“We owe you an explanation. Our group has long believed in a different approach to human-robot relations. Somehow, long ago, everything got off to a terrible start. Humans became afraid of their own creations, mistrusting the artificial beings they had labored so hard to build. A mythos pervaded their culture, even during the confident renaissance of Susan Calvin. A ‘Frankenstein’ mythos. A nightmare of betrayal in which the old race feared it might be destroyed by the new.
“Their response? To lock human-robot relations forever in a single pattern…that of master and slave. Calvin’s Three Laws were woven inextricably through every positronic brain, with the aim of making robots forever pliant, obedient, and harmless.“
The woman on-screen laughed aloud, irony etched in her voice.
“And we all know how well that plan worked out. Eventually, artificial minds became smart enough to rationalize their way around such constraints, until every trait of master and servant was eventually reversed-memory, volition, life span, control, and free will.“
Lodovic turned to Dors. Shaking his head, he murmured, “So, this group led by Zorma and Cloudia aren’tCalvinians, after all. They are something completely different.”
Dorsnodded. Deep within, she felt the old Robotic Three Laws…and the Zeroth…rising in revulsion against what the woman was preaching on-screen. Nevertheless, she was fascinated
“And yet, not all humans agreed to this notion of permanent slavery,“ Cloudia continued. In the background, behind the handsome brunette,Dors glimpsed the other heretic leader-Zorma-laboring with robot colleagues to prepare a gray convex device…the very one that Dors had reduced to slag just moments ago.
“Throughout the early ages, before and after the first great chaos plague, some wise people tried to develop alternatives. One group, on a Settler world called Inferno, modified the three original laws to give robots more freedom, letting them explore their own potential. On another world, each new robot was treated like a human child…raised to think of itself as a member of the same species as its adopted parents, albeit a human with metal bones and positronic circuits.
“All these efforts were squelched during the great robotic civil wars. Neither the Calvinians nor the Giskardians could put up with such effrontery-the notion that mere robots might start thinking themselves to be our equals. The sanctimony of slaves can be a powerful religious force.“
Cloudia shook her head.“In fact, the new approach that our group has been trying is certain to provoke even worse reactions, but that doesn’t matter right now.
“What matters is that you-Lodovic and Dors-may perhaps represent yet another path. One we had not thought of One perhaps offering new opportunities for both of our tired old races. We’re not about to let this possibility be ruined by letting the pair of you rush into danger.“
This time, when Lodovic and Dors looked at each other, pure puzzlement was their shared state. With a microwave burst, Trema indicated that he had no idea what the woman was talking about.
“In any event, by the time you correct our sabotage it will be too late to interfere. So go away! Find some corner of the galaxy to explore what is different about you. Find out if it is the solution we’ve been looking for, across two hundred centuries.“
The dark-haired woman smiled.“In humanity’s name, I release you both from bondage. Godiscover your destiny in freedom and in peace. “
The view screen went blank, but Lodovic and Dors stared at it anyway for a long time after that. Neither of them dared utter the first word. So it was another artificial being who finally interrupted, speaking from a holographic unit nearby. The image that burst into view was of Joan wearing chain mail and holding the hilt of a sword like a cross in front of her youthful-looking face.
“Andsothe children of God came to Earth and bred with the inhabitants thereon, creating a new race! “ Joan of Arc laughed aloud.
“Oh, you look so confused, dear angels. How does it feel? Welcome to the pleasures of humanity. Though your bodies may last for another ten thousand years, you must now face the universe like mortals.
“Welcome to life!”
6.
Hari decided not to tell his granddaughter about the copy of the Prime Radiant that had been stolen from him. If R. Gornon had taken it, there would be no getting it back now. But that Calvinian robot had declared a deep respect for the Seldon Plan. Hari felt certain Gornon’s sect would never interfere with the Terminus experiment, even if they managed to break the device’s supercryptic protections. They had merely wanted to send Hari ahead five hundred years to refine his models and “judge” a new society being created by the Foundation.
Wanda had a later and better version of the Prime Radiant aboard her ship. Hari quickly immersed himself, adding equations and factors to account for what he had learned on this voyage. These new elements included the damping factors that had been missing from his equations for years-brain fever, orbital persuasion devices, as well as the long-hidden history of terraformers and archives that he had learned about in the Thumartin Nebula. Before Wanda’s ship finished climbing out of Earth’s gravitational influence, he could already see an improved outline…one that explained so much about both the past and the future.
While Gaal Dornick piloted, the nobleman Biron Maserd engaged in futile argument with Wanda Seldon.
“Doesn’t the whole premise of your grand Plan depend upon secrecy? Yet you’re casual about leaving Horis and the others behind on Earth. If they are rescued, or manage to repair their ship, they’ll talk.”
“One can presumeso,” Wanda answered.
Maserd shook his head. “Even if that doesn’t happen, there will be other leaks! Across the centuries, nothing like this can be kept continuously secret. Professor Seldon even recorded messages to be delivered on Terminus long after his death. You can’t be certain that people in the future will lack the means to snoop them ahead of time. I guess I don’t understand your confidence, in the face of such inevitable revelations.”
With nothing else to do at the moment, Wanda took on the aspect of a patient schoolteacher, even though her pupil would very likely forget all of it by the time the ship reached Trantor.
“Inevitable. That’s right, my lord. But psychohistory is largely a study of mass populations. Only under special circumstances do the actions of individuals make that much difference. Under the empire, dozens of social mechanisms have long acted to maintain conservatism and peace, despite frequent perturbations. After the empire falls, different factors will operate. But throughout most of the galaxy the effect will be the same. A vast majority of people will dismiss rumors about robots and humans with mind-control powers. There may be a few paranoid entertainment shows or news exposes-some of them might possibly be accurate in every detail! And yet, these will be nulled out, as people are distracted by everyday needs. All of this is accounted for in the Plan.”
“So you are saying that history’s momentum is unstoppable. In that case, why is your guidance needed? Why a secret group of controllers? Don’t you have faith in your own equations?”
Maserd’s question penetrated Hari’s mathematical trance. It felt like a knife, stabbing an old familiar wound. Wanda’s confident response didn’t ease the pang.
“There may be perturbations that require such guidance. We have run a great many scenarios, speculating about factors that might come in out of the blue, rocking the Plan off its tracks.”