Robots and Empire trs-4

by Isaac Asimov

  The Chairman said, “Are you planning to return to Solaria, Madam Gladia?”

  “No, Mr. Chairman, I have no such plan.”

  “Have you been requested to do so by your Settler friend, in order to clear the planet of its overseers?”

  Slowly Gladia shook her head. “I have not been requested to do this. Had I been, I would have refused. Nor did I go to Solaria, to begin with, for any reason but that of fulfilling my duty to Aurora. I was requested to go to Solaria by Dr. Levular Mandamus of the Robotics Institute, working under Dr. Kelden Amadiro. I was requested to go so that, on my return, I might report on events—as I have just done. The request had, to my ears and understanding, the flavor of an order and I took the order”—she glanced briefly in Amadiro’s direction—“as coming from Dr. Amadiro himself.”

  Amadiro made no visible response to that.

  The Chairman said, “What are your plans for the future, then?”

  Gladia waited a heartbeat or two, then decided she might as well confront the situation boldly.

  “It is my intention, Mr. Chairman,” said Gladia, speaking very clearly, “to visit Earth.”

  “Earth? Why should you wish to visit Earth?”

  “It may be important, Mr. Chairman, for Auroran authorities to know what is taking place on Earth. Since I have been invited by the Baleyworld authorities to visit Earth and since Captain Baley stands ready to take me there, it would be an opportunity to bring back a report on events—as I have now reported on events taking place on Solaria and on Baleyworld.”

  Well, then, thought Gladia, will he violate the custom and, in effect, imprison her on Aurora? If so, there had to be ways of challenging the decision.

  Gladia felt her tension rising and she cast a quick glance in the direction of Daneel, who, of course, seemed totally impassive.

  However, the Chairman, looking sour, said, “In that respect, Madam Gladia, you have the right of an Auroran to do as you wish—but it will be on your own responsibility. No one is requesting this of you, as some requested, according to you, your visit to Solaria. For that reason I must warn you that Aurora will not feel bound to help you in case of any misadventure.”

  “I understand that, sir.”

  The Chairman said brusquely, “There will be much to discuss on the matter later on, Amadiro. I will be in touch with you. “

  The images blanked out and Gladia found herself and her robots suddenly alone with Amadiro and his robots.

  69

  Gladia rose and said stiffly, carefully refusing to look directly at Amadiro as she did so, “The meeting, I presume, is over, so I will now leave.”

  “Yes, of course, but I have a question or two, which I hope you don’t mind my asking.” His tall figure seemed overwhelming as he rose and he smiled and addressed her in all courtesy, as though friendliness were long established between them. “Let me escort you, Lady Gladia. So you are going to Earth?”

  “Yes. The Chairman raised no objections and an Auroran citizen may freely travel through the Galaxy in time of peace. And pardon me, but my robots—and yours, if necessary—will be sufficient escort.”

  “As you say, my lady.” A robot held the door open for them. “I assume you will take robots with you when you go to Earth.”

  “There’s no question as to that.”

  “Which robots, madam, if I may ask?”

  “These two. The two robots I have with me.” Her shoes made a firm clicking sound as she walked rapidly along the corridor, her back to Amadiro, making no effort to see to it that he heard her.

  “Is that wise, my lady? They are advanced robots, unusual products of the great Dr. Fastolfe. You will be surrounded by barbarian Earthmen, who may covet them.”

  “Should they covet them, they nevertheless wouldn’t get them.”

  “Don’t underestimate the danger, nor overestimate robotic protection. You will be in one of their Cities, surrounded by tens of millions of these Earthmen, and robots may not harm human beings. Indeed, the more advanced a robot, the more sensitive it is to the nuances of the Three Laws and the less likely it is to take any action that will harm a human being in any way.—Isn’t that so, Daneel?”

  “Yes, Dr. Amadiro,” said Daneel.

  “Giskard, I imagine, agrees with you.”

  “I do,” said Giskard.

  “You see, my lady? Here on Aurora, in a nonviolent society, your robots can protect you against others. On Earth—mad, decadent, barbarous—there will be no way two robots can protect you or themselves. We would not want you to be deprived. Nor, to place it on a more selfish basis, would we of the Institute and the government care to see advanced robots in the hands of the barbarians. Would it not be better to take robots, of a more ordinary type that the Earthpeople would ignore? You can take any number in that case. A dozen if you wish.”

  Gladia said, “Dr. Amadiro, I took these two robots on a Settler ship and visited a Settler world. No one made a move to appropriate them.”

  “The Settlers don’t use robots and claim to disapprove of them. On Earth itself, they still use robots.”

  Daneel said, “If I may interpose, Dr. Amadiro—It is my understanding that robots are being phased out on Earth. Mere are very few in the Cities. Almost all robots on Earth are now used in agricultural or mining operations. For the rest, nonrobotic automation is the norm.”

  Amadiro looked at Daneel briefly, then said to Gladia, “Your robot is probably right and I suppose there would be no harm in taking Daneel. He could well pass as human, for that matter. Giskard, however, may well be left in your establishment. He might arouse the acquisitive instincts of an acquisitive society—even if it is true that they are trying to free themselves of robots.”

  Gladia said, “Neither will be left, sir. They will come with me. I am the sole judge of which portions of my property may come with me and which may not.”

  “Of course.” Amadiro smiled in his most amiable fashion. “No one disputes that.—Would you wait here?”

  Another door opened, showing a room that was most comfortably furnished. It was without windows, but was illuminated by soft light and suffused with even softer music.

  Gladia stopped at the threshold and said sharply, “Why?”

  “A member of the Institute wishes to see you and speak to you. It will not take long, but it is necessary. Once that is done, you are free to go. You will not even be plagued by my presence from this moment on. Please.” There was a touch of hidden steel in the last word.

  Gladia reached out her arms for Daneel and Giskard. “We enter together.”

  Amadiro laughed genially. “Do you think I’m trying to separate you from your robots? Do you think they would allow that? You have been too long with Settlers, my dear.”

  Gladia looked at the closed door and said between her teeth, “I dislike that man intensely. And most intensely when he smiles and tries to be soothing.”

  She stretched, her elbow joints cracking slightly. “In any case, I’m tired. If someone comes with further questions about Solaria and Baleyworld, they are going to get short answers, I tell you.”

  She sat down on a couch that gave softly under her weight. She slipped her shoes off and lifted her feet to the couch. She smiled sleepily, took a deep breath as she sank to one side, and, with her head turned away from the room, was instantly and deeply asleep.

  70

  “It is well she was naturally sleepy,” said Giskard. “I was able to deepen it without any hint of damage to her at all.—I would not want Lady Gladia to hear what is likely to come.”

  “What is likely to come, friend Giskard?” asked Daneel.

  “What is to come is the result, I think, of my being wrong, friend Daneel, and of your being right. I should have taken your excellent mind more seriously.”

  “It is you, then, they want to keep on Aurora?”

  “Yes. And in urgently calling for Lady Gladia’s return, they were calling for mine. You heard Dr. Amadiro ask for us to be left beh
ind. At first both of us and then myself alone.”

  “Might it be that his words have but the surface meaning, that he feels it dangerous to lose an advanced robot to the Earthmen?”

  “There was an underlying current of anxiety, friend Daneel, that I judge to be far too strong to match his words.”

  “Can you tell whether he knows of your special abilities?”

  “I cannot tell directly, since I cannot read thoughts themselves. Nevertheless, twice in the course of the interview with the Council members, there was a sudden sharp rise in the level of emotional intensity in Dr. Amadiro’s mind. Extraordinarily sharp rises. I cannot describe it in words, but it would be analogous, perhaps, to watching a scene in black and white and having it splash—suddenly and briefly—into intense color.”

  “When did this happen, friend Giskard?”

  “The second time was when Lady Gladia mentioned she would be going to Earth.”

  “That created no visible stir among the Council members. What were their minds like?”

  “I could not tell. They were present through holovision and such images are not accompanied by any mental sensations that I can detect.”

  “We may conclude, then, that whether the Council is or is not disturbed by Lady Gladia’s projected trip to Earth, Dr. Amadiro, at least, is disturbed.”

  “It is not simple disturbance. Dr. Amadiro seemed anxious in the highest degree; as we would expect, for instance, if he indeed had a project in hand, as we suspect, for the destruction of Earth and feared its discovery. What is more, at Lady Gladia’s mention of this intention of hers, friend Daneel, Dr. Amadiro glanced briefly at me; the only moment in all the session that he did. The flash of emotional intensity coincided with that glance. I think it was the thought of my going to Earth that made him anxious.—As we might expect, if he felt that I, with my special powers, would be a particular danger to his plans.”

  “His actions might also be taken, friend Giskard, as fitting his expressed fear that the Earthmen would try to appropriate you as an advanced robot and that this would be bad, for Aurora.”

  “The chance of that happening, friend Daneel, and the extent of damage that might do the Spacer community is too small to account for his level of anxiety. What harm could I do Aurora if I were in Earth’s possession—if I were simply the Giskard I am taken to be?”

  “You conclude, then, that Dr. Amadiro knows you are not simply the Giskard you are taken to be.”

  “I am not sure. He may simply suspect it. If he knew what I was, would he not make every effort to avoid making his plans in my presence?”

  “It may simply be his misfortune that Lady Gladia will not be separated from us. He cannot insist on your not being present, friend Giskard, without giving away his knowledge to you.” Daneel paused, then said, “It is a great advantage you have, friend Giskard, being able to weigh the emotional contents of minds.—But you said that Dr. Amadiro’s flash of emotion at the trip to Earth was the second. What was the first?”

  “The first came with the mention of the nuclear intensifier—and that, too, seems significant. The concept of a nuclear intensifier is well known on Aurora. They don’t have a portable device; not one light, enough and efficient enough to be practical on shipboard, but it’s not something that would break upon him like a thunderbolt. Why, then, so much anxiety?”

  “Possibly,” said Daneel, “because an intensifier of that sort has something to do with his plans on Earth.”

  “Possibly.”

  And it was at this point that the door opened, a person entered, and a voice said, “Well—Giskard!”

  71

  Giskard looked at the newcomer and said in a calm voice, “Madam Vasilia.”

  “You remember me, then,” said Vasilia, smiling warmly.

  “Yes, madam. You are a well-known roboticist and your face is on the hyperwave news now and then.”

  “Come, Giskard. I do not mean that you recognize me. Anyone can do that. I mean, you remember me. You once called me Miss Vasilia.”

  “I remember that, too, madam. It was a long time ago.”

  Vasilia closed the door behind her and sat down in one of the chairs. She turned her face toward the other robot. “And you are Daneel, of course.”

  Daneel said, “Yes, madam. To make use of the distinction you have just advanced, I both remember you, for I was with Plainclothesman Elijah Baley once when he interviewed you, and I recognize you, too.”

  Vasilia said sharply, “You are not to refer to that Earthman again.—I recognize you as well, Daneel. You are as famous as I am in your own way. You are both famous, for you are the greatest creations of the late Dr. Han Fastolfe.”

  “Of your father, madam,” said Giskard.

  “You know very well, Giskard, that I attach no importance to that purely genetic relationship. You are not to refer to him in that manner again.”

  “I will not, madam.”

  “And this one?” She looked casually at the sleeping figure on the couch. “Since you two are here, I can reasonably assume that the sleeping beauty is the Solarian woman.”

  Giskard said, “She is Lady Gladia and I am her property. Do you want her awake, madam?”

  “We will merely disturb her, Giskard, if you and I talk of old times. Let her sleep.”

  “Yes, madam.”

  Vasilia said to Daneel, “Perhaps the discussion that Giskard and I will have will be of no interest to you, either, Daneel. Would you wait outside?”

  Daneel said, “I fear I cannot leave, my lady. My task is to guard Lady Gladia.”

  “I don’t think she needs much guarding from me. You’ll notice I do not have any of my robots with me, so Giskard alone will be ample protection for your Solarian lady.”

  Daneel said, “You have no robots in the room, madam, but I saw four robots just outside in the corridor when the door was opened. It will be best if I stay.”

  “Well, I won’t try to override your orders. You can stay—Giskard!”

  “Yes, madam.”

  “Do you remember when you were first activated?”

  “Yes, madam.

  “What do you remember?”

  “First light. Then sound. Then a crystallization into the sight of Dr. Fastolfe. I could understand Galactic Standard and I had a certain amount of innate knowledge built into my positronic brain paths. The Three Laws, of course; a large vocabulary, with definitions; robotic duties; social customs. Other things I learned rapidly.”

  “Do you remember your first owner?”

  “As I said, Dr. Fastolfe.”

  “Think again, Giskard. Wasn’t it I?”

  Giskard paused, then said, “Madam, I was assigned the task of guarding you in my capacity as a possession of Dr. Han Fastolfe.”

  “It was a bit more than that, I think. You obeyed only me for ten years. If you obeyed anyone else, including Dr. Fastolfe, it was only incidentally, as a consequence of your robotic duties and only insofar as it fit your prime function of guarding me.”

  “I was assigned to you, it is true, Lady Vasilia, but Dr. Fastolfe retained ownership. Once you left his establishment, he resumed full control of me as my owner. He remained my owner even when he later assigned me to Lady Gladia. He was my only owner for as long as he lived. Upon his death, by his will, ownership of me was transferred to Lady Gladia and that is how it stands now.”

  “Not so. I asked you if you remembered, when you were first activated and what you remembered. What you were when you were first activated is not what you are now.”

  “My memory banks, madam, are now incomparably fuller than they were then and I have much in the I way of experience that I did not have then.”

  Vasilia’s voice grew sterner. “I am not talking about memory, nor am I talking about experience. I am talking about capacities. I added to your positronic pathways. I adjusted them. I improved them.”

  “Yes, madam, you did so, with Dr. Fastolfe’s help and approval.”

  “At one time
, Giskard, on one occasion, I introduced an improvement—at least, an extension, and without Dr. Fastolfe’s help and approval. Do you remember that?”

  Giskard was silent for a substantial period of time. Then he said, “I remember one occasion on which I did not witness your consulting him. I assumed that you consulted him at a time when I was not a witness.”

  “If you assumed that, you assumed incorrectly. In fact, since you knew he was off the world at the time, you could not possibly have assumed it. You are being evasive, to use no stronger word.”

  “No, madam. You might have consulted him by hyperwave. I considered that a possibility.”

  Vasilia, said, “Nevertheless, that addition was entirely mine. The result was that you became a substantially different robot afterward from what you had been before. The robot you have been ever since that change has been my design, my creation, and you know that well.”

  Giskard remained silent.

  “Now, Giskard, by what right was Dr. Fastolfe your master at the time you were activated?” She waited, then said sharply, “Answer me, Giskard. That is an order!”

  Giskard said, “Since he was designer and supervised the construction, I was his property—”

  “And when I, in effect, redesigned and reconstructed you in a very fundamental way, did you not then become my property?”

  Giskard said, “I cannot answer that question. It would require the decision of a law court to argue out the specific case. It would depend, perhaps, on the degree to which I was redesigned and reconstructed.”

  “Are you aware of the degree to which that took place?”

  Giskard was again silent.

  “This is childish, Giskard,” said Vasilia. “Am I to be required to nudge you after each question? You are not to make me do that. In this case, at any rate, silence is a sure indication of an affirmative. You know what the change was and how fundamental it was and you know that I know what it was. You put the Solarian woman to sleep because you did not want her to learn from me what it was. She doesn’t know, does she?”