“You dare to order me?” Dr. Avery yelled. “No! You join me! I order it!”
“I’m not a robot. You can’t order me.” Derec turned to the Hunters. “Please detain my…detain Dr. Avery without harming him.”
The two Hunters started forward.
With a twisted sneer, Dr. Avery lifted a small object in one hand: a Key to Perihelion. He laughed derisively and then vanished.
Derec walked slowly to the head of the table, still looking at the space where Dr. Avery had stood. His relief was tinged with melancholy at understanding his father’s condition.
Everyone was watching him.
He turned at his father’s chair, resting one hand on the back of it. “Mandelbrot, please put those items on the floor back on the table. Hunters, your task is over. Please return to your holding area, or wherever you normally reside.”
The robots obeyed.
“Are you really okay?” Ariel asked, moving toward him. “David?”
He grinned and put his arm around her. “I guess so. David seems to be okay, and so is Derec.”
“I seem to be okay, too.” She put her arms around him and they embraced.
None of them wanted to split up for the night or go exploring for bedrooms in the Avery estate. As tired as they were, Derec, Ariel, Jeff, and Wolruf were able to sleep by the fire even on the hard floor. Derec knew that Dr. Avery might have transported elsewhere on the planet and could still pose a danger, but he doubted any threat would be immediate. Just before going to sleep, he gave a general order throughout Robot City that all robots were to remain where they were until further notice, except for minimal activities to keep the city operating. That way he would have time later to figure out exactly what status the city was in and how to return the robots from their assembly points to normal duties. With Mandelbrot standing by and Robot City under his own mental control, he fell into a genuine sleep.
The next morning, Ariel pointed out the table console to Derec in case he had a use for it. He really didn’t, finding that he was able to contact any branch of the computer system on the planet with his mind. This morning he started with the one in Dr. Avery’s kitchen.
The entire group, including Mandelbrot, sat at the long table with a real breakfast served by two kitchen robots. It included fresh produce and dishes processed from produce instead of from limited nutrient tanks. Derec and Ariel shared their separate adventures with everyone, then Wolruf and Jeff gave their stories. Since Mandelbrot had been shut down for much of the time they had been separated, he had little to tell.
When the anecdotes had ended, Derec sat at the head of the table in an upbeat mood, thinking over his new responsibilities.
“I guess I can have the central computer worry about the particulars of what I have to do,” he mused. “If I instruct the central computer to return all the robots to their normal duties, it will do all the organization itself.”
“But you can really control it with your mind?” Ariel asked. “And you can program robots mentally, too?”
“Apparently I can. I’m still getting used to the idea myself.”
“To all your human attributes,” said Mandelbrot, “you have now added some of the advantages of a robot. “
Jeff laughed. “Without the liabilities, if you know what I mean.” He winked.
While the others laughed, Derec was aware of a message in his mind from the central computer, answering a question he had posed.
“NO EVIDENCE OF DR. AVERY ON THE PLANET HAS BEEN REPORTED,” said the central computer.
If Dr. Avery was here at all, Derec realized, he now had all the disadvantages they had had while on the run from him. They now had all the resources he had used. Even more, considering that they were not burdened by insanity.
Considering Dr. Avery’s paranoia, Derec felt certain that he had left the planet. Maybe he had gone home to Aurora. Perhaps he had returned to his apartment on Earth, or had other hideaways in reserve, as well.
“Thank ‘u,” said Wolruf. “Good brreakfasst. Could sleep morr now.”
“I believe we can locate comfortable sleeping rooms here,” said Mandelbrot. “The luxury of this room and this meal imply similar luxury elsewhere in this residence.”
“I’ll find a way to shut down the booby-traps and riddles,” said Derec, grinning at Ariel.
She laughed. “It’s hard to believe. For the first time, Robot City will be at peace, running smoothly, and no longer full of mystery.”
“And you have plenty of Keys to Perihelion with which to travel,” said Mandelbrot. “Perhaps Wolruf can be sent home.”
She shrugged her caninoid shoulders. “Resst first.”
“I wonder what kind of shape the ship is in,” said Jeff. “I only rented it.”
“Don’t worry,” said Derec. “I’ll have the Minneapolis fully repaired, cleaned, polished, and outfitted for you. We’re more than square for any debt you felt you owed us. But you’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”
“Thanks,” said Jeff. He shook his head, grinning. “Robot City. It’s never been a dull town.”
When everyone had finished breakfast, Jeff and Wolruf excused themselves to accompany Mandelbrot in further exploration of Dr. Avery’s immense quarters.
Later, after function robots had cleared the table and Derec and Ariel were alone in the great hall, he stood gazing into the fire that continued to blaze. He still felt melancholy.
“Is something wrong?” Ariel asked quietly.
“Oh…I was just thinking about Dr. Avery. How his wonderful plans got all twisted. And how after researching cultures with Professor Leong and all, he just seemed to drop that subject after a certain point. He is obviously a brilliant man, yet he threw so much away.” He looked up at her. “I found out something, too.”
“What?”
“I’m not sure we stopped him in time after all. From what I can get out of the central computer, I think some of the robots may have launched themselves from their assembly points before I cancelled that instruction.”
Ariel drew in a quick breath. “If that’s true, then they will be building more Robot Cities, just as Dr. Avery wanted. And who knows what precise orders he gave them?”
“I may be able to find that out in the computer,” said Derec. “Maybe I can even call them back somehow; I won’t know till I spend some time on it. But there’s something else.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I have my identity back, but…I still have amnesia. I don’t have all my memory back.” He turned to look at her. “Finding my father wasn’t exactly constructive.”
“Maybe you could…oh, I don’t know. Perhaps locating your mother would help. Or some of the Avery robots might know of a way to help. Just think how much help you might get from Robot City and even the robots that may have left.”
Derec nodded. “I haven’t given up. Don’t worry about that.” He grinned. “That isn’t me. And from what I’ve seen, it isn’t you, either.”
“It certainly isn’t…David.”
Ariel laughed, looked into his eyes, and tossed her hair back. On an impulse, he slid his arms around her waist and drew her close. Then he kissed her waiting lips and felt her arms tighten around his neck.
Isaac Asimov:S Robot Citycontinues with Robot City # 7, in which Derec is summoned to a distant planet and encounters a robotic experiment fantastically different from anything he has seen on Robot City.
Data Bank
CARGO ROBOT: Not all of the robots of Robot City are positronic in nature. Many of those whose jobs are especially simple have been equipped with brains that are more like computers than like robot brains. These function robots are analogous to the tools used by positronic robots. They are incapable of real thought; they are also not bound by the Three Laws of Robotics.
The cargo robot is one example of a non-positronic function robot. Programmed with a map of Robot City and its transport systems, it is essentially a container that can load and unload itself and move along preset paths. It has just enough intelligence to avoid obstacles and decide which cargoes should be loaded in the internal compartment and which should be carried on the forklift-like arms.