“And you were his lover. Oh, by the way, didn’t you ever wonder what happened to the corpse? The cleaning robots recognized it as nothing more than waste material and hauled it away.”
“You destroyed my memory,” she said again, slowly. “And his. The amnemonic plague was artificial, created by chemfets. It was you. To separate David and me. You must have given him his amnesia for the same reason.”
“I always knew you had intelligence. My son’s taste was always exceptional.”
“And ever since my memory returned on Earth, I withheld telling Derec the truth because I was afraid these memories might not be correct. All this time, I could have put his mind at ease if I had only trusted my memories.”
“A compliment. Consider my actions a compliment. Breaking your hold on my son’s will required extreme measures. Judge it as the extent to which he cares about you.” He leaned back in his chair, holding the little item he had been playing with. “Cared, I should say. He doesn’t remember even now, of course…but he does seem to have formed an affection for you allover again, seen by the way you two have remained a team.”
“You practically destroyed two people just to keep them apart.” Her anger was mixed with sheer astonishment.
“Ah, no. Sorry. You are not so important as you think. My other motive was to test my son’s resourcefulness. You see, if he succeeded in manipulating and controlling Robot City, then he was truly worthy of my final plan for him.”
“Final plan…? Do you mean to say,” she said slowly, “that you wiped his memory and placed him on that asteroid as a test?”
“It is what I mean to say and what I have said.” He sat up and for the first time his face reflected enthusiasm. “You see, Robot City has been finished. Now each of the humanoid robots here has had implanted in his body…one or two duplicate Keys to Perihelion. Even now, they are marching to predetermined sites around this planet from which they will launch themselves to different galaxies. In each galaxy, they will begin replication of themselves and construction of more Robot Cities. And David, my son who has now earned the right to act as my son, will control each and every robot in every Robot City…making him the most powerful man in the universe!”
“He what? How?”
“The chemfets, my dear. The memory chemfets in his body. You see, a tiny Robot City is growing inside him…and when it matures, his mere thoughts will control every Avery robot in the universe.”
“Oh, no…you are insane. You don’t know what’s happened to him!”
“Of course I do. The chemfets develop slowly and cause certain physical disabilities. I know that. They behave like a disease and can even cause the formation of antibodies in the bloodstream.”
“You’re murdering him! He’s almost dead now!”
“Oh, nonsense. The chemfets didn’t kill you, did they? I wouldn’t kill him, would I? After all this? Why would I throw away all this effort?”
“But you’re wrong! Your chemfets for me were much simpler. He’s dying!”
“Where is he?”
She paused, suddenly realizing the dilemma that Derec and she had never solved. They could not force Dr. Avery to cooperate. He had to be convinced.
“The central computer is calling. For several moments now, I have ignored a little light on my table here. I have done so because I know what it signifies, I believe. Excuse me, will you?”
Ariel stared at him, amazed at his composure and his refusal to believe her.
A small section of the table in front of Dr. Avery swiveled to reveal a computer console on what had been the underside of the table. “Would you like to hear?” He pushed a button. “I’ll set it on voice, which I usually find intrusive. Report,” he said into the console.
“HUNTERS REPORT APPREHENSION OF HUMAN NAMED DEREC.”
“Thought so,” said Dr. Avery pleasantly. “Report status of Hunter project.”
“THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN APPREHENDED AND ARE HELD ON THE NORTH SLOPE OF THE VALLEY: DEREC, JEFF LEONG, MANDELBROT, WOLRUF. STILL MISSING: ARIEL WELSH.”
Dr. Avery laughed casually. “Now, who would have thought I could outperform my own team of Hunter robots?”
Ariel’s heart was pounding with tension. If Derec was already in Avery’s control, very little risk was left. “Dr. Avery. Will you agree to a test?”
“Eh? What kind of test? Haven’t we had enough testing around here for a while?”
“Have the robots check David and see if he is in danger from the chemfets. They’ll tell you.”
“A party,” said Dr. Avery. “An excellent idea. I’ll have the Hunters bring everyone. We’ll have a party.” He tossed the object in his hand over his shoulder into the fire.
Ariel saw it clearly for the first time. It was a small model of a humanoid robot.
Chapter 20. To Rule In Robot City
Ariel watched the gray stones, or whatever they were, in the wall dissolve into air for a moment and the Hunters brought in their captives through the opening. The first one carried Derec gently in his arms as though he were a giant baby, but limp and unconscious. The second entered holding Jeff Leong firmly by one upper arm as they walked. The third held Wolruf cradled on one elbow and the fourth marched in with Mandelbrot lying over his shoulder, completely shut down.
The stone wall reformed behind them.
“Clear the table,” said Dr. Avery. “Don’t worry about where the stuff goes.”
The Hunter carrying Mandelbrot laid him down on the floor and then extended his arm along the full width of the table at the far end. He then walked down the length of the table as his arm knocked everything it struck onto the floor. By the time he had reached the near end, Dr. Avery had himself swept aside the items within his own reach.
Ariel watched in horror. She had never seen a humanoid robot act so messily, even destructively, on a casual instruction. This one must have known that Dr. Avery wanted to be taken literally and did not want him to remove the items on the table with any care.
“Put him down.” Dr. Avery nodded to the Hunter holding Derec. Then he waved at the one carrying Mandelbrot. “And turn him on, will you? This won’t be much of a party with so many people feeling unsociable.”
Ariel felt some relief as the Hunter located Mandelbrot’s controls and activated him again. “Mandelbrot, tell him. Tell Dr. Avery what’s happening to Derec.”
Mandelbrot scanned the room quickly. His observation probably told him as much about the current situation as Ariel already knew. “Dr. Avery,” he said clearly. “Derec has undergone extreme physical debilitation that continues to increase. He believes that the chemfets you placed in his body are killing him. My observation of his symptoms confirms that likelihood.”
“Doesn’t anybody here want to have a party?” Dr. Avery sighed. ”Everyone is so morbid. Say, Mr. Leong. Haven’t we met before? Not lately and not on this planet, however.”
“That’s right,” Jeff said sullenly. “You were more sociable in those days, yourself.”
Dr. Avery pushed back his chair and stood up. Trailing the fingers of one hand along the table, he walked down its length looking at the motionless figure of Derec. “He has done very well. I have not given him any challenge he cannot surmount.”
“Till now. “ Ariel insisted. “How can you take a risk like this? Even your own robots wouldn’t risk his life for a test.”
Jeff, Wolruf, and Mandelbrot all looked at her in surprise. “Oh, I don’t think he’ll have any trouble. He’ll be fine.” Dr. Avery nodded to himself.
“Aren’t you even going to test him? Check him out in your laboratory?” She cried.