“We need information regarding the complete physiology of a young human male, particularly regarding the arrangement of inner organs, in order to restore Jeff’s body to a healthy condition. Yours can act as a kind of map.”
“Pardon me for asking this,” said Derec, “but exactly what do you need from me? In particular, uh…”
“You will not be subjected to any risk,” said Research 1. “After all, the First Law would not permit risk in your case, as it did in Jeff’s. We have the ability to construct scanning systems that will tell us what we must know without surgical procedures or drugs. “
Derec visibly relaxed. “Okay, sure. But we still have to get our hands on Jeff.”
“Granted,” said Research 1. “Nevertheless, we will arrange to have the systems constructed, since they do not currently exist. It will not take very long. The odds are very high in favor of Jeff’s eventual apprehension, limited only by his unknown medical condition and the chance of injurious accident to his brain. Damage to the rest of him can, of course, be fully repaired.”
“Brain damage would require a great deal of trauma,” observed Surgeon 2. “His cranial protection was especially designed for him, as demanded by the First Law, and is highly effective.”
“Good,” said Derec. “We definitely need information from him, and the saner he is, the better. A crazy guy’s answers aren’t going to help us much.”
“Enough about my conversation with him,” said Ariel. “What about you? Did you get anything accomplished while you were out there? Or didn’t you have enough time?”
“We rearranged the pattern of the ongoing search,” said Research 1. “The closing doughnut has been speeded up, based on the First Law concern regarding Jeff’s health. We have charged some additional robots inside the remaining hole here in the center of the city with the same behavior. This may locate him a little faster.”
“I believe the colloquial phrase is, ‘smoke him out’,” said Surgeon 1. “Is that correct?”
“Yes.” Ariel laughed.
“I told them that putting more pressure on Jeff might push him into a mental mistake,” said Derec.
“I think so,” said Ariel. “He’s gotten very short-tempered.”
“Maybe it’s just as well that robots are out looking, if he’s going to get violent.” Derec turned to the robots. “Now we’re just back to waiting, I guess, for the time being. We’ll contact you immediately if we have a new development.”
“Very well,” said Research 1. “We shall return to our facility and prepare the scanning systems.”
When they had left, Ariel got up so that Derec could have the console chair if he wanted it. Instead, he started into his room.
“Derec?” She said quietly, standing with her arms folded.
“Yeah?” He turned at his doorway.
“Did they talk about the transplant while you were out walking around with them?”
“No, not really. Why?”
“I was thinking about what Research 1 said. That maybe Jeff has gone weird because of the shock of waking up and finding out what happened to him. That might throw anybody, don’t you think?”
“Sure. What about it?”
“If that’s true, then the transplant was actually successful, wouldn’t you say? The surgery itself, I mean, and all the adjustments they had to make in the robot body.”
“Yeah, I guess so. But they aren’t sure that’s the case, remember? It’s just one possibility.” He cocked his head. “Since when did you get interested in all this?”
She shrugged self-consciously. “I was just thinking about it. On account of talking to Jeff. He says it’s not too bad.”
“Not too bad? Being a robot on the outside and a human on the inside?” He had started to smirk, teasing her, but then realization crossed his face. “Hey, wait a minute. You don’t…?”
“Not for sure.” She turned away, embarrassed. “I just want to know more about it, that’s all.”
“You mean you’d actually consider this? Turning yourself into a robot?”
She nodded her head without turning around.
“And then what-stay here? In this ridiculous place?” His voice was filled with wonder as much as anger.
“It’s better than dying!” She whirled on him. “Or being frozen whole and maybe never waking up! What if there isn’t any cure, anywhere? Maybe these robots could find one, if I stayed long enough.” She felt tears stinging her eyes.
“Well,…” He paused uncertainly. “What about the other possibility? Maybe the robots messed up somehow. Maybe that’s why Jeff’s going crazy. You can’t risk that. That would be worse than looking for a cure off the planet somewhere.”
“If we get off the planet! Derec, what if we’re still stuck here? I won’t have anything to lose then, will I?”
“Well, I…I don’t know. Maybe not.”
“And what if Jeff was always a little crazy? Nobody here knows him. Maybe he hasn’t been changed at all. What about that?”
He shook his head. “Maybe that’s true. You were the one who came up with the theory about his going crazy now. All I know is that if they can’t rig up the transplant right, it could kill you faster than your disease.”
She looked away from him.
He hesitated, watching her. When she didn’t say anything else, he went on into his room.
She walked into her own room and collapsed on her bed to stare at the ceiling. Then she remembered: it would not do her any good. One of the effects of her disease, before causing death, was insanity. Even a transplant like Jeff’s would not help her escape her own brain.
Chapter 15. The Circle Tightens
Jeff stood on the stationary shoulder of a slidewalk, at the apex of a high, arching overpass. Robots and vehicles passed on a major boulevard several stories below him. On one comer, five humanoid robots were talking. He had watched three of them approach the other two, and had seen that the pair standing together had blocked their path to engage them in conversation.
He couldn’t tell what they were discussing at this distance, but normally robots would communicate privately among themselves through their comlinks. The most likely reason they were using spoken communication was that they were searching for him. His lack of a comlink was one identifying mark he could not disguise.
“You can’t go that way, either, Jeffrey,” he said into the slight breeze. It would carry his voice the other way, so that even their most sensitive robot hearing would not detect it. “They think they’re closing in. Well, maybe they are and maybe they aren’t. We’ll see.”
He stepped onto the slowest lane of the slidewalk and rode it standing still, carefully watching in all directions. With his vision magnified for distances, he was able to spot these little clusters of conversing robots before they noticed him. They were uncharacteristic of normal robot behavior.
As near as he could tell, these clusters were coming toward the center of the city from all directions. They had been slowed down, though, because the population was higher as they approached the heart of the urban area. That might give him time to figure out an escape.
“Time for another reconnoiter, Jeffrey ol' pal. Just keep it casual and don’t let anybody sneak up on you. Got it? Of course I’ve got it, you moron; I’m you.” He laughed at his little joke and prepared to change direction at an upcoming junction ramp with another slidewalk.
He knew, by this time, the routes that gave him the most visibility, either with raised sections of slidewalk or open areas that offered a broad vista of the city. The robots involved in the pattern search were direct, and made no attempt to disguise their efforts, so he was able to see how much progress they had made. The circle was surprisingly tight, and still closing in.
“Now it’s time to check out their procedure a little more closely. It’ll take some care, Jeff. Think you can handle that? Of course I can. Shut up and get to work.”
He was hoping to eavesdrop. The difficulty was in listening without attracting the attention of the search team. He continued to ride the slidewalks until he found a cluster of robots speaking below another slidewalk overpass. When he was close enough, he stepped off onto the shoulder again and turned up his aural sensitivity until he could hear them clearly.