“I, uh, I’m Tunnel Foreman, uh, 12.”
“Say, wait a minute. That sounds familiar. Did I talk to you before? About the search?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so? If you came to report, Derec and I are the ones to report to. What have you learned?”
“I…haven’t really learned anything.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Derec asked. “Do you have a question?”
The robot hesitated, again looking back and forth between them as if in puzzlement.
“Something’s wrong with him,” said Ariel. “Get on the console and call a repair facility. He isn’t acting right.”
The robot started to leave.
“Stay here,” Ariel ordered. When he didn’t stop, she caught his arm. “I ordered you to stay put. What’s wrong with you? Now freeze.”
Derec had started inside, but when the robot yanked his arm free of Ariel, he stopped in shock. “Are you forgetting the Laws? You’ve been ordered to freeze.”
The robot grabbed Ariel by the shoulders and flung her out of his way, slamming her against the wall. Derec launched himself between them, hoping to prevent the assault from continuing, even as disbelief flooded him. He saw the robot’s arm swinging backhand toward him, but had no chance to react as the incredibly hard robot hand casually smacked him in the forehead and blackened his vision.
Derec felt himself fall backward into the wall and slide to the base of the doorway in a sitting position. He sat motionless for a moment, getting his breath back and gathering his wits. When he looked around, the robot was gone.
Chapter 12. Teamwork
Ariel scooted over to Derec with a look of concern. Even in his stunned condition, he appreciated it.
“You hurt bad, Derec?”
“No.” His voice came out in a coarse mutter. “Got the breath knocked out of me, but that’s all. How about you?”
“I’m all right. Thanks for getting in his way.”
He grinned. “Any time, just so it isn’t too often.” He inhaled deeply a couple of times.
She took him under one arm and helped him to his feet. “Have you ever seen anything like that before?”
“Never. The positronic brains have always been totally reliable. That record is known everywhere.” He dusted himself off. “I think the shock is worse than getting knocked down.”
“This one’s not reliable, that’s for sure.”
“Did you see where he went?” Derec looked down the street.
“No, but a couple of other robots went chasing after him. They must have been close enough to see what happened.”
“I guess I heard a few footsteps. Let’s go inside. I want to get on the console and find out if there’s been any warning about a rogue robot. “
She followed him inside. “The robots chasing him weren’t shouting or anything. I suppose they were all talking through their comlinks.”
“I guess.” He rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the wall, and winced. “I wonder what kind of insults robots exchange among themselves.” He sat down at the computer and called up a variety of subjects-including warnings, city alerts, and suspected malfunctions. Nothing turned up.
“Maybe the malfunction just occurred,” Ariel suggested. “We’ll be the first ones to report.”
“I’ll do that. Let’s see… …Malfunctioning robot does not obey the Laws.Since he actually attacked us, the rest of the robots will make searching for him a top priority. I imagine they’ll even leave their regular jobs.” He entered a description of the pertinent events.
“Doesn’t it seem odd to you that he came here?”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re the only people on the planet, that anyone can find. The others are lost. And this city is huge. Isn’t it kind of strange that the one robot here who goes berserk just happens to wind up at the only apartment with humans in it?”
He paused for a moment at the keyboard. “I see what you mean. Of course, since the positronic failure involves the Laws, maybe he was drawn somehow to humans.” He shrugged and continued on the console.
“They did know! Look at this-I got it when I entered the subject of searches.”
She leaned down close, reading over his shoulder. “Wait a minute. What kind of weird robot are they searching for?”
“I’m not sure he’s exactly a robot at all. It says: see Human Experimental Medical Team. Let’s see.”
A moment later, he was reading in fascination. “He’s human! Or at least, his brain is.”
“His brain?”
“Look at this!” Derec pointed out the summary of the surgery on the computer’s screen. “Unbelievable!”
“That’s impossible,” Ariel said, “transplanting a brain into a robot body.”
“Everything’s been impossible since we got here.” Derec shook his head, as though to clear it. “We should be used to it by now.”
“If you can ever get used to being surprised. What do we do now?”
“I’m trying to get the central computer to put me through to one of the robots on the medical team through their comlinks.”
“Yes?” said a voice through the console.
“I am Derec, a human male. Please identify yourself.”
“I am Human Medical Research 1, the Director of the Human Experimental Surgical Team.”
“I have some information regarding a robot who doesn’t obey the Laws of Robotics.”
“Excellent. We have been conducting a pattern search from the perimeter of the city inward, with the help of many robots. Can you narrow the focus of search for us?”
“I’d like to see you and your team in person. Please come meet with Ariel and myself.”
“We will do this. May I ask why you are delaying in providing me with helpful information?”
“This problem may be larger than it appears. The robot in question seriously disobeyed our instructions and physically attacked us. I think a major consultation is in order, don’t you?”
“We will come at once.” The robot’s voice was suddenly formal and expressionless.
“Say-tell me one thing now. Has this guy’s spacecraft been located? What kind of shape is it in?”
“It was destroyed on impact. What is your location?”
Disappointment struck Derec like a physical blow, but he gave them the information. Then he began pacing restlessly, trying to keep his spirits up.” At least the medical robot can tell us if he was traveling with the other two we’ve been looking for. It isn’t over yet. We’ve made some kind of progress, believe it or not. It’s about time.” He slapped a fist into his other palm. “We still just might learn something we can use.”
“You think this guy is one of the humans we’re looking for?” Ariel, too, was crestfallen.
“I think so. Remember the third visitor, who just vanished after a certain point? This must be the one. I figure the reports of him stopped because he was in a robot body.”
“I was hoping he had arrived on another ship. It would give us an extra chance.” Disappointment was evident on her face.
The medical team arrived shortly. Derec told the three robots what had transpired and then asked for the relevant information they possessed. They briefed him on what they had told Jeff.
“So it’s not a failure of the positronic brain,” Research 1 finished. “However, we have consulted among ourselves and have concluded that we must enter a repair facility to have our brains removed and destroyed.”
“What?” Derec cried. “You can’t do that. We need your help.”
“We created a situation in which a robot body violated the First Law by attacking humans. This is a violation of the First Law on our part. We would have reported immediately after the transplant ~urgery if we had understood where it would lead.”
Derec looked at the two robot surgeons, who nodded in agreement. The three of them were standing together in a line, as though prepared for law-enforcement questioning. Maybe that was what they expected from a human, after violating the First Law.
“But you didn’t attack anybody,” said Ariel. “You were one step away from the situation. You can’t take responsibility for what he-you said his name was Jeff?-decided to do.”
“Besides, he didn’t hurt us,” said Derec. “It just surprised us. Well-totally shocked us, actually.”