  “It's HosatoCan that thing catch us?”

  “It's faster than we are, but we're almost out of range of the computer's control radius.”

  “Good.” Hosato sighed.

  “Not so fast,” Rick retorted“I said 'almost.' We've got another half-​hour's driving before we're clearIt'll be close, but it'll probably catch usEven if it doesn't, it'll be close enough to use its slicer on us.”

  Hosato studied the pursuing vehicle as it came into view again.

  “Where are the surface suits?” he asked finally.

  “In the tall lockers back in the crew areaWhy?”

  But Hosato was already gone.

  “Hosato-” the boy began, looking up.

  “Not now, James,” Hosato mumbled, brushing past him“We've got problems.”

  “If I might suggest.” Suzi began, but Hosato ignored the robot.

  “If anything happens, James,” he said, dragging the bulky surface suit from the locker and gathering it in his arms, “get in touch with the HungarianSuzi can tell you how to find him.”

  “But-”

  Hosato cut him short, calling ahead to Rick as he started for the cockpit again.

  “Stop the crawler in the next gully!”

  “What for?” the mechanic called back.

  “We haven't got time to argue,” Hosato growled, joining him in the cockpit“Just stop this thing and help me get into this suit.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I'm going to take a blaster and lay a little ambush for our friend there.”

  “You're nuts,” Rick proclaimed“You won't stand a chance out there.”

  “If I don't, none of us have a chanceAt least I can create a diversion until the rest of you are out of rangeNow, stop this thing.”

  The mechanic obediently pulled the vehicle to a halt in the dark shadows of a gully.

  “All right,” he said, swiveling in his chair to help Hosato with the suit, “but how will we know to come back and pick you up?”

  “You don't,” Hosato replied, struggling with the suit's fastenings“You get out of range and waitIf t
his works, I'll follow your tracks and catch up with youIf I'm not there by sunrise, I'm not coming.”

  “Well, good luck, Hosato.” Rick slapped him on the back as he headed back to the crew area.

  Just through the doorway, he stopped suddenlyHis swords, his clothes, were all heaped in the center of the floor next to JamesIt took him a moment to real-​ize the implications of this fact; then he cast about the area, opening his faceplate.

  Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe

  “Where's Suzi?” he demanded.

  “She she told me to unload her,” James stam-​mered.

  “But where is she?” Hosato barked.

  As if in response, he heard a muffled hiss of com-​pressed airThe outer airlock door had just opened.

  Hosato stoqped and rummaged desperately through his gear.

  “I didn't know what she was going to do!” the boy insisted“All of a sudden she was gone.”

  Hosato finally found what he was looking forThe radio unit he and Suzi sometimes used for communi-​cationsThumbing the unit on, he raised it quickly to his lips.

  “Suzi!” he called“What are you doing?”

  “What's going on?” Rick called from the cockpit Hosato pushed his way forward again, centering his attention on the rear viewscreen.

  “See for yourself!” he said, nodding at the screen.

  Suzi could be seen clearly, steadfastly making her way back along the crawler's tracks.

  “If you don't mind my saying so,” Rich said archly, “that's a waste of a fine robotShe can't do anything against that ore scout.”

  “I didn't send her,” Hosato snarled“She's out there on her own.”

  The robot was almost out of sight as Hosato thumbed the radio button again.

  “SuziI asked you a direct questionRespond!”

  “I am executing your plan for diversionary action,” came the calm reply.

  “The plan was for me to create a diversion,” Hosato barked.

  “That was the only flaw in your planI am emi-​nently better suited than you for this mission.”

  “Return to the crawler at once!”

  “May I remind you”-Suzi's voice was dry, despite the radio-“the purpose of this maneuver is to gain time for the crawler to escapeThat effect will very quickly be lost if you continue to delay your depar-​tureThe time for argument is past.”