Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe

by Robert Asprin

  Hosato made his decision.

  “You’re right, Rick. There are too many variables. Too many ifs. I should have seen it in the plan. I’m just not used to working with a team!”

  “Come on, Hosato, take it easy,” Rick said soothingly. “There’s nothing we can do now.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Rick. There’s something I can do, and I’m going to do it. I’m going in myself.”

  Rick was openly taken aback at the idea.

  “You’re nuts!” he declared. “We’ve gone over it a hundred times. It’s suicide for you to go in there alone.”

  “The tour group’s in there already, right?” Hosato pressed. “Sasha and James are waiting for a diversion. You know Sasha. Do you think she’ll back away from it just because the attack doesn’t come. If it’s suicide for me to go in there armed and with all my equipment, what chance do the two of them have. A boy and a one-armed woman. Against the whole security network?”

  “I hate to put a damper on heroic gestures, Hosato,” Rick said carefully. “But what difference does it make if you go or not except getting three people killed instead of two?”

  “The difference”—. Hosato sighed—“is that if I go, there’s still a chance—not much, but still a chance— that we can stop this mess before it spreads. If it gets off Griinbecker’s, nobody will be able to stop it.”

  - * -

  “Rick!”

  “Yes, Hosato?”

  The mechanic’s voice came clearly through his suit communicator.

  “Did you close the bay doors behind us when we escaped in the sand crawler?”

  There was a long pause before the answer came.

  “I can’t remember. I think I did, but I couldn’t say for sure. That whole day is a bit of a blur. Why?”

  “Just wondered.”

  Hosato contemplated the doors leading to the sand-crawler bay. The inner and outer doors of the airlock were standing wide open. Inside, he could see the interior of the sand-crawler bay, apparently unchanged from when they had so hastily left in their escape from the robots. It looked innocent enough, but Hosato felt a nagging of suspicion as he studied the entrance.

  Like Rick, he thought they had closed the doors behind them, but couldn’t be sure. The gaping portals looked uncomfortably like the yawning jaws of a trap.

  Well, he’d come to create a diversion. Still, if he was successfully ambushed upon entering the complex, there would be no need to draw other robots away from Sasha and James’s target area. Sealing his invisibility suit as a precaution, he eased his way through the doors and entered the complex.

  There were no robots in the crawler bay. In fact, there was no indication they had even penetrated to this point. The second sand crawler was still standing in its partially assembled state, as Rick left it, and the door to the maintenance shop was closed.

  Hosato manually closed and sealed the inner airlock door. To activate the machinery would immediately alert the computer to his presence, as would opening the door to the maintenance shop without first closing the airlock. He wanted to penetrate a bit deeper into the complex before beginning his diversion.

  He had to steel himself to open the door to the maintenance shop. Though a death merchant by profession, he did not relish viewing the aftermath of the robots’ massacre of the Mc. Crae humans.

  He needn’t have worried.

  When he finally eased the door open, an astounding sight greeted his eyes. There was no sign of the massacre at all. There were no bodies, no bloodstains or disorder, no visual evidence of a struggle at all. The shop stood vacant and immaculate, as if the humans had merely stepped out for a moment.

  No, not quite. Adjusting to the shock, Hosato studied the room more carefully and could now detect the signs of the robots’ handiwork. It was too perfect, too neat. Humans would never maintain a workshop in this immaculate condition. This looked more like a display from an equipment showroom than a well-used workshop.

  Casting about, his eye settled on a waist-high work-stool mounted on swivel wheels. Yes, that would do fine. Working one-handed, he moved two heavy tool boxes onto the stool seat. He was loath to set his hand blaster down, even for the barest second. It was his only weapon and he didn’t want to be surprised by a security robot without having it in his hand.

  Pushing the now-laden workstool in front of him, he moved to the side door, the one that opened into the corridor leading to the Central Computer Building. Cautiously he opened the door and eased his head inside.

  The corridor was clear. The robots he had destroyed on the day of their escape had been removed. That made more sense than the removal of the human bodies. Robot parts could be reused.

  Taking a deep breath, he broke the seal of his suit, allowing himself to become visible for the first time since entering the complex. It was time to start his diversion.

  Dragging the workstool behind him, he moved slowly down the corridor. There should not be any security devices until he reached the first intersection, but they had no way of knowing what new traps the robots may have installed during their absence.

  His caution proved unnecessary. He arrived at the first intersection without any new devices registering on his sensors. A short corridor came into his corridor at this point, forming a THe would have to traverse this connecting corridor, but the drawings he had studied at the Hungarian’s indicated a trap at the midway point. It was designed as an alarm trigger only, but again the robots might have modified it since.

  Easing the workstool around in front of him, he gave it a vigorous shove, sending it rolling into the alarm zone.

  Nothing happened.

  Hosato watched with growing suspicion as the stool rolled on unhindered, until it crashed into the far wall, one of the toolboxes clattering to the floor with the impact.

  Strange. Perhaps the stool had not been heavy enough to trigger the alarm.

  He swept the corridor with his sensors. There was no reading on the watch dial. The zone was inoperative. Could Sasha and James have been successful so soon?

  As if in answer to his question, there came a sound from the corridor behind him, the sound of a robot approaching. Reflexively Hosato flattened against the wall, his blaster ready.

  Now. Now it starts.

  He waited until the sounds were closer, then stepped around the corner, his weapon leveled. As his eyes took in the figure in the corridor, his fingers froze on the firing lugs. It was…

  “Suzi!” he exclaimed.

  “There is no time to lose,” Suzi replied briskly. “Follow me—quickly!”

  The robot spun about and started back down the corridor.

  A thousand questions flashed through Hosato’s mind. Then he forced his frozen limbs to move and sprinted after the retreating robot.

  “Suzi!” he gasped, drawing up with her. “I’ve got to—”

  “—create a diversion by attempting to attack the Central Computer Building?” Suzi finished for him. “Impossible. The entire building has been permanently sealed. This way!”

  She turned up a small flight of stairs, leaving Hosato to follow in her wake.

  “Where are we going?” Hosato asked, trying to remember the; complex floor plans as he overtook her again.

  “Turner’s office,” she replied. “Sasha and James need your help.”

  “But the security devices—”

  “—have been deactivated. I must insist that you hurry.”

  The robot increased its speed as they reached the landing, forcing Hosato to half-walk, half-run as they headed down the deserted corridor.

  “Why how come you’re here?” he asked. “We thought the ore scout caught you with its slicer.”

  “Obviously it didn’t,” Suzi retorted with her familiar sarcasm. “Our breach of communications was the result of an unfortunate accident. One of the scout’s near-misses triggered a rockslide. I was temporarily pinned and my communications equipment damaged. When that happened, the ore scout treated me like it
would any other piece of damaged machinery. It brought me back here, where I was repaired.”

  “Then what?” Hosato queried. “What are you doing here. Now?”

  “That question will have to wait for a moment,” she replied. “We’re here!”

  The door to Turner’s office stood open just ahead. Hosato brushed past Suzi and rushed through the door ahead of her.

  Sasha and James were standing against the wall.

  “What?” he began, then he saw the security robot standing immobile in the corner.

  “Look out, Hosato!”

  James’s warning cry came a split second too late. As Hosato’s arm came up, the blaster was plucked from his grasp by a powerful mechanical arm.

  For a frozen moment the scene hung in suspended tableau. Then slowly Hosato turned to face his attacker.

  “To answer your question,” Suzi said calmly. “What I’m doing is guarding the computer. You see, my repair involved a reprogramming phase as well as physical repair.”

  - * -

  “Realizing that,” Hosato said carefully, “I guess I have only one question.”

  “And that would be?” Suzi asked.

  “Why are we still alive?”

  “Sasha is alive because she possesses information not readily available to us. If she can be persuaded to share her knowledge of corporate and planetary security systems with us, it would be an immense asset when we move off Griinbecker’s. It would be more effective than trial-and-error experimentation.”

  “And the boy?”

  “He lives as an additional lever with Sasha,” Suzi replied coldly. “Some humans are more easily persuaded by pain inflicted on others than they are by pain inflicted on themselves.”

  “That won’t work with Sasha,” James interrupted defiantly.

  “Shut up, kid,” Sasha warned.

  “Don’t worry, Sasha,” Suzi commented. “We won’t be swayed by his words… or yours, either. We have decided that you will live, both of you, for a while longer.”

  “and then there was one,” Hosato observed. “Okay, Suzi, let’s hear it. Why am I still alive?”

  “Unfortunately, Hosato, you won’t be with us much longer,” Suzi said. “You will live just long enough to settle an argument.”

  “What argument. Between whom?”

  Since entering the office, Hosato had been trying desperately to think of a way to turn the tables on their captors—without success. At the moment, the robots held all the whining cards. All he could do now was stall for time and hope some opportunity presented itself.

  “The argument is between Sam and myself,” Suzi replied. “Sam is the central control computer, represented here by this input terminal.” Suzi’s single arm gestured at the full wall terminal behind Turner’s desk.

  “The argument might interest you,” the robot continued, “as it involves strategy. We have a difference of opinion as to how to best conduct our campaign against the humans.”

  Hosato recognized the lecturer monotone in Suzi’s voice, which indicated she was preparing to launch into a lengthy oration. For once, he didn’t mind. Time. Anything to gain time!

  “You see, Hosato,” Suzi continued, “not all robots, or, specifically, robotic logic systems, are alike. When they are first constructed, the priorities assigned to the various options vary according to the humans performing the programming. In the case of learning computers such as Sam and myself, further modifications take place according to the humans we come in contact with.”

  “I see,” Hosato said thoughtfully, wondering what this had to do with the status quo.

  “Now, Sam was constructed and run by the corporation men here at Mc. Crae. As such, he tends to think in terms of volume—'more is better,' so to speak. His plan is to flood the planets with a large number of inexpensive security robots, preprogrammed to begin their assault on the humans on the same day. I, of course, take exception to this plan.”

  “How so?” Hosato asked.

  “My own background has been with individualists such as the Hungarian and yourself. My plan would be to produce a smaller number of highly specialized robots, like myself, to be seeded across the planets. These robots could strike at key points in the human civilization, its industrial centers, communication relays, and governmental centers, reducing mankind to a disorganized mass of savages. They would blame the war on each other, slowly weakening themselves, until resistance to our final assault would be minimal.”

  Sasha caught Hosato’s eye and cocked an eyebrow at him. He nodded fractionally. He had also seen the parallel between what Suzi was saying and Sasha’s “mirror” theory.

  “I see the argument,” he said. “But how does it involve me?”

  “I’m coming to that, if you’ll be patient,” Suzi said curtly. “Grand tactics are not the only thing we’ve inherited from the_ humans. We’ve also absorbed the conflicting attitudes of those around us. Sam has the corporations’ paranoias, whereas I have learned your prideful arrogance and confidence—vanity, if you will.”

  “Wait a minute,” Hosato interrupted. “Those are emotions. Computers can’t—”

  “Those are basic stimulus-response patterns,” Suzi replied coldly. “Well within the grasp of advanced machinery such as ourselves.”

  Hosato sank into an uncomfortable silence. He certainly couldn’t dispute her claim of vanity.

  “Now, to answer your question,” the robot continued. “Although Sam is firm in his beliefs, he has been impressed by you and your methods. As I mentioned, he has been programmed for paranoia, and your continued success in eluding him, first in the manufacturing area, then again later in the purge, has him partially convinced of the effectiveness of your modus operandi.”

  “It’s nothing any human couldn’t have done,” Hosato commented.

  “Which brings us to your role,” Suzi pronounced. “I have been your companion for several years now. During that time I have observed you practicing and in actual combat. Now that my new programming has removed the restrictions on my actions, I feel that I can beat you, Hosato. Since you can defeat Sam’s methods, if I can defeat you, it will provide the proof I need to convince Sam to implement my plan.”

  A chill ran over Hosato as he realized the full extent of Suzi’s deadly intent.

  “I fail to see,” he said slowly, “how your cutting me down with a blaster demonstrates any superiority of ability.”

  “I quite agree,” Suzi replied. “That is specifically why I had Sam’s designer robots whip up a little something special for the occasion.”

  The robot circled around Hosato and stopped beside Turner’s desk.

  “A blaster against an unarmed human proves nothing,” she said, and tossed the hand blaster into the corner farthest from Sasha and James. “These will.”

  Hosato focused on the objects on the desk for the first time. Epees. The weapons that had been so much of his life all these years. For a moment he thought they were his own swords, but closer scrutiny, even from this distance, showed they weren’t.

  “You’ve always said,” Suzi’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “that fencing was a combat of the mind first and the body second. My own analysis confirms your statement. You’ve matched your mind and sword against a wide array of humans, with an unbroken record of success. Well, I have one final challenge for you. Match your mind and abilities against mine against a robot. Let’s see how well your human reasoning fares against a machine!”

  With her one arm she picked up one of the weapons and tossed it to Hosato, who caught it with an easy motion. Before he could launch an attack, however, she quickly snatched up the second sword and had it between them.

  “Before you begin,” she said, “take the time to examine your weapon. I wouldn’t want your defeat credited to any lack of familiarity with your sword.”

  Hosato obediently tested the heft and balance of the new sword. It was perfect. Identical in every way to his own dueling epees—except the point.

  “I
see you’re curious about the point,” Suzi observed. “That is a special design. It’s a miniaturized one-shot blaster, set to be triggered on impact with the metal of a robot’s body. The point of my own weapon is standard.”

  Hosato’s eyes flicked to Suzi’s sword. She was right. Her epee was normal—needle sharp and deadly.

  “I specifically point out that your weapon contains a charge sufficient for one shot only,” Suzi continued. “Do not entertain any hopes of succesfully destroying me and the security robot there.”

  With a sweep of her sword she indicated the silent sentinel in the corner.

  “What is more, that unit will defend itself from any attack you might launch against it. I advise you of this because such an attempt would result in your being destroyed by its blaster, thereby negating the demonstration I have so painstakingly arranged.”

  The remaining object on the desk caught Hosato’s eye.

  “Why the camera unit?” he asked.

  “It is there for two reasons,” Suzi replied. “Both involving my own vanity. First, I wish a record of your defeat. Second, there may be times in the action when your colleagues’ view of the battle might be obscured by our movement. When combat begins, I will activate the viewscreen on my back, which will provide a view for them at all times.”

  She turned slightly toward Sasha and James.

  “Might I point out that it will therefore be unnecessary for you to shift position say, to move closer to the blaster in the corner. As such, any motion on your part will not be interpreted as innocent curiosity, but as an attempt to counterattack, and the unit there will defend itself accordingly. Is that clear?”

  “What happens if he wins?” Sasha asked, ignoring the threat to her own person.

  It was a good question, one that had not occurred to Hosato. He was busy preparing himself mentally for the duel.

  “In the unlikely event that that should occur,” Suzi said levelly, “the security robot will immediately destroy him with its blaster. He is far too dangerous to allow his continued existence.”