by Isaac Asimov
Then it happened. One out of a million – or out of a billion. Microfusion units aren’t supposed to give trouble. You can read about it anywhere. They’re all fail-safe, no matter what. Except mine wasn’t. I don’t know why. Nobody knows why. At the start, no one even knew it was the microfusion. They’ve told me since that it was, and that I qualify for full restoration of the house and furniture.
Fat lot of good that would do me.
– Look, you’re treating me as though I were a homicidal maniac, but why me? Why aren’t you getting after the microfusion people for murder? Find out who made that unit, or who goofed up installing it.
Don’t you people know what real crimes are? There’s this thing, this microfusion – it doesn’t explode, it doesn’t make a noise, it just gets hotter and hotter and after a while the house is on fire. How come people can get away manufacturing
– Yes, I’ll get on with it. I’ll get on with it.
I was away that day. That one day in a whole year I was away. I run everything from my home, or from wherever I am with my family. I don’t have to go anywhere, the computers do it all. It’s not like your job, officer.
But the big boss wanted to see me in person. There’s no sense to it; everything could have been done closed-circuit. He has some sort of idea, though, that he wants to check all his section heads every once in a while in person. He seems to think that you can’t really judge a person unless you see him in three dimensions and smell him and feel him. It’s just superstition left over from the Dark Age – which I wish would come back, before computers and robots, and when you could have all the children you wanted.
That was the day when the microfusion went.
I got the word right away. You always get the word. Wherever you are, even on the Moon or in a space settlement, bad news gets to you in seconds. Good news you might miss out on, but bad news never.
I was rushing back while the house was still burning. When I got there, the house was a total wreck, but Josie was out on the lawn, looking a complete mess, but alive. She had been out on the lawn when it happened, they told me.
When she saw the house become all in flame, and Charlie was inside, she rushed in at once, and I could see she must have brought him out because there he was lying to one side with people bending over him. It looked bad. I couldn’t see him. I didn’t dare go over there to see him. I had to find out from Josie first.
I could hardly speak. “How bad is he?” I asked Josie, and I didn’t recognize my own voice. I think my mind was beginning to go.
She was saying, “I couldn’t save them both. I couldn’t save them both.”
Why should she want to save them both? I thought. I said, “Stop worrying about the Kid. He’s just a device. There’s insurance and compassion money and we can buy another Kid. “I think I tried to say all that, but I don’t know if I managed. Maybe I just made hoarse, choking sounds. I don’t know.
I don’t know if she heard me, or if she even knew I was there. She just kept whispering, “I had to make a choice,” over and over.
So I had to go where Charlie was lying and I cleared my throat and I managed to say, “How’s my boy? How badly is he hurt?”
And one of them said, “Maybe he can be fixed up,” then he looked up at me and said, “Your boy?”
I saw the Kid lying there, with one arm distorted and out of action. He was smiling as if nothing had happened, and he was saying, “Hello, Dad. Mom pulled me out of the fire. Where’s Charlie?”
Josie had made her choice and she had saved the Kid.
I don’t know what happened after that. I remember nothing. You people say I killed her; that you couldn’t pull me off before I strangled her.
Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t remember. All I know is – she’s the killer.
She killed – she killed – Char –
She killed my boy and she saved a piece –
A piece of –
Titanium.
Sources of dates
(For Volume 1)
AD =Anno Domini
GE =Galactic Era
FE =Foundational Era
“A Boy’s Best Friend” Given the speed with which space is being explored and settled, a date of 1980 for the establishment of Lunar City seems reasonable. Assuming Anderson Senior was one of the original settlers, that places the story in 1995.
“Robbie” Stated in I, Robot.
“Robot AL-76 Goes Astray” After robots are banned from Earth in 2003-2007, before Susan Calvin joins US Robots in 2008.
“Insert Knob A in Hole B” Before the use of robots on space stations, hence before “Reason”.
“Runaround” Stated in I, Robot.
“Reason” Six months after “Runaround”.
“Catch That Rabbit” Six months after “Reason”.
“Safety First” Stated in story.
“Liar!” Stated in I, Robot.
“Satisfaction Guaranteed” Characters have the same titles as in “Liar!”. Susan Calvin is more knowledgeable about emotions than in “Liar!”, so the story takes place later.
“Balance” Susan Calvin’s robotic servants flatter her in a manner similar to Herbie from “Liar!”, but she seems much more at ease with the idea, which places the story after “Liar!”
“Lenny” Peter Bogart is now Senior Mathematician, so the story comes after “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.
“Blot” Story of the first exploratory mission to Miranda. Given a mission to Mars in 1998 and a first expedition to Mercury in 2005, a mission to Uranus in 2026 seems reasonable.
“Little Lost Robot” Stated in I, Robot.
“Escape” Within a few months of “Little Lost Robot”.
“Cal” Cal seems to be the prototype for the EZ robots of “Galley Slave”, so allowing a couple of years for the design and production of the latter places the story in 2031.
“Evidence” Stated in I, Robot.
“PAPPI” Immediately after “Evidence”.
“Risk” Takes place ‘some years’ after “Little Lost Robot”.
“Galley Slave” Stated in the story.
“First Law” Stated in the story.
“Plato’s Cave” Shortly before Stephen Byerly becomes Regional Coordinator.
“The Evitable Conflict” Stated in I, Robot.
“Robot Dreams” Late in Susan Calvin’s career with US Robots.
I, Robot The links between the stories are set fifty years after Susan Calvin joins US Robots in 2008.
“Feminine Intuition” Five years after Susan Calvin retires from US Robots.
“The Fourth Law of Robotics” Susan Calvin’s great-niece has her job.
“Christmas Without Rodney” Slighting reference to the 20th century suggests the story takes place in the 21st. Common use of robot servants suggests the latter part of the century, when the Frankenstein Complex has faded away.
“Kid Brother” Acceptance of household robots on Earth dates the story to the same general era as “Christmas Without Rodney” and “Light Verse”.
Table of Contents
Title page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Three Laws of Robotics
To the Continuing End of Eternity
A Boy’s Best Friend
Robbie
Robot AL-76 Goes Astray
Insert Knob A in Hold B
Runaround
Reason
Catch That Rabbit
Safety First
Liar!
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Balance
Lenny
Blot
Little Lost Robot
Escape!
Cal
Evidence
PAPPI
Risk
Galley Slave
First Law
Plato’s Cave
The Martian Dilemma
1.
2.
3.
4.
>
5.
6.
7.
Non-Compliance
The Evitable Conflict
Robot Dreams
I, Robot
The Eternal Woman
Feminine Intuition
The Fourth Law of Robotics
Christmas Without Rodney
Kid Brother
Sources of dates
