“Of course. Join me up here on the bench and strap in, please.”
Wayne did so, riding in silence. He looked around as the cart moved, still observing that the city was to all appearances functioning normally. For MC Governor to be momentarily out of contact would not have been alarming except for the call he had made to Wayne. When they reached MC Governor’s office, Wayne hopped down and sent the robot on his way.
Wayne was surprised to find the door to MC Governor’s office closed. He pushed the doorbell, then knocked. Finally he tried the doorknob, expecting it to be locked. Instead, it turned. Cautiously, he opened the door.
“Normal here, too.” He glanced around, but the office of a Governor robot never had much in it. A couple of chairs stood across the desk for humans who might come here for an appointment. A beverage server was embedded in the wall for guests. Otherwise, only the desk and the desk chair were in the room. He closed the door behind him, moved around the desk, and sat down in the desk chair.
Wayne opened the desk drawers and found them empty. The desk was just for show. MC Governor didn’t need a computer terminal, either, since he had one inside his robot body. Wayne saw the wall jack that MC Governor would use for shielded communication, but a human had no use for it. No other communication devices were in the office for the simple reason that MC Governor bore all of them within his body.
“Nothing for me here,” Wayne got up and left the office, closing the door behind him. On the boulevard, he hailed another robot, who was using a hand-held inspection tool on a wall. “Call a Security robot to this location, please.”
“Of course,” said the robot. “Are you under the threat of harm, sir?”
“Not immediately,” said Wayne. “At this time, I just need to confer with a Security chief,” He identified himself.
“Very well.” The robot returned to his duties.
In less than a minute, a single robot arrived in a small, fast-moving Security vehicle. “Dr. Nystrom? I am R. Horatio, the Security chief assigned to this section of Mojave Center,” He jumped lightly out of the cart.
“Pleased to meet you. Are you familiar with my name?”
“Yes, sir, I have just verified your identity with the city computer through visual record and your voiceprint. I am honored to meet you. How can I assist you?”
“Can you locate MC Governor for me?”
“You mean by standard communication link?”
“Yes. I asked a robot to do this a little while ago and the Governor could not be reached.”
“I am still in contact with the city computer. I see that your message is on file. MC Governor has not accessed it.”
“Please try again.”
“Yes, sir. Attempting now.”
“Hm. No response?”
“Not yet, sir.”
“I would like a computer terminal with access to the city computer.”
Horatio hesitated. “You do not have the authority for that, sir.”
“Not by statute,” Wayne agreed. “Who is your superior in Security?”
“I report directly to MC Governor.”
“Ah! Then the choice falls to you. Here’s my problem. I think that MC Governor has an unusual difficulty of some sort. If he’s not able to perform his duties in running the city, then First Law imperatives may be developing for every human in Mojave Center. I request a chance to avoid that possibility. As the designer of Mojave Center and the Governor robots, I have the best chance of helping him here.”
Horatio observed him in silence, only for a split second, but long enough for Wayne to notice. Then the robot nodded. “Dr. Nystrom, I am persuaded to give you access to the terminal in my Security cart. However, I must request that you share your conclusions with me.”
Wayne knew that Horatio’s programming as Security chief required him to be very careful, so arguing would be a waste of time. “Agreed.”
“I am entering your voiceprint now,” said Horatio. “You are screened for use.” He turned aside and patted the front seat of the Security cart. Wayne climbed into the passenger side. A computer terminal was in the console in front of him.
“Display current function of MC Governor,” Wayne said to the terminal.
“None found,” said the computer terminal. “Insane,” muttered Wayne. “Display standard monitors of electricity generation and storage, water use, and the air mixture in the ventilation system.”
The monitors appeared in front of him. All the levels were well within the normal range. In fact, they were maddeningly average.
“Show curves of use in the last six hours.” Water use was high early in the curve, but only for a short while.
“Show me the most recent functions of Mojave center Governor identified on file.”
The screen read:
“Communication with R. Horatio, Security Chief, Antelope Valley Boulevard.
“Communication with R. Langtimm, Security Chief, Bohung Institute.”
Wayne suddenly realized that Horatio was keeping some information to himself. He blanked the screen and turned to Horatio. Before he could speak, Horatio beat him to it.
“An urgent call for Mojave Center Governor has come in to the city computer,” said Horatio. “The Governor Robot Oversight Committee is in a conference call.”
“Calling you?”
“When MC Governor was not available, they requested the Security Chief, bringing the call to me. When they requested help regarding MC Governor, I told them you were here and they wish to speak with you.”
“I wish you hadn’t told them,” Wayne said sourly. “None of your business that I’m here. None of theirs, either.”
Horatio ignored his tone. “Your portable terminal is not equipped for holographic images, but I can transfer the call to it for you. Shall I?”
“Sure,” muttered Wayne, feeling his heart begin to pound. “Let’s see what they want.”
The screen quartered into portrait shots of the four scientists on the committee. They were seeing his face at the same time. After greetings had been exchanged, they got right to the point.
“What are you doing there, Dr. Nystrom?” Dr. Redfield asked. She was a tall, slender blond. “Have you seen MC Governor in the last hour?”
“No,” Wayne growled angrily. “I came to see how my creation was doing. Is that a crime?”
“Easy, Doctor,” said Professor Post. He frowned, his dark curly hair and black pointed beard making him look threatening. “We’re all on the same side.”
“No, we aren’t,” Wayne said firmly. “I’m here to see to my work. You want to pass judgment on it and you’re doing it prematurely. Leave this to me.”
“You know we can’t do that,” said Dr. Chin, a short, pretty Chinese American. “We are charged with evaluating this system. Maybe you should know, Dr. Nystrom, that the other five Governors have failed in their duties in the last day or so.”
Wayne stared at her, astonished. “What?”
“They have entered closed loops.” Dr. Khanna enunciated precisely in his Hindi accent, which marked him as a native of northern India. “Their functions have been transferred to standard municipal robots.”
“Obviously,” said Dr. Redfield, “the same problem is likely for Mojave Center Governor. We were hoping to reach him before the same fate took him. It looks like we’re too late. However, we must find him.”
“In the meantime, we will have to assign new robots to take over the responsibilities of running Mojave Center,” said Professor Post.
Wayne stared at their faces, momentarily speechless. Finally, he shook his head. “No. No. This can’t be right. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“We put in calls to your Florida office today,” said Dr. Redfield. “You must have already left.”
“No.” Wayne leaned forward toward the screen. “No! I should have been told about this when the first Governor shut down. So I could get right on this!”
“Our first duty was to assign new robots to the cities to keep them running safely,” Professor Post said calmly.
“We contacted you as a courtesy,” said Dr. Chin. “This committee does not report to you.”
“Are you trying to sabotage my project?” Wayne pointed at her face accusingly. “You don’t want to let me in on this.”