Asimov’s Future History Volume 7

by Isaac Asimov

  Ariel’s eyebrows wrinkled in concentration. “It’s fuzzy that far back. But I know what you’re talking about. I’ve felt lost often enough since then.”

  “Right. We had no purpose; that’s why we felt that way. I spent my time trying to track down my father, thinking he could help restore my memory, but that was just a yearning for the past. We spent time searching for a cure for your disease, but that was just patching up the past, too. Now I find I’ve got a mother running around out here somewhere, too, and I was all set to spend however long it takes trying to find her, to see if she couldn’t do for me what Avery won’t, but now I don’t even care. Now all of a sudden we have something to look forward to, something in our future. Who cares about the past when we’ve got that?”

  Ariel shook her head. “Why should we grab at the first thing that comes along? Derec, this is going to change our lives. Unless we want to put the baby in a nursery, and it’s obvious you don’t, then we’re going to have to take care of it. We’re going to have to live with it, like Earthers and settlers do. Do you really want that? I’m not so sure I do. And besides that —” she waved away his protest, “— it’s my body we’re talking about here. Pregnancy is dangerous. It can cause all sorts of problems in a woman; blood clots, kidney damage — you wouldn’t believe all the things that can go wrong. And for what? A future with a squalling brat in it? I can’t see risking my life for that.”

  “But what about the baby’s life? Isn’t that a consideration?”

  “Of course, it’s a consideration,” Ariel said angrily. “If it wasn’t, I’d have had the medical robot abort it this morning. I’m still trying to weigh it out; my life and my future versus the life and future of what at this point amounts to a few dividing cells. It’s a testament to how important I think it is that I’m considering it at all.”

  Derec had been subliminally aware of the gardener going about its job somewhere behind him. The soft whirr of the robot’s grass-cutting blade had been a soothing noise at the edge of his perception, but the sudden silence when it stopped was enough to make him look around to the robot, just in time to see it topple onto its side, smashing a bed of flowers when it hit.

  “What the —?” He stood, went over to the robot, and said, “Gardener. Do you hear me?”

  No response.

  Gardener, he sent via comlink.

  Still nothing. He pulled it up to a sitting position, but it was like raising a statue. The robot was completely locked up. Derec let it fall on its side again. It made a quiet thud when it hit the ground.

  “It couldn’t handle the conflict,” Derec said in wonder. “Its First Law obligation to protect you was fighting with its obligation to protect the baby, and it couldn’t handle it.”

  “You sound surprised,” said Ariel. “I’m not. It’s tearing me apart, too.”

  Derec left the robot and went back to Ariel, sitting beside her and wrapping her in his arms.

  “I wish it wasn’t.”

  “Me too.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  Ariel shook her head. “I don’t know. Yes, I do. Just don’t push me, okay? I know you want to keep it, but I’ve got to decide on my own whether or not I do. Once I know that, we can talk about what we’re actually going to do. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  As if to confirm her independence, Ariel pulled away and closed her eyes in thought. Derec leaned back in the grass and looked up through a tangle of leaves at the sky. An. occasional cloud dotted the blue.

  Did every new parent go through this? he wondered. Could what he and Ariel were feeling be normal? Did Avery and his mother agonize over whether or not to have him? He couldn’t imagine Avery agonizing over any decision. His mother must have, though. She must have wondered if Derec would be worth the effort of childbirth. Evidently she had decided so, probably before she became pregnant, come to think of it, since she’d had no reason to believe she was infertile as Ariel had.

  She and Avery must have been in love then. What a concept; someone loving Avery. Or was she just like him? Had their decision to have a child been nothing more than the practical way to acquire someone to experiment on?

  It didn’t matter. He and Ariel were in love; that was what mattered. The thought of staying with Ariel until their child grew up didn’t scare him. Derec knew that parents on most planets didn’t worry about that kind of responsibility — even parents more fond of one another than his own — but he intended to. The thought of raising a child gave his life direction, gave him a sense of purpose he hadn’t even realized until now he was missing.

  Ariel, evidently realizing he wouldn’t pressure her whether he held onto her or not, lay down in the grass beside him, resting her head on his chest. His arms went around her automatically, and it felt perfectly natural to be holding her so. It felt right. For a time, as they watched the clouds drift past overhead, the rooftop garden seemed to become their whole universe, and it was a good universe.

  Ariel’s thoughts had evidently been paralleling his own, but along a different track. “I’m glad we’re not on Earth any more,” she said suddenly. “I’d feel even worse there.”

  “No kidding.” Derec shuddered. With a population in the billions, Earth was no place to be having children. There, where the population density in the enclosed cities could be measured easily in people per square meter, every new mouth to feed was a tragedy, not a blessing.

  And what was worse, too few of the people there were worried enough to do anything about it. Here stood an entire planet covered with city, full of robots eager to share it, yet Derec doubted if he could find enough people in all of Earth to fill even the section he could survey from this one rooftop. Most of them hated space, hated robots, and on an even more fundamental level, hated change. They wouldn’t leave Earth even for a better world.

  A few of them would. After a long hiatus, Earth had once again begun settling alien worlds, but the fraction of its population involved was insignificant. The birth rate there would replace its emigrants before they could achieve orbit.

  It was a sobering thought. Derec recalled Lucius’s words to Ariel at their first meeting, his assertion that no thinking being would want every human who might possibly exist to do so, but it seemed as if Earthers were doing their best to ensure just that. They seemed intent on turning their entire biosphere into a teeming mass of humanity.

  An irrational fear washed over him, the fear that Earth society would somehow intrude upon his happiness even here, that its riot of bodies could somehow threaten even Robot City. Derec felt his heart begin beating faster, his breathing tighten, as he considered his child’s potential enemies.

  Hormones! he thought wryly a second later. Paranoia was evidently a survival trait.

  “To space with Earth,” he said, tickling Ariel playfully in the ribs. “We’re beyond all that.”

  The sun had shifted position considerably when Derec awoke. He couldn’t tell whether it was from the simple passage of time, or if the building had moved beneath them while they slept. Probably both, he decided. He lay in the grass, Ariel still sleeping with her head on his shoulder, while he decided whether or not to get up.

  A noise from beyond the edge of the building made the decision for him. Someone had screamed! Derec was up in an instant, leaping for the railing around the edge and peering down.

  A hunter-seeker robot — a stealthy; black-surfaced special-function ‘bot with advanced detection circuitry — stood in the center of an intersection, pivoting slowly around in a circle. A rustle of motion in a doorway caught its attention and it stopped. It raised its right hand, pointing with the forefinger extended, and a bright red laser beam shot out from its finger toward the doorway. Another scream echoed off the buildings.

  Derec looked up the street. Every intersection, for as far as he could see, had a hunter-seeker standing in it. Avery had ordered them to clean up the rodents — his way.

  Stop! he sent to them. Cease hunting activity.

/>   The hunter closest to him looked upward, and Derec felt a momentary urge to back away from the railing. Any robot — and Derec as well, for that matter — could tell what general direction a comlink signal was coming from, but a hunter-seeker could pinpoint the source — and shoot at it. But the robot couldn’t fire at him. It would see instantly who he was, and the First Law would prevent it. Derec stayed at the railing and sent, You are ordered to cease killing those creatures.

  I am sorry, master Derec. I already have orders to kill them.

  “What’s going on?” Ariel asked sleepily from his side. She leaned against the railing and looked down.

  “Avery’s ordered the robots to kill all of Lucius’s rodents. I’m trying to get them to stop.” I order you not to kill them, he sent. You should respect life.

  I respect human life. That is all.

  Those creatures carry human genes.

  That has been explained to me. That does not make them human. As the hunter spoke, another rodent made a dash for safety, but the hunter twitched its hand in a blur of motion, the beam shot out, and the rodent tumbled end over end in the street, screaming. The hunter fired again and the screaming stopped.

  They certainly have human vocal apparatus, Derec thought.

  Damn it, you’re upsetting me. Stop it!

  The hunter robot paused at that, but evidently Avery had warned it to expect such a ploy. I regret that I cannot, it said. Your displeasure is not as important as your safety. These creatures could pose a safety hazard.

  You don’t know that.

  I have been ordered to consider them as such. The hunter turned its attention back to the street. It resumed its search, shooting again at another rodent. This time the rodent died silently, and Derec realized that the robot was attempting to limit his discomfort by making a clean kill.

  Derec tried to think of a way to get around Avery’s programming, but no solution came to mind. Avery had made his orders first and stressed that they were to be followed no matter what Derec said; there was very little Derec could do to counter them now.

  How fickle a robot’s behavior could be under the three laws! A robot gardener could lock up at the mere mention of a life-threatening dilemma involving humans, but the hunter-seekers could shoot rodents all day long. None of them cared about life in general. Not even the gardener truly cared about his charges except for their potential to please a human.

  How could that be right? Even the cruelest human cared about something. Derec was willing to bet even Avery had a soft spot for kittens or puppies or something. How could he ever expect a society of robots to mimic a human society if they held no reverence for life?

  “Come on,” Derec said, seething with righteous indignation. “Let’s go home.”

  His anger had mellowed a bit by the time they reached their apartment, but it flared to life again the moment he saw Avery standing by the living room window, watching his hunter-seekers at work. He was about to start a shouting match, but Mandelbrot’s sudden exclamation switched the topic of discussion before he ever had a chance.

  “Congratulations, Ariel!” said the robot the moment he saw them enter the apartment.

  “Shh!” she told him, forefinger to her lips, but the damage had been done.

  Avery turned away from the window. “Congratulations? Whatever for, Mandelbrot?”

  His question was a stronger order to speak than Ariel’s whispered command to be quiet. The robot said, “Mistress Ariel is preg —”

  “Shut up!”

  Mandelbrot stiffened, the conflict of orders creating a momentary Second Law crisis.

  “Preg,” Avery said into the silence. “Pregnant perhaps? Are you, my dear?” His voice was all honey, but neither she nor Derec was fooled. Avery had opposed their association from the start, was instrumental in separating them when they had first become lovers on Aurora, and had done everything he could to keep them from redeveloping an affection for one another when circumstances had forced them back into close company. He was less than happy at the news, and they knew it.

  “Don’t strain yourself smiling,” Derec growled.

  Avery shook his head. “You sound overjoyed. One would suppose you weren’t ready for it. Is that it? Did it take you by surprise?”

  “None of your business,” Ariel said.

  “Of course not. However, as a father myself, I do have a certain interest in the situation. You may be happy to know that it is reversible.”

  Ariel shot him a dark look. “I’m aware of that.” She turned away, heading down the hallway toward her and Derec’s room.

  “Good,” Avery said to her receding back. He turned back to the window. “I ordered Lucius’s laboratories destroyed,” he said nonchalantly.

  “You what?”

  “Really, you should have your hearing checked. That’s twice in two days. I said I ordered Lucius’s laboratories destroyed, and all the robots in them as well. You didn’t really think I’d let you turn my city into a zoo, now, did you?”

  “A balanced ecosystem is not a zoo.”

  “Wrong. A zoo is not a balanced ecosystem, granted, but the converse is not necessarily true. To me, any ecosystem in this city — other than the minimum necessary to sustain the farm — would be a zoo, and I acted to prevent it.”

  “You acted. What about me? What about —”

  “Alarm. Alarm. Alarm,” the living room corn console interrupted. “Experimental robots have awakened.”

  “Ah, good. Keep them under restraint,” Avery commanded.

  “Restraints ineffective. The robots have changed shape and slipped through them. They are now leaving the laboratory.”

  “Where are they headed?”

  “Destination uncertain. Wait. They have entered transport booths. Destination... spaceport.”

  Chapter 4

  THE WILD GOOSE CHASE

  “THE SPACEPORT! THEY’RE trying to escape!”

  “A likely assumption,” Avery said, even as Derec sent, Adam, Eve, Lucius, this is Derec. Stop.

  There was a burst of static — Derec recognized it now as high-speed data transfer — then the response, Why have you ordered this? We do not wish to stop.

  I don’t care. Come back to the apartment.

  Acknowledged. Please explain why.

  Beside him, Avery spoke to the corn console. “They are to return to the laboratory at once. I order it.”

  Ignoring him, and the robots’ request, Derec asked, Why are you going to the spaceport?

  We are no longer going there, since you ordered us not to.

  Why were you going there? he asked with exasperation.

  We intended to leave for Ceremya, the planet upon which Eve awakened. We have unfinished business there.

  “I am unable to comply with your order,” the central computer told Avery through the com console. “Derec’s order supersedes.”

  “What order? What’s going on?” Avery noticed Derec’s distracted expression. “You’re talking with them? This is your idea, isn’t it?”

  “What?”

  “You’re helping them escape!”

  “I am not!”

  “You expect me to believe that? You’ve wanted to let them go all along, and now as soon as I tell you I’ve stopped your other little project, you bust them loose. Well, it won’t work. I’ll have them back inside half an hour, and this time I’ll take all three of them apart with a rusty knife! Central, direct the hunters to stop what they’re doing and capture the runaway robots. They may shoot to destroy, if necessary, but I want the pieces.”

  “Cancel that,” Derec said.

  “I am sorry; now Dr. Avery’s order supersedes,” the central computer responded.

  “Cancel it!” Derec commanded, but he was staring at Avery, not the console.

  “I regret —”

  “Masters, please calm down,” Mandelbrot interrupted, but Derec ignored him. Avery’s order involves a Third Law violation, he sent to the computer. My order does not. My ord
er should take precedence.

  How does Avery’s order involve a Third Law violation? the computer asked.

  The question brought Derec up short. The Third Law stated that a robot had to protect its own existence; it said nothing about another robot’s existence. All right, he sent, it’s not a direct violation, but it does violate the spirit of the law. Since I’ve ordered them to return anyway, following Avery’s order would cause three robots to be needlessly destroyed. That’s obviously not the best solution to the situation at hand.

  The computer didn’t respond immediately. That almost certainly meant it was considering Derec’s argument, but wasn’t yet convinced. On sudden inspiration, Derec added, The first part of Avery’s order can stand. Let the hunters stop what they’re doing. The conflict of potentials in the computer’s robot brain would be even less that way, possibly enough so to tip the balance toward Derec’s order.

  “Acknowledged,” the computer finally replied, using the com console.

  “What did you do?” Avery demanded. “Canceled your stupid order,” Derec replied. “It wasn’t necessary. I’ve already stopped them, and they’re on their way here.”

  “Is that true?” Avery asked the console, but the computer evidently thought he was asking Derec and remained silent.

  “Yes, it is,” Derec answered for it. “I’m also trying to find out why they tried to escape in the first place. Now be quiet so I can hear myself think.”

  “How do I know you aren’t plotting against me?”

  Derec rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “You want your own comlink, inject yourself with chemfets. Until then, let me use mine.”

  Avery glowered, balling his fists in frustration, but at last he let out a deep breath and said, “Go ahead.”