Perihelion iarc-6

by William F. Wu

  “Harmony,” said Ariel. “Both of those. A kind of idealism. Remember when they gave us their provisional Laws of Humanics, for ideal human behavior? Robot City was supposed to be a kind of utopia. We already knew that.”

  “But now we know what kind-on what basis.” Derec nodded with excitement. He now felt a surge of energy again that animated him once more.

  “I’m starting to get the idea,” said Jeff. “What do you want to do about it?”,

  “Challenge the system,” said Derec. “Force it to malfunction. or at least make it look like it is.”

  “To make Avery show himself,” Ariel said. “All right. I get it. But… how?”

  “We have to present the system-that is, the central computer-with irrational events,” said Derec. “Look-the Supervisors originally needed us to solve a crime against a human when we first arrived. The system here has that weak point.”

  “And we never did figure out who the victim was, either,” said Ariel. She shivered. “He looked just like you. That still gives me the creeps, even now.”

  Derec said nothing. When he had first entered Avery’s office he had come across some mysterious information about the dead man that he had never shared with Ariel. This was no time to launch into that topic.

  Jeff looked at her in surprise. They had never told him that part of their story.

  “Well, for the moment, forget it,” said Derec sharply. “One crisis at a time. The reason we arranged the Hamlet performance was also to accomplish something that the robots weren’t ready to handle.”

  “I see what you’re getting at,” said Jeff. “That’s a weak point in the system. A utopia isn’t supposed to have crimes and these Avery robots can’t really handle them.”

  “Exactly,” said Derec. “I think we have to commit a few crimes against humanoid robots. We aren’t bound by the Laws of Robotics and Mandelbrot isn’t around to interfere if a situation arose that involved the Laws.”

  Jeff grinned wryly. “Okay…let’s become criminals. What’ll we do first, boss?”

  Derec grinned himself, despite his discomfort. “We have to incapacitate a robot. “

  “Murder one?” Ariel shook her head. “I don’t see how. Those heads of theirs are as hard as a ship’s hull. We could bonk them on the head and not even get their attention.”

  All three of them giggled nervously. The tension was broken a little by the hope of taking aggressive action.

  “We can’t unfasten their bodies, either,” said Jeff, still grinning. “No tools. Otherwise, we could just sneak up behind them, power up the tools, and leave a little junkpile behind.”

  “We could go into business later with used parts,” said Ariel. “Discounted Avery robot parts, cheap.”

  “All right, all right.” Derec shook his head. “We don’t actually need any physical violence. The first thing we have to do is get over to that other row, so we can look for one robot walking alone. Let’s crawl back over there.”

  It was a very long crawl. Derec had to stop several times on the way to rest. Each time, he worried that the Hunters were going to catch up to them before they could accomplish anything.

  Finally they reached the last few tall, leafy stalks before the break in the rows. The three of them huddled at the corner of the row, where Derec could lean forward and look up the slope. Jeff and Ariel sat on his other side, both of them looking around anxiously for Hunters coming from other directions.

  “Nothing yet,” said Derec. “That gives me time to explain what I have in mind.”

  “I hope more are coming this way,” said Ariel. “What if the bunch going to that assembly point is all there?”

  “Good point,” said Derec. “Maybe we should follow them. Just keep a look-out behind us-”

  “No good,” said Jeff. “These rows are absolutely straight. If the Hunters come along, they can look straight down the slope and spot us instantly even from the very opening of the pass.”

  “We’d better stay here.” Ariel settled into a comfortable position. “Derec, tell us what you’re planning while we have a chance to talk it over.”

  “You mentioned their Laws of Humanics.” Derec nodded at Ariel.

  “I don’t remember the exact wording, but their provisional First Law of Humanics was to the effect that humans wouldn’t injure another human or let one come to harm through inaction.”

  “They just rewrote the First Law of Robotics.” Jeff shrugged.

  “The Second Law of Humanics might help us,” said Derec. “It says that humans must only give reasonable orders to a robot and not require anything that would distress it. Their Third Law of Humanics is the best one for us, though. It says that we must not harm a robot or let one come to harm through inaction, unless such harm is needed to help a human or allow a vital order to be carried out.”

  “How do you want to use them?” Ariel asked.

  “We need to violate the Third Law of Humanics and maybe the Second to prove that this isn’t a utopia even for robots.” Derec looked at them both. “You follow me?”

  “So far,” said Jeff.

  “How do we do that?” Ariel asked.

  “Basically, we have to convince our victim that my physical condition is his fault. “

  “All right.” Jeff nodded. “In other words, force it into shutting itself down because it thinks it has violated the First Law. That makes sense to me. We have a better chance of that than of wrestling it to the ground.”

  “How?” Ariel demanded. “They aren’t exactly stupid. They’ll know if they’ve harmed you or not.”

  “We’ll have to play-act a scene,” said Derec. “I haven’t really figured out the details. Maybe if it thinks it caused you two to attack me, or something like that.”

  “I hear footsteps,” said Jeff.

  Derec got down low and carefully looked around the nearest plant, up the slope. A lone humanoid robot was coming down the row. Derec gathered his feet under him and waited.

  “What are we supposed to do?” Ariel whispered.

  “We’ll all have to improvise,” he whispered back, gesturing with his hand. “Quiet.”

  Just as the robot reached him, Derec threw himself forward to clutch at the robot’s legs.

  “Stop!” Derec called hoarsely, looking up at the robot’s face. He didn’t have to fake his pain any, but he gave vent to it in his facial expression. “You hurt me.”

  The robot stopped, looking down at him. “If I did so, it was inadvertent. I apologize.” The robot reached down to take Derec under its arms and lift him.

  At the contact, Derec let out a scream and went limp. He slid out of the robot’s grasp to lie on the ground face up.

  “You’ve killed him!” Ariel screamed, jumping up. “You murderer, you’ve killed him!”

  Derec struggled not to smile at her vehemence. He lay with his eyes open, so he could follow what was happening.

  “Looks that way,” said Jeff. “Maybe you ought to shut down, pal. You can’t go around violating the First Law like that.”

  The robot was visibly quivering. “I did not harm him. Our contact was minimal and of very low impact. This is a misunderstanding. I will help him find care.”

  “No! Don’t you touch him!” Ariel shouted, waving her arms wildly. “You’ll do it again.”

  “Humans cannot die more than once,” said ‘;he robot. “Besides, he is not dead.”

  “He’s in very bad shape,” said Jeff. “It’s your fault. Do you understand that?”

  Derec started grimacing and writhing in pain, with relatively little play-acting required.

  “I…could…not have harmed him,” the robot insisted. “My contact…with him…would not damage him.”

  The robot’s hesitation revealed his doubt. Derec was encouraged. They just had to keep at it.

  “And no reporting to the central computer,” Jeff said suddenly. “I almost forgot. You haven’t done that, have you?”

  “No…I was…distracted.”


  “Well, don’t. That’s an order. Second Law. Got it?” Jeff demanded, pointing a finger at him.

  “Yes…”

  “Don’t you think you ought to shut down?” Ariel said forcefully, her hands on her hips. “After doing this to him?”

  “I am… not… convinced.”

  “If you won’t shut down,” said Jeff, “then we’ll have beat him up ourselves. And that will definitely be your fault.”

  “That…is illogical.”

  “Are you going to shut down or not?” Ariel demanded.

  “No…I will not…”

  “Wait a minute,” Derec wheezed, trying to sound as injured as he could. “Do you admit that you are in doubt about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you should at least agree to come with us where we can discuss it further.”

  “That’s right,” said Jeff. “You can’t argue that, can you?”

  “Good idea,” said Ariel, looking up the slope. “We, uh, don’t want to be interrupted.”

  “Carry me,” Derec said to the robot. “Who are you, anyway? And what do you do?”

  “I…am Pei,” said the robot, with somewhat less hesitation. “My task is Architectural Designer.” He bent down and gently picked up Derec. “Where…shall we go?”

  “We want to be out of sight of this row,” said Jeff. “But not too far. Uh, let’s cross that row and go to the other side.”

  “Very well,” said Pei. “However, we cannot go out of sight of this row unless we go some distance. I see a slight dip in the row ahead that may suffice if we all sit on the ground.”

  “Perfect,” said Ariel. “C’mon, let’s hurry.”

  With Pei carrying Derec, the group moved quickly for the first time since they had left the Minneapolis. As they walked, Derec relaxed a little and closed his eyes. It was a relief to rest again, even for a few moments before they stopped.

  Pei set him down with extreme care. Then the others sat down around him on the damp, soft soil.

  “Explain…my transgression…of the First Law,” said Pei. He began quivering a little more again.

  Derec, lying with eyes closed, felt guilty about distressing the robot this way. He reminded himself, however, that the same robot was under Avery programming. He would turn them all in if the central computer or the Hunters knew he was with them and instructed him to do so.

  Besides, he could be repaired or reprogrammed later with no lasting damage.l can’t, Derec thought. He opened his eyes.

  “You harmed me,” Derec asserted as firmly as he could. “Shut yourself down.”

  “At least for a while, you know, until you can be checked,” said Ariel. “That’s standard procedure, isn’t it?”

  Her phrasing sounded lame to Derec. He realized that she felt guilty about this, too.

  “I…must be…convinced,” said Pei.

  Chapter 16. To Challenge Utopia

  Derec suddenly acted on another impulse. With effort, he rolled onto his side and got his aching legs under him. Then he launched himself at Jeff without warning, reaching for Jeff’s throat as if he wanted to strangle him.

  Just as he got his hands around Jeff’s neck, Pei gently grasped his wrists. Even at the slight pressure, Derec screamed and fell back, drawing his arms away with his hands limp. Then he collapsed to the ground with his eyes closed.

  “You did it again!” Jeff cried, not too loudly.

  “You’ve really hurt him this time,” said Ariel.

  “This is an acceptable move,” said Pei. “I have prevented greater harm to this human by making a less harmful move to the one attacking him. No violation of the First Law has been made.” His confidence was returning.

  Derec opened his eyes, not otherwise moving.

  “Uh…” Jeff looked helplessly at Ariel.

  “You overdid it,” said Ariel excitedly. “Look at him. That’s not called for!”

  “That’s right,” Jeff declared. “Stopping him with reasonable force is all right, but this is something else!”

  Pei looked down at Derec. “I…could not…have hurt him. I…was…gentle.”

  “Not gentle enough,” Ariel wailed. “That’s twice you’ve hurt him. You just don’t understand how fragile humans are.”

  “That’s right,” said Jeff eagerly. “That’s the problem. If you’ve never had contact with humans before, that explains it. Suppose you shut down till your judgement is fixed up. Or something.” He shrugged lamely at Ariel.

  “It’s your judgement,” Ariel agreed, “that must be faulty at the core, so to speak. You can’t risk harming a human because of that, can you?”

  “Perhaps…you have…a point.” Pei’s voice grew faint and he froze in place.

  “Pei, are you awake?” Ariel asked cautiously.

  “Pei, if you can hear me, I order you to say so,” said Jeff.

  When Derec didn’t hear anything, he forced himself up on one elbow. “Hey, it finally worked.”

  “I guess it did,” said Ariel.

  “Then it should work again,” said Jeff. “And now that we know what it takes, we can refine our scenario.”

  “Let’s get back over to that row they’re taking,” said Derec. “Can you help me up?”

  Yet again, Jeff and Ariel helped him to his feet and supported his arms over their shoulders. The trio shuffled back to the one row that these humanoid robots were using for their trip down into the valley. There Derec once more sank to the ground.

  Jeff and Ariel this time paced nervously between the high stalks on each side of the furrow.

  “Maybe we ought to move on,” said Ariel. “Isn’t one mugged robot enough? I mean, one murdered human and one murdered robot caused major crises in Robot City before.”

  “That’s a good point,” said Jeff. “Maybe we could drag him over here where the next migrating robot will be sure to find him. But we could move on, keep ahead of the Hunters.”

  “I can’t help you drag him,” said Derec. “And he’s pretty big. I doubt the two of you could get him all the way over here.”

  Jeff ran a hand through his straight black hair and sighed. “You’re right. It’s been a rough day already, and we may have a lot more running ahead.”

  “One more robot,” said Derec. “That’s all we need.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ariel demanded. “If we just stand here and wait for the Hunters, all this has been for nothing anyway. We have to get out of here.”

  “Just one more robot. Instead of mugging it, we’ll just make sure it sees Pei, back there. Then we’ll move on.”

  “Well…all right,” said Ariel. “We’ll wait a little while. But if nothing comes before long, we’re leaving anyway. Agreed?”

  “Fair enough,” said Derec. “But remember, it has to be one robot walking alone. I’m pretty sure that trying to fool more than one would be tougher because the others will observe and may spot the fraud. Let’s not chance that.”

  More robots did walk down the row before much time had passed, and all of them seemed to be migrating alone in the sense that they were not part of a crew or a team. However, they often came down the row in sight of one or more robots behind them, and Derec did not dare attempt their charade under those circumstances.

  “Remember,” said Derec, “not that much time has really passed for the Hunters to get here. It just seems longer to us than it has been because we’re scared.”

  “Here comes another one,” said Ariel, peeking around the leafy stalk on the corner of the row. “It looks good. I don’t see anyone behind him yet.”

  Jeff moved next to her to look. “Hey, Derec. I think this is it. We’ve got another one.”

  “Finally. All right. Just before he gets here, I’ll throw myself on the ground and you jump on me.” He smiled wryly. “Not too hard, okay? I’m half dead already.”

  “Derec, don’t talk that way-” Ariel began.

  “Hey-wait a minute,” said Jeff. “I know that robot. It’s…what did I name him?
Oh, yeah. Hey, Can Head!” Jeff stepped out in front of the robot.

  The robot stopped suddenly, looking at him in some surprise. “Are you addressing me?”

  “Identify yourself,” said Jeff.

  “I am Energy Pack Maintenance Foreman 3928,” said the robot. “I am following migration programming. Please allow me to pass.”

  “That sounds right. I’m sure it’s you.” Jeff nodded, studying the robot’s eyeslit and general shape.

  “Jeff, what are you doing?” Derec asked.

  “I knew this character,” said Jeff. “I even gave him a second name. He was very cooperative.”

  “They’ve all been reprogrammed,” Ariel said urgently. “We’re sure of it, remember? He won’t retain anything from when you were here before. Let’s get on with it.”

  “C’mon, pal, remember?” Jeff grinned. “You will also answer to Can Head, won’t you?”

  “Yes. I also answer to Can Head.”

  Ariel laughed in surprise, stifling it with a hand over her mouth.

  “There!” Jeff grinned at her and Derec.

  Derec shrugged at Ariel.

  “I’m the human who was in a robot body before,” said Jeff to Can Head. “I gave you that name and now I have further instructions. First, don’t contact the central computer with any of this. Got it?” He winked down at Derec. “I used to say that on my last trip here, too.”

  “Understood,” said Can Head.

  “Do you remember me?” Jeff asked.

  “No.”

  “You don’t?” Jeff started. “Then why do you still answer to Can Head?”

  “I’ve got it,” said Derec. “All the robots of Robot City were reprogrammed through the central core, but their identities and designations were not changed. That would be counterproductive for Avery because the central computer still has to be able to contact and recognize all the different robots.”

  “I guess,” said Jeff. “I’m disappointed. I thought I had an old friend, here.”

  “That’s nothing,” said Derec. “You should have seen the greeting we got from Euler, an old friend of ours. He’s the one who sent the Hunters after us.”

  “Anyhow, he’s being cooperative,” said Jeff. “Maybe we don’t need our scenario.” He turned to Can Head. “We must show you something. However, before we do, we request your help-no, we require your help under the First Law.”