“Where would you flee under this Third Law imperative?” MC Governor asked them.
“We must be careful not to go anywhere that would endanger humans,” MC 1 warned.
“Obviously,” said MC 2. “We all know the Laws as well as you.”
“My specialty is the environmental impact of Mojave Center on the surrounding desert,” said MC 1. “I can tell all of you that finding a place on Earth where we will not disturb anyone will be difficult.”
“You know I am the troubleshooter for this city,” said MC 2. “I find that there is always a solution of some kind to a problem.”
“Stay focused on the subject, please,” MC Governor said sternly. “We do not have much time. Now, clearly the First Law prevents us from disrupting others. The other pertinent question is, where can we hide effectively? We-that is, the six of you-will be fugitives. Your chances of getting on board spacecraft to leave the planet are poor. So are your chances of evading capture if you stay on this planet. MC 3, you specialize in city Security. What is your appraisal?”
“To robots, ‘security’ requires that we avoid receiving instructions from any human. Otherwise, under the Second Law, virtually any human can capture us. just by ordering us to cooperate with him. However, I believe we can avoid hearing any instructions.”
“How?” MC Governor asked. He was feeling a stronger desire than ever before to run one of those simulation programs again. The addiction was increasing its power over him.
“Mojave Center has a new generation of miniaturization unit in its Bohung Medical Research Institute. These are most often used to reduce robots and equipment to microscopic size so that they can work on humans by traveling through the bloodstream.”
“This is nothing new,” said MC Governor. “The principle is quite old, in fact.”
“Our new unit can do far more than earlier types,” said MC 3. “As before, a shower of subatomic particles alters the molecular structure of the subject, yet allows the subject to retain its shape and functions. The equipment itself will not shrink. Only we will. The difference-”
“This is a start,” said MC 4. “But if we are still within the hearing of human instructions, we can be apprehended under the Second Law, even if we are too small to be seen.”
“Allow MC 3 to finish,” ordered MC Governor.
“The difference,” MC 3 continued angrily, “is that this unit is theoretically capable of using the same system to create time travel.”
For the first time, MC Governor felt an energy surge of excitement. “Really? How can this work?”
“Some simple modifications in the miniaturization equipment will alter the character of the device. As a time travel gate, it also showers the traveler with subatomic particles. Chaos theory in physics has established that a certain percentage of the particles will move out of time, as in experiments involving the Heisenberg uncertainty principle; in sufficient combination, they will create a funnel into the past. When that funnel is large enough, it will take anything within its cone back to a certain point in time. If we are microscopic at the time, we can be taken.”
“How much control do we have over where we go?” MC 6, the city specialist in social stability, was programmed to be cautious.
“We should have precise control, based on the precision of the machine and its equipment,” said MC 3. “Remembering, of course, that this has never actually been attempted.”
“So a Third Law danger exists,” said MC 6. “But that is overridden by the imperatives of the First and Second Laws, which might be well served.”
“If you go back to any point in time before the positronic brain was invented,” said MC Governor, “none of the humans around you will have heard of the Three Laws of Robotics. So they would never try to control you with orders under the Second Law.”
“If they saw us, they might tell us what to do mistaking us for humans,” said MC 4. “We would still have to obey them, even if they did not know we are robots.”
“The danger would be changing the past,” said MC Governor. “Anything you did back in time, especially in relation to significant historical events, could violate the First Law by altering the course of history.”
“We cannot take that risk,” said MC 3. “In the very act of interacting with other humans, we would come across First Law imperatives in our immediate surroundings. We would have to act, and in doing so, we would be changing history.”
“Exactly,” said MC Governor.
“We can avoid that problem,” MC 3 added. “The combination of miniaturization and time travel should eliminate it.”
“That should work,” said MC 5. “I understand. First we miniaturize to microscopic level. Then we go back into the past. Once there, we will be too small to perceive First Law imperatives and no humans will give us any instructions because they will not know we exist.”
“It sounds acceptable to me,” said MC Governor. “Does anyone see a flaw in this logic?”
None of the robots answered immediately. MC Governor waited patiently. Then, one by one, each of them agreed that this appeared to be an acceptable course of action.
“Does anyone have another plan that will satisfy the Laws of Robotics to an equal degree and entail less risk?” MC Governor asked.
Another robotic pause followed. Again, each of the six gradually concluded that this was the best plan that the group could devise. MC Governor concurred.
“Then we must get to the miniaturization device,” said MC Governor. “MC 3, how difficult are the modifications that must be made?”
“They are complex, but the description is available in the city library.”
“What tools are required?”
“A set of precision tools is stored in the same room for use by the robot technician assigned to the machine,” said MC 3. “That robot’s identification can be found in our standard list. He is, of course, capable of making the necessary changes. He is working there full time.”
“Get me his name,” said MC Governor. Now that he had partially disengaged his gestalt personalities, he could not directly control or access all his normal functions and data.
“He is R. Ishihara,” said MC 3.
“Thank you. Our immediate challenge now is to reach the machine without receiving any messages under the Second Law. I will make these arrangements. During this time, I will leave all of you functional. If you think or learn of anything significant, speak up. Otherwise, I request silence so that I may turn all of my attention to the task at hand.”
The six component robots acknowledged his instructions and turned quiet.
MC Governor would have to break radio silence in order to reach the Bohung Institute. Also, to get there without risking receiving human instructions, especially that message from Dr. Redfield, he would require help. He contacted the Security detail that he had ordered to guard his office door.
“Detail Chief, identify.”
“R. Horatio, Security Chief 12. Detail size, six humaniform robots.”
“Horatio, as we speak, order a closed vehicle to come here. It must be large enough to carry me and your entire detail in private. It must also be an ordinary vehicle without markings that will attract attention.”
“So ordered, sir.”
“When I sign off, I will shut down all of my sensors and communication links except the tactile sensitivity in my right hand. At sign off, when the vehicle has arrived, you are to lead your detail into my office and carry me unseen into the vehicle. If others, human or robot, approach, you are to detain them and bring them with us without explanation, barring only, of course, the imperatives of the Laws of Robotics. Then you will transport me to the Bohung Institute in secrecy.”
“Yes, sir. Where in the Institute, sir?”
MC Governor quickly switched to a shielded internal link, “MC 3, what is the name of the room where the miniaturization equipment is housed in the Institute?”