Robot City - Perihelion Part 3

"Apparently her memories aren't anch.o.r.ed in a chronological perspective." Derec paused, still watching Ariel. His impulse to hold her, to protect her, was held in check by his fear of somehow making the relapse worse.

Her eyes were closed and she was taking short, shallow breaths. She was sitting up on her own, though. Gradually, her breathing slowed down and approached normal.

Satisfied that she was out of immediate danger, Derec continued with his thought. "Something triggers a memory, and she relives it as a current experience. Or at least, it seems that way so far."

"A bad experrience," said Wolruf.

Ariel seemed to be gaining her composure. Derec looked out at the city again. He was sure that the unfamiliar skyline had not resulted from the old shapechanging mode, but was simply the result of constant refinement on the part of the robots.

Suddenly he moved to the terminal and entered another question. As before, he made a number of errors, far more than usual. He slowed down and typed them correctly. "Is the city functioning under any defensive overrides of the type represented by the shapechanging mode it once entered in response to parasites in human blood?"

"NO.".

"Is it operating under any overrides to basic programming?"

"NO.".

He stared at the screen, somewhat disappointed. "Is something wrong?" Mandelbrot asked.

"Not exactly. I was just thinking that if the city was under an emergency of some sort, I might have been able to use it to our advantage somehow."

"If Dr. Avery is on the planet, he probably would have dealt with an emergency already," said the robot.

"Or maybe he left, but no crisis has arisen." Derec shook his head in resignation. "He could be literally anywhere, with a Key to Perihelion. Or with all the Keys the robots could duplicate, for that matter."

"It's not shapechanging any more, is it?" Ariel was gazing out at the city.

Derec and Mandelbrot both looked at her in some surprise.

"No," Derec said, relieved. "We ended it a long time ago. That danger is pa.s.sed."

She nodded, still gazing out at the city.

He watched her for a moment and decided that leaving her alone might do her more good than grilling her with questions. She was self-conscious enough already, though her quick recovery from this episode was encouraging. He just hoped that he was right about her not needing treatment by the robots. Then he saw Mandelbrot studying her, also.

"Mandelbrot," Derec said firmly. "Her relapse is over."

"It may recur, I surmise."

"Another one may occur, but I don't think the same one will." Derec hesitated, thinking about the two episodes he had seen since they had returned here.

"We have compiled very little evidence for that conclusion," said Mandelbrot.

Derec shook his head. "I think that every time something of that sort happens, her memories are integrated just a little more afterward. It's part of the growth and replacement process that I didn't recognize at first."

"I understand the principle," said Mandelbrot. "How certain of this theory are you?"

"Uh-" Derec saw Ariel watching him.

Her face reflected more anxiety than he had ever seen her express, even at the worst of her disease.

He looked back at the robot and cleared his throat. "I'm sure of it. Remember, the growth of her memories and ident.i.ty was intended all along. These episodes are just...growing pains."

Ariel closed her eyes in relief.

Derec sighed. He felt as though he was juggling too many lines of thought at once-Ariel's recovery, Mandelbrot's possible First Law imperative regarding her, and his own failing condition. What he really should be doing was finding Dr. Avery.

He took a deep breath and tried to focus his thoughts once more. "All right. We can figure that Avery has hidden all direct evidence of his whereabouts from the central computer. We'll have to cast around for indirect evidence that he didn't intend to leave. Anyone have any suggestions?"

Ariel looked at him for a moment and then returned her gaze to the viewscreens with a slight shake of her head.

Mandelbrot stood quietly, apparently reviewing and rejecting possibilities.

"We can't find him by staying here in this room, can we?" Derec spoke softly, admitting what none of them wanted to say.

"The principle of identifying useful questions and seeking their answers through the central computer is sound," said Mandelbrot. "Theoretically, the search could be narrowed a great deal in this manner if we ask the right questions."

"And if we can't?" Derec demanded irritably. "What then? Maybe we don't have enough information to figure out the right questions, no matter how long we sit here."

"Leaving this office to explore the planet greatly increases the danger to you," said Mandelbrot.

"Now don't you start more First Law objections. Sitting here doing nothing will eventually harm us the most."

"I am not arguing against leaving itself," said Mandelbrot calmly. "I do recommend a specific plan of action."

Derec shrugged in agreement. "Like what?"

"That has yet to be identified."

"We're going around in circles!" Derec threw up his arms in frustration. He banged one hand against the desk when he lowered it and grabbed it in surprise.

Wolruf was watching him again.

"I suggest that Wolruf and I go out first," said Mandelbrot.

"How so?" Derec rubbed his hand surrept.i.tiously, pointedly ignoring Wolruf.

"Consider this. As a robot, I do not attract undue attention here. On our first sojourn through Robot City, Wolruf was of no particular interest to the robots of this community. We have the best chance of gathering information and returning here safely to report it."

Derec thought a moment. 'The terminal here confirmed your report that no special alerts are out. So the robots aren't on the lookout for humans, particularly."

"The presence of humans, however, will at the very least trigger the applicability of the Laws of Robotics. If their behavior is changed because of the Laws, even in small ways, the s.h.i.+fts may be noted by the central computer and attract the notice of Dr. Avery."

"You mean if I instruct a robot to tell me something, he might be late fulfilling his duties or something." Derec nodded slowly. "With someone as paranoid as Dr. Avery, I guess maybe those small variations might cause a review...if he noticed them."

"I am calculating probabilities only, of course," said Mandelbrot. "I am balancing potential benefit against possible danger."

Derec realized, suddenly, that he welcomed the chance to rest. He didn't think of himself as a coward, or feel afraid. In fact, the Robot City he remembered had not been nearly as dangerous as Aranimas, the pirate. Still, he just didn't feel right. Maybe he should lie down.

"All right, Mandelbrot," he said. "You two go. We'll stay here."

CHAPTER 4.

PRIORITY 4 REGIONAL CONTINGENCY POWER STATION.

Mandelbrot climbed up the ladder from the office to the top of the Compa.s.s Tower with Wolruf clinging to his back. They got through the trapdoor without incident. Then the robot began the long but simple task of descending the narrow line of footholds down the steep front face of the pyramid.

He almost certainly could have found his way down the labyrinth within the Compa.s.s Tower to the main entrance. However, he did not want to be questioned by security robots about his presence if he was found there. Derec had pointed out that if he was questioned about climbing down the outside of the Compa.s.s Tower, he would not have to reveal his knowledge of a secret entrance.

Derec had also told him of how he and Ariel had painstakingly climbed down these small hand and footholds when they had first arrived on the planet. They were only as large as a hand or foot might require, and the severe angle of the pyramid face offered little margin for error. For a robot, of course, the descent presented no significant challenge.

Mandelbrot spent the time of the descent considering how best to proceed. When they reached the ground, Wolruf let out a long sigh and collapsed in relief to the ground.

"Are you harmed?" Mandelbrot asked her.

"No." The little alien shook her caninoid head back and forth. "Don't like rride."

Mandelbrot looked around. A number of humanoid robots were walking briskly on their way; among them, a much larger number of function robots, of all sizes and varied shapes, pursued their own duties. In spite of the unfamiliar architecture, this was basically the Robot City he remembered from his other visit here.

"What arr 'u going to do now?" Wolruf inquired.

"I must take a calculated risk," said Mandelbrot. In a s.p.a.ce of time too quick for the alien even to notice, he made contact with the central computer and said, "I am a humanoid robot requesting duty a.s.signment in the city matrix."

"WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT a.s.sIGNMENT?".

"None."

"WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS a.s.sIGNMENT?".

"None."

"YOU ARE IN ERROR. ALL ROBOTS IN ROBOT CITY HAVE BEEN a.s.sIGNED DUTIES. IF YOU HAVE RECENTLY BEEN RELEASED FROM A REPAIR FACILITY, YOU SHOULD GO THROUGH NORMAL REa.s.sIGNMENT CHANNELS AT THAT FACILITY. ".

"I have not been recently released from a repair facility. I am prepared to undertake duty a.s.signment."

"WHAT IS YOUR SERIAL NUMBER?".

Mandelbrot invented one that fit the pattern of other serial numbers he had noticed on his last visit.

"IT IS NOT ON FILE. ARE YOU A VISITOR TO ROBOT CITY?".

That was the question for which Mandelbrot was waiting. The way the computer responded to his answer might determine whether or not he would become a fugitive. "You should have me on record. I have past history on Robot City." It was not a falsehood, but it was deliberately misleading. He didn't add that he was on record by the names Alpha and Mandelbrot, not by the number he had just made up. The need to protect himself and his human companions allowed him to feel comfortable with the misdirection.

"YOUR NUMBER IS NOW ON FILE. YOU ARE NOW INCORPORATED INTO THE CITY MATRIX. YOU ARE a.s.sIGNED TO DUTY AT THE PRIORITY 4 REGIONAL CONTINGENCY POWER STATION. REPORT IMMEDIATELY." The computer proceeded to give city coordinates for its location.

Mandelbrot waited to see if the computer would attempt a, s.h.i.+ft in his programming, but it did not. No matter how paranoid Avery was, he had not programmed suspicion of unemployed robots into the central computer. Now Mandelbrot was relieved.

"I have been a.s.signed a duty in the city matrix," he said to Wolruf. "This will aid me in gathering information." He was aware that the little alien had hardly had time to blink while he had conducted his exchange with the central computer.

"Wherr do we go?" She asked.

"We are going to Priority 4 Regional Contingency Power Station. This way."

"What is it?" Wolruf asked as she ambled along beside him, gazing around at the sights.

"I surmise from its name that it supplies power to a limited portion of the city in the event of a failure in the main system. Priority 4 suggests a relatively important part of the city."

"Long walk?"

"It is a greater distance than you would care to walk. However, I believe we will find a tunnel stop shortly along this street. Certainly one will be near the Compa.s.s Tower."

Mandelbrot did not want to consult the central computer again so soon for anything he could learn himself. The current location of tunnel stops was an example. Every time he asked a question that a Robot City robot should already know, he would increase the chances of being investigated or even forcibly repaired.

They located a tunnel stop promptly, and rode down the moving ramp into the tunnel itself. Mandelbrot again placed Wolruf on his back, before stepping into the cramped platform booth. There was just enough room for both of them. He gave his destination to the console and let it figure out the nearest tunnel stop. Then they were off, riding the upright booth as it slid forward on the siding.

A moment later, the booth swung into one of the trunk lines with the other moving platforms. Humanoid robots rode with them on all sides, as motionless as Mandelbrot within their booths. The computer sped them up, slowed them down, and changed them from one parallel trunk line to another as the traffic flow changed as a result of some booths entering from sidings and others exiting onto them.

The booth they rode slowed smoothly, swung onto a siding, and glided to a stop. Mandelbrot stepped out and rode the ramp up to the street before setting Wolruf down again.

This area of the city was not noticeably different from the one they had just left. The city was too new to have old and new neighborhoods as such. It was highly organized, of course, but much of the pattern was not readily visible, such as the power grid or the tunnel system.

Mandelbrot oriented himself and led Wolruf to the power station. It was hardly more than a door in a very tall, narrow building wedged between others on three sides. Just as he entered, he used his comlink to report his a.s.sumed serial number, his name, and a request that communication be spoken aloud. In work stations of this kind, robots in Robot City often used their comlinks exclusively.

"I am the Station Supervisor," said a humanoid robot inside the door. "My name is Tamserole. I was told to expect you, Mandelbrot. Why do you wish to speak aloud?"

"I have a personal preference for this." Mandelbrot did not draw attention to Wolruf by looking at her or mentioning her. He knew she would listen carefully to any conversation. "What are my duties here?" He waited to see if Tamserole would require the use of comlinks.

"Come with me." Tamserole had glanced at Wolruf, but apparently had no interest in her.

Mandelbrot and Wolruf followed Tamserole into the building. The inside was quite narrow and its single impressive feature was a pillar of s.h.i.+ny metal alloy, one meter thick, rising into the ceiling. A console of some kind was set into its base.

"Our task," said Tamserole, "is to make this unit fully automated so that l-and now you, of course-may discontinue our duties here and accept our migration programming."

Mandelbrot had no idea what migration programming was, but Tamserole obviously a.s.sumed he knew. At the moment, Mandelbrot did not dare reveal his ignorance.

"I do not understand why I have been given an a.s.sistant by the central computer, when I have been told to reduce staff here to zero, not to increase it," said Tamserole. "Do you know why?"

"I believe so," said Mandelbrot. "The central computer could not locate any past duty file on me. I think it decided to give me a redundant position until I prove my efficiency."

"That is logical enough," said Tamserole. "I wish I had been informed, however."