At her suggestion, he agreed after a while to take it easy. Rushing around wasn’t likely to help at this stage of the search. They had alerted the robots as much as they could, and they had a list of locations of previous sightings. Now all they could do was walk around, hoping to chance across a lead.
The worst problem was that the sightings offered no pattern that they could recognize. Since the lone traveler had not been reported at all for some time, they decided to forget about that one for the present. The sightings of the two traveling together were completely random, as far as they could tell.
The most recent sighting had taken place on the outskirts of the city. They rode the tunnels to the end of the trunkline at the edge of the city, and then had to surface. There, they managed to hitch a ride in the cab of a huge liquid transporter of some kind. They hopped off when its route diverged from theirs.
As they walked, they got their first look at the long, three-stage mole device that dug the underground tunnels and left a fully equipped, functioning platform system behind. This segment was not being used because it had not been connected to the main system elsewhere; otherwise, the mole device would have been underground and out of sight. It also simultaneously mined ores for construction and other uses, according to a foreman robot whom Derec questioned. It seemed to be a modified version of a gatelike device he had seen sifting the asteroid in search of the original Key for the Avery robots, shortly after waking up with amnesia, and the great mining and construction devices that had been crucial to the automatic shapechanging of the city.
They also saw a number of buildings under construction and some freshly finished. These included some smaller domes of bronze dianite reminiscent of the Key Center. Nowhere, however, did any of the robots remember any additional sightings of humans.
Chapter 7. The Cyborg
His name was Jeff Leong. He opened his eyes in darkness and wondered where he was. At least he was alive, and not in pain.
He seemed to be lying on his back, comfortably. Pale, colored lights crossed his vision from his left, suggesting monitor readouts. He supposed they were medical equipment of some kind, and turned his head to the left, expecting it to involve considerable effort and discomfort. Instead, he moved easily and comfortably, though he found wires, now, under his cheek, that connected his head to the equipment by his side.
Dim light seemed to have come on in the room. He could see outlines in the room around him, and of course the lit displays of the monitors. The readouts meant nothing to him, though, so he straightened his head again.
He felt fine. That hardly made any sense.
Since he had only been a passenger on the spaceship Kimbriel, he did not have a clear understanding of the disaster. The captain had spoken over the intercom, saying that a mechanical problem had developed, and that they had left Aurora too far behind to return safely. The navigator had located a habitable planet, however, and they would attempt an emergency stop in a lifepod.
At the time, Jeff had been excited. He had had faith in the crew and had actually looked forward to an unscheduled adventure on a planet he had never seen. He assumed that was where he was now.
The door at the far end of the room opened and a robot entered. Full light came on in the room, and Jeff saw that his visitor was a blue-skinned robot of a specific type that he did not recognize. The robot walked to the monitors and studied each one carefully.
“Where am I?” Jeff asked. His voice sounded a little odd, but he had no trouble speaking.
“You are in Human Experimental Facility I, Room 6, in Robot City,” said the robot.
“Robot City? On what planet?”
“The planet is also called Robot City,”
“Who are you?”
“I am Surgeon Experimental I.”
“Uh, can I see my doctor?”
“I am your doctor, along with Human Medical Research 1.”
“Is he a robot, too? From his name, I suppose-”
“Yes. What is your name?”
“I’m Jeff Leong.”
“Are you still in harm?”
“Huh?”
“How…are you? How do you feel?”
“Oh. I feel pretty good, actually. My voice sounds kind of strange, though, doesn’t it?”
“It has changed. Please tell me the events leading to your arrival here.”
“Our ship developed a mechanical emergency of some kind. We came here for an emergency landing, but we didn’t make a very good job of it. I remember the captain warning us that it would be a hard impact.”
“What other events led to your landing?”
“What other events? I don’t know any other events. I was just a passenger. Look, where’s everybody else?”
“I must inform you that you are the only survivor.”
Jeff stared up at the ceiling, filled with many emotions. He had not expected that answer, yet he was not surprised. All the crew and passengers had been killed because of an accidentyet, he had somehow survived. It hadn’t really sunk in yet. If anything, he felt more guilt than sorrow.
“Were you traveling with family or friends?”
“No,” he murmured softly. ‘.No, I didn’t know anybody on board.”
“What was your destination?”
“Mine, personally? Well, I was leaving home for college. I’m from Aurora.”
“You were not coming to Robot City?”
“Not deliberately, no. Not until the ship malfunction.” Jeff looked up at him. “Do you know what happened to it?”
“The mother ship exploded outside the atmosphere. The lifepod you were riding with the other passengers crashed in its attempt to land.”
“I guess I lucked out, huh? I feel okay.”
“I have summoned Research 1, the other member of the Human Experimental Team. We shall explain together. Perhaps you did luck out, as you put it. You say you feel well?”
“Yeah. Can I get up?”
“Have you observed yourself?”
“No…why, was I scarred or something?” Jeff put a hand to his face, and felt a hard, unfamiliar surface. “Am I in a mask? Bandages or something?”
Surgeon 1 paused as another robot entered the room. “This is Human Medical Research 1. Our patient is named Jeff Leong.”
“Hi,” Jeff said cautiously.
“Hi,” said Research 1, in exactly the same tone. “Surgeon 1, how do the monitors read?”
“They indicate, taken together, an excellent condition.” Surgeon 1 walked up and looked down at Jeff, who felt cowed by the unequal numbers and strange appearances. He would have preferred a human doctor.
“Do you feel excellent?” Surgeon 1 asked.
“Well, yeah, but I feel all mummified or something. What happened to me?”
Research 1 moved to the foot of the bed and looked at him straight on. “Since the experiment has succeeded, I believe we can tell you with a minimum of shock. You may sit up.”
“Uh, okay.” Jeff expected to be helped, as solicitous doctors and nurses tended to do, but the robots remained where they were. He sat up, quite easily, watching Research 1’s careful study of the monitors. Then he looked down and saw the blue-skinned texture of his own legs.
At first, he simply didn’t understand. He wondered why his legs were encased in this stuff. When he reached out to touch one of his legs, he saw his hand and arm for the first time, made of the same unfamiliar blue substance. Then, suddenly understanding what had happened, he looked at his other robotic arm and then down at his chest. In growing panic, he clapped his blue hands against his torso and then ran them across the new contours of his face.
“The monitors read properly,” said Research 1. “All evidence so far indicates a successful procedure. You are, of course, emotionally agitated. This reaction is also occurring normally.”
Jeff collapsed back on the bed. The monitor lights jumped as they noted the impact. “I’m a robot. I can’t believe this. I’m a robot. “
“We wish you to understand something,” said Surgeon 1. “The First Law required this development, under the circumstances of our finding you.”