William Wu - Cyborg

“No,” said Research 1. “He was not like that in the brief time he was awake with us.”

“He was in a post-operative state at that time,” said Surgeon 1. “He was surprised, and perhaps shocked. Nor was he conscious when we first found him. His behavior during the brief time he was awake with us may not have been representative of his personality.”

“You mean he might always have been erratic and emotionally unstable?” Derec asked.

“Possibly,” said Research 1. “Our data is too limited for a sound conclusion.”

“I have another theory,” said Ariel. “Do you think something is going wrong with him in some way?”

“Clarify, please,” said Research 1.

“Well, he’s been through a lot,” she pointed out. “And at times he sounded normal and friendly. He was on his way to college somewhere. If he got accepted off-planet, outside Aurora, he was probably a good student.”

“Agreed,” said Derec. “You think the transplant has changed his personality, then.”

They both turned to Research 1.

“How likely is it?” Ariel asked.

“This is possible. The odds cannot be calculated under the circumstances. “

“Well-what do you think might have gone wrong?” She decided not to express the reason for her new interest in the transplant right now.

“Without precise medical data, I can offer two general possibilities. One is that the emotional shock of finding himself in a robot body has distressed him to the point of behavioral change. The second is that his brain is suffering from a chemical imbalance that has caused this problem. It might be nutritionally or hormonally based, or might indicate a flaw in our procedure or planning.”

“Can you help him?” asked Ariel. “If we catch him, I mean. He doesn’t seem too far gone yet.”

“That will depend on the precise nature of the problem, of course,” said Research 1.

“We may have a full solution to the larger problem of Jeff, however,” said Surgeon 1. “With your cooperation, Derec.”

“What? Mine?”

“We are capable of intricate surgical techniques,” said Surgeon 1. “And we have a great deal of information of certain types regarding human physiology and medical care. However, we lack certain basic information regarding gross anatomy and some details of all kinds.”

“I don’t know anything like that,” said Derec. “I don’t think it’s in the central computer, either.”

“You don’t need to,” said Medical Research 1. “We need your body as a model.”

Ariel stifled a laugh.

“How so?” Derec asked carefully. “What do you mean, as a model?”

“We need information regarding the complete physiology of a young human male, particularly regarding the arrangement of inner organs, in order to restore Jeff’s body to a healthy condition. Yours can act as a kind of map.”

“Pardon me for asking this,” said Derec, “but exactly what do you need from me? In particular, uh…”

“You will not be subjected to any risk,” said Research 1. “After all, the First Law would not permit risk in your case, as it did in Jeff’s. We have the ability to construct scanning systems that will tell us what we must know without surgical procedures or drugs. “

Derec visibly relaxed. “Okay, sure. But we still have to get our hands on Jeff.”

“Granted,” said Research 1. “Nevertheless, we will arrange to have the systems constructed, since they do not currently exist. It will not take very long. The odds are very high in favor of Jeff’s eventual apprehension, limited only by his unknown medical condition and the chance of injurious accident to his brain. Damage to the rest of him can, of course, be fully repaired.”

“Brain damage would require a great deal of trauma,” observed Surgeon 2. “His cranial protection was especially designed for him, as demanded by the First Law, and is highly effective.”

“Good,” said Derec. “We definitely need information from him, and the saner he is, the better. A crazy guy’s answers aren’t going to help us much.”

“Enough about my conversation with him,” said Ariel. “What about you? Did you get anything accomplished while you were out there? Or didn’t you have enough time?”

“We rearranged the pattern of the ongoing search,” said Research 1. “The closing doughnut has been speeded up, based on the First Law concern regarding Jeff’s health. We have charged some additional robots inside the remaining hole here in the center of the city with the same behavior. This may locate him a little faster.”

“I believe the colloquial phrase is, ‘smoke him out’,” said Surgeon 1. “Is that correct?”

“Yes.” Ariel laughed.

“I told them that putting more pressure on Jeff might push him into a mental mistake,” said Derec.

“I think so,” said Ariel. “He’s gotten very short-tempered.”

“Maybe it’s just as well that robots are out looking, if he’s going to get violent.” Derec turned to the robots. “Now we’re just back to waiting, I guess, for the time being. We’ll contact you immediately if we have a new development.”

“Very well,” said Research 1. “We shall return to our facility and prepare the scanning systems.”

When they had left, Ariel got up so that Derec could have the console chair if he wanted it. Instead, he started into his room.

“Derec?” She said quietly, standing with her arms folded.

“Yeah?” He turned at his doorway.

“Did they talk about the transplant while you were out walking around with them?”

“No, not really. Why?”

“I was thinking about what Research 1 said. That maybe Jeff has gone weird because of the shock of waking up and finding out what happened to him. That might throw anybody, don’t you think?”

“Sure. What about it?”

“If that’s true, then the transplant was actually successful, wouldn’t you say? The surgery itself, I mean, and all the adjustments they had to make in the robot body.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But they aren’t sure that’s the case, remember? It’s just one possibility.” He cocked his head. “Since when did you get interested in all this?”

She shrugged self-consciously. “I was just thinking about it. On account of talking to Jeff. He says it’s not too bad.”

“Not too bad? Being a robot on the outside and a human on the inside?” He had started to smirk, teasing her, but then realization crossed his face. “Hey, wait a minute. You don’t…?”

“Not for sure.” She turned away, embarrassed. “I just want to know more about it, that’s all.”

“You mean you’d actually consider this? Turning yourself into a robot?”

She nodded her head without turning around.

“And then what-stay here? In this ridiculous place?” His voice was filled with wonder as much as anger.

“It’s better than dying!” She whirled on him. “Or being frozen whole and maybe never waking up! What if there isn’t any cure, anywhere? Maybe these robots could find one, if I stayed long enough.” She felt tears stinging her eyes.

“Well,…” He paused uncertainly. “What about the other possibility? Maybe the robots messed up somehow. Maybe that’s why Jeff’s going crazy. You can’t risk that. That would be worse than looking for a cure off the planet somewhere.”

“If we get off the planet! Derec, what if we’re still stuck here? I won’t have anything to lose then, will I?”

“Well, I…I don’t know. Maybe not.”

“And what if Jeff was always a little crazy? Nobody here knows him. Maybe he hasn’t been changed at all. What about that?”

He shook his head. “Maybe that’s true. You were the one who came up with the theory about his going crazy now. All I know is that if they can’t rig up the transplant right, it could kill you faster than your disease.”