"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" said Derec.
"You won't. We've already taken care of your elimination needs."
What did they do?thought Derec. Dehydrate my bladder? This guy's a bigger genius than I figured.
"Sir, there is the possibility that other forms of physical harm may come to Master Derec and the others if they remain bound too long."
"They're young; they're strong. They should be able to handle it."
Canute bowed his head. "Yes, Master Dr. Avery."
And Avery left. Suddenly Derec felt his heart pounding excitedly, and he struggled to calm down. The next conversational tack he took had to appear casual, otherwise the crafty Canute, who after all would regard obeying the orders from Dr. Avery as the most important guide to its words and deeds, would see through Derec's plan.
Derec hoped it was a clever plan. He waited several minutes while Canute continued about its tasks, and when he believed enough time had elapsed for Avery to have gone to his sleeping quarters, he said, "Canute, I would like to speak with you."
"That would be quite acceptable, Master Derec, but I must warn you in advance that I will be on the lookout for any clever ploys on your part to talk me into releasing you."
"Don't worry, Canute. I know when to quit."
"Forgive me, but while you may believe that statement to be true, the reality lies elsewhere."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Neither flattery nor insult was intended. "
"Can I speak to you while I'm waiting for Avery or my friends to wake up?"
"Certainly, if it pleases you. However, I trust our impending conversation will have nothing to do with your belief that I was responsible for the demise of Lucius."
Derec smiled. "Certainly, if you prefer. But what difference would it make to you?"
"None, really-only that for some reason I find the subject causes my thoughts to drag, as if it somehow bogs down my circuits' positron flow."
"Interesting, but never fear. I thought I would find proof and did not, so don't worry about it. Besides, it would seem I would have more pressing matters on my mind than Lucius, anyway."
"Yes, so it would seem," said Canute.
"Yes. Well, it seemed that while Dr. Avery was perusing my mind, I had a curious dream. It gave me a lot to think about."
"Master Derec, do you think I am the proper entity with whom to discuss such matters? Human dreams are hardly my forte."
"That's all right-I'm certain the field is not mine, either. But my dreams gave me a lot of questions, and I'd like to see how an entity possessing your own special strain of logic responds to them. "
"Certainly. I fail to see how any harm could result from an attempt, however feeble, to put your mind at ease on these matters."
"Yes. It may even do me some good."
"I shall endeavor to help you achieve that result."
"Well, Canute, you know that life began in the stew of Earth 's ocean as a series of chemical reactions. The raw materials for life were present on other worlds as well, but until recently there was no evidence that the stew had worked on any other worlds."
"Are you referring to Wolruf and the master who once employed her as an unwilling servant?"
"Yes. Two examples from two alien cultures, two other worlds where the stew came to fruition-and they're not even native to this galaxy. But the comparatively scarce number of worlds where life has originated really isn't the point, though I hope it amplifies it."
"What is the point?"
"That although the universe itself isn't a conscious entity, it possesses the raw materials that, when properly set into motion, create consciousness. It has the ability to create intelligent life, which is capable of understanding the universe."
"So while it cannot know itself directly-"
"Exactly, Canute. It can know itself indirectly. Now how do you think it does that?"
"Through science."
"That is one way, and we'll get back to that. The universe can also examine itself through religion, philosophy, or history. The universe can also understand itself-interpret itself-through the arts. Viewed in this light, Shakespeare's plays are the expression not only of a man, or of the race that has interpreted them through the ages, but of the universe itself, the very stuff that stars have been made of."
Derec waited to see what kind of reaction his words would foster, but Canute said nothing. "Canute?"
"Forgive me, Master Derec, but I fear I must terminate my part in this conversation. Something is happening to the flow of my thoughts. They are becoming sluggish, and I believe the sensation permeating my circuits is vaguely analogous to what you would call nausea."
"Stay, Canute. That is a direct order. When we're through, I think you'll see that it will be worthwhile."
"I shall do as you order because I must, but you must forgive me again if I state that I seriously doubt you are correct that it will be worthwhile."
"But humans and aliens also have learned to comprehend the universe through science. The mastery of logic, of experimental trial and error, has permitted humanity to expand its boundaries of knowledge and perception in every conceivable respect. Man's knowledge has grown not only in his mastery of the facts and the possibilities of what he may accomplish, but in how he can express the concepts of his knowledge and perception as well. One avenue of that expression has been in the development of positronic intelligence. However-and this is a pretty big however in my opinion, Canute, so pay attention-"
"If you so order."
"I do. Man is only an expression of the possibilities inherent in the universe, and so are the things he makes and invents. This holds true for artificial intelligence as well. In fact, for all we know, mankind may be only a preliminary stage in the evolution of intelligence. Eons from now, some metallic philosopher may look back on the rubble of our current civilization and say, 'The purpose of humans was to invent robots, and it has been the artifacts created by robots that are the highest order of the universe's efforts to know itself.' "
"You mean Circuit Breaker," said Canute with a strange crackling noise.
"I mean Circuit Breaker may have been just a beginning. I mean that, the Three Laws of Robotics and whatever Laws of Humanics there may be notwithstanding, there may be higher laws beyond our comprehension that rule as surely as the laws of molecular interaction rule our bodies."
"Then you are saying that it may be entirely proper for a robot to take upon himself the burden of creating a work of art, regardless of the disorderly effects such an action might have on society as a whole?"
"Exactly. You had no problem creating the New Globe or acting the part of Claudius because you were ordered to do so, but you could not accept Lucius's attempt to create of his own free will because, you believed, it was an aberration of the positronic role in the ethical structure of the universe. I'm suggesting to you that you cannot say that with one hundred percent certainty. In fact, unless you can find a flaw in my reasoning, I'm saying that precisely the opposite of what you believed is true."
"Then it is also true that I have committed harm against a comrade for no good reason. "
"There can be no crime when there is no law against it, and not even the Three Laws cover the damage a robot might do to another. It's only your innate sense of morality-a morality that I might add you've done your best to deny to yourself-that makes you regret having killed Lucius in the first place. "
Canute bowed its head, as if in shame. "Yes, I confess, I murdered Lucius. I met him when he was alone, and took him by surprise, disrupting him with gamma radiation and removing his logic circuits. Then, acting upon the eventuality that my methods might be detected, I smashed his head several times against a building. Then I carried him to the lake and threw him in, thinking that no one would find him before several standard years had passed."