Avery smiled. "Your friend seems to have great confidence in you," he said to Derec. "I hope it is justified."
"I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have without some ability to turn an unfortunate development around to my advantage," said Derec.
"He'ss had help," said Wolruf.
"I, too, have assisted him, as much as robotically possible," said Mandelbrot, "and shall continue to do so as long as I am functioning. Thanks to Master Derec, I have learned much of what human beings mean by the word 'friend'. "
Avery nodded. He scrutinized Derec with what appeared to be a peculiar combination of pride and anger. It was as if Avery could not make up his own mind about how he felt about this crew and what he wanted to do about them. Derec had the distinct feeling that this man was flying without a navigation computer.
"How did you get here?" asked Derec.
"That is my business and none of yours."
"Did you perchance find a Key to Perihelion? In that case, it wouldn't inconvenience you in the least to permit Ariel and me to use it. I would return as soon as she was being taken care of. "
"I don't know that, and in any case your suggestion is immaterial. I have no such Key."
"Then you've arrived in a spacecraft," said Derec, forcing the issue in an effort to do exactly what he had been doing since he had awakened in the survival pod: turn things around to his advantage. "Where is it?"
Avery laughed uproariously. "I'm not going to tell you!”
“It is ironic, is it not," said Mandelbrot, "that humans, who depend so much upon robots to adhere to the Three Laws, cannot be programmed to obey them."
"Thiss one exis'ss ou'side lawss of 'ur kind," said Wolruf.
Avery regarded the alien in a new light. "If what you're saying means what I think it does, then you're absolutely correct."
"Is this how you get your kicks," asked Derec, "by jeopardizing the lives of innocent people?"
Now a light of an entirely different sort blazed in Avery's eyes. "No, by disregarding the lives of innocent people. The only thing that matters is my work. And my work would never get done if I allowed my behavior to be restricted by so-called humanitarian considerations. "
"Is that why you left the city for so long, to get your work done? To start other colonies?" Derec asked.
"I was away, and that is all you need to know." Avery put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a small device and pointed it at Mandelbrot. The device resembled a pinwheel, but it made a strange hissing sound when it moved, and the sparks, instead of corning out of the wheel, came out of Mandelbrot!
Ariel screamed.
"What are you doing to him?" Derec asked, rushing to his robot's side.
Wolruf squatted, and her hindquarters twitched as if She was about to make a leap at Avery. Avery looked at her and said, "Careful. I can make it easier on him-or I can make it worse!"
Wolruf straightened up, but she warily kept her eye on Avery, searching for an opportunity to strike.
Derec was so angry that his intentions were the same, though he was hoping he wasn't being that obvious about it. But at the moment he was preoccupied with trying to keep Mandelbrot standing, or at least leaning against the wall, though he wasn't sure what difference it would make.
Mandelbrot quivered as the sparks spat out of his joints and every opening in his face. His pseudo-muscular coordination was in an advanced state of disruption; his arms and legs flailed spastically and an eerie moan rose from his speaker grill like a ghostly wail. Derec pushed him flat against the wall, and was struck several times by the robot's uncontrollable hands and elbows. Despite Derec's efforts, however, Mandelbrot slid onto the floor, and Derec sat on him, trying to keep the writhing robot down. But Mandelbrot was too strong, and finally it was all Derec could do to get out of harm 's way.
Avery, meanwhile, calmly continued to point the device at the robot. "Don't come any closer-I can make it worse. I can even induce positronic drift."
"What are you doing to him?" Derec repeated.
"This is an electronic disrupter, a device of my own invention," Avery replied with some pride. "It emits an ion stream that interferes with the circuits of any sufficiently advanced machine."
"You're hurting him!" said Ariel. "Don't you care?"
"Of course not, my dear. This is a robot, and hence has only the rights I prefer to bestow upon him."
"Think not!" growled Wolruf.
"I can press a button faster than any of you can move," said Avery, warningly.
"Why are you doing this?" Derec asked.
"Because I do not wish this robot to interfere. You see, I have stationed some Hunter robots outside this theatre. They await my signal, even as we speak. When I alert them, they will capture you and take you to my laboratory, where I shall drug you with an advanced truth serum and learn everything your mind has to tell me."
"Will this serum help me remember who I am?”
“Derec!" exclaimed Ariel, shocked.
"I seriously doubt it. Unfortunately, the serum isn't quite perfected yet-it's another invention of mine-and I confess there is the possibility that it may actually jumble things up a little more for you. For a time, anyway. You may take comfort in the fact that the damage won't be permanent."
Derec nodded. He looked at Mandelbrot on the floor. "Sorry, old buddy," he said.
"What?" said Avery, a nanosecond before Derec hefted a chair at him.
As the scientist ducked, Derec ran to the door, shouting, "Follow me! We'll come back for Mandelbrot later!"
The trio ran down the hall toward the stage, toward members of the cast and crew. Wolruf was clearly holding herself back to remain with Derec and Ariel.
"Out of the way!" Derec shouted as they moved past the robots; he hoped that he could create enough confusion to slow down the robots in case Avery invoked his precedential authority and ordered them to capture him and his friends.
"Where are we going?" Ariel asked.
"You'll see!"
They soon heard Avery angrily shouting something in the background, but by then they had reached the stage. Derec stopped at the center trapdoor and opened it. "Quick! Down here!"
"But that leads backstage!" protested Ariel.
"That's not all," said Derec. "Hurry!"
Wolruf leapt inside, and Derec and Ariel were quickly with her. As Derec closed the door, they were enveloped in blackness. "We'll have to feel our way around for a few minutes," said Derec as they made their way down the narrow corridor. "Ah! Here! This door leads to the underground conduits of the city! Even Avery's Hunters will have a hard time searching for us down here!"
"Not for long!" said Ariel. "Can't they trace us with infrared?"
"It'll still give us time!" said Derec between his teeth. "And we can use that time to figure out our next move! Let's go!"
"All right," said Ariel resignedly, "but I hope somebody turns on the lights."
As it happened, the lights were the one thing they didn't have to worry about. The lining of the underground conduits automatically glowed in the presence of visitors, illuminating the narrow spaces several meters behind and ahead of them. Things were not so elegant here. At first they saw only what they had expected: wires and cables, pipes, circuit banks, transistorized power generators, oscillators, stress and strain gauges, capacitors, fusion pods, and various other devices that Derec, for all his knowledge in electronics and positronics, could not even name. He stared at the construction in fascination, momentarily forgetting the reason why he and his friends had come here.
Derec couldn't help but admire Avery. Surely the man was a genius unparalleled in human history; it was too bad he appeared to have lost his humanity in the process of making his dreams real.
"How much further do we have to go?" Ariel finally asked. "I'm getting tired, and it's not too easy to get around in this silly dress."
"I don't know," said Derec, breathing heavily. He hadn't realized how tired he was. He had given all his energy to the performance, and probably didn't have too much reserve left at the moment. "We could keep going, I suppose, but I don't see what difference it'd make."