William Wu - Cyborg

Newly resolved to keep quiet for as long as he could remember to do so, he started again for the residence of Derec and Ariel. He knew that they lived near the center of the city, certainly in the central area, and he was guessing that the pattern search was ultimately closing in on that spot. That meant he could escape detection the longest there, and, if he was lucky, he just might overhear something that would let him make a successful getaway.

“Just remember,” he said to himself. “Don’t let them actually lay eyes on you. They don’t seem to tell us robots apart too well, but they just might recognize you, ol' buddy. Right? Right. Shut up; you’re talking out loud again.”

He recognized the building and the entranceway to their residence easily enough, but he had no plans for what to do next. Since robots did not normally loiter, he could not very well just hang around watching the place.

One of the reasons he had been safe from detection in the tunnel system was that he had been isolated in the booths. Another was that the very act of moving made him appear occupied, like all the legitimate residents of Robot City. He got onto a slidewalk and started walking purposefully, hoping that this would work as an adequate substitute for the time being.

As usual, he set up a route that carried him in an irregular, jagged rotation, now using the human residence as a central reference point. He used the first two circuits to look for search teams, but he didn’t see any here. Then he relaxed somewhat and altered his route so that he passed within sight of the human residence more often.

Derec and Ariel did not appear while he was watching. He wondered if he might do better talking to Derec than to Ariel, though she had said she was at least interested in the transplant. She had not been so optimistic about Derec, but maybe she was wrong.

He would not want to talk to Derec yet, since she might be right. If he could talk to her again first, maybe she would have the transplant and understand why it was so desirable. Then they could both convince Derec to join them.

He would just have to wait and watch.

By the time he had lost count of the number of circuits he had made, boredom was setting in. Maybe those two hardly ever came out of their lair. Or maybe they weren’t in there at all, but out roaming around the city-looking for him, probably. He laughed-giggling, really-at the idea. If they would just come home, their search would be over.

“No, it wouldn’t,” he said aloud, sobering suddenly. “I would still have to hide from them. I’d have to be careful, wouldn’t I? Of course you would. Now be quiet.”

He got off the slidewalk in view of their entranceway, just because he was tired of riding around and around. “ A real robot wouldn’t get tired of it,” he said. “A real robot would just do it over and over until the job was done. But not you. That’s why you’re still human, isn’t it? Huh? Of course it is.”

He stood on the shoulder of the slidewalk, wondering what he should do next. “You forgot to tell me to shut up,” he added. “All right, shut up. Thank you.”

A humanoid robot came riding up on the slidewalk. As he neared Jeff, he stepped off and walked up to him. “Identify,” he said. “Use your comlink, please.”

“Uh-” Jeff stared at him in shock. This guy was alone, without any search team. Apparently they had altered their policy. Jeff was caught totally off guard. “I, uh-what do you want?”

“I am not receiving you,” said the robot. “Please accompany me. I am under instructions to escort all robots without functioning comlinks to a location nearby.”

“Do you know why?” Jeff didn’t move. He was thinking as fast as he could. If he could stall, he would.

The robot looked at him without speaking. After a moment, Jeff realized the reason.

“Please answer me out loud,” said Jeff. “I’m not receiving you, any more than I’m transmitting.”

“Yes,” said the robot out loud. “I know why.”

“Tell me.”

“We are searching for Jeff Leong. He is a human brain in a robot body. It possesses no comlink. A secondary benefit may be the identification of robots whose comlinks have malfunctioned without their having noticed, so they can be repaired.”

“Identify.”

“I am Air Quality Foreman 6.”

“Who gave you this instruction?”

“Human Research 1. “

“Yeah, I know him. Another robot, in other words.”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Don’t get smart with me, slag heap. Now, then. I know something about robots from when I was on Aurora. If a human gives you an order that contradicts an instruction from a robot, the Second Law makes you obey the human, right?”

“Assuming no other influences pertain, yes.”

“Other influences?” Jeff said suspiciously. “Like what? You aren’t trying to break the Laws, are you?”

“No, decidedly not. An example of another influence might be prior programming, for instance. Another would be the force of the First Law, which of course takes precedence over the Second and Third. Are you unaware of this? If you are testing me, under what authority are you acting? Identify.”

He was trapped, and would have to gamble.

“I’m Jeff Leong, the human-robot you are searching for. Don’t contact anyone!” he shouted suddenly. “Did you obey me? I know how fast those positronic brains of yours can work.”

“I obeyed you. I started to use my comlink to report locating you, but I aborted it.”

“Aha!” Jeff laughed. “So you have to obey me, eh? Well, well.”

“Your orders override the instructions I received from Human Research 1, because programming itself was not involved. He gave me a simple instruction. If you issue orders contrary to my programming, I will not obey.”

“Hmm. You believed me pretty quick. Are you sure you believe me?” He demanded.

“Yes. I am not capable of lying about this.”

“Why do you believe me?”

“If you had a positronic brain, you would not be able to lie to me and say otherwise. Therefore you must be, or possess, the human brain in the robot body.”

“Okay, okay, fair enough. Say, why didn’t I think of ordering around search robots before? Jeffrey, you’re not yourself. That’s why.” He giggled to himself. “You certainly aren’t, are you?”

“Do you have further instructions for me?” asked Air Quality 6, in the same bland voice as before.

“Oh, yeah-you bet. I sure do. The first order is, you don’t let on to anyone who I am. Understand? I’m just another robot here in town. Got it?”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now we’re going to be a team. I’ll give you the orders and you’ll obey them. Since you have a comlink that works, you’re going to help me get away from all these search teams. If you detect the presence of one of those teams, you alert me and help me avoid them. We’re going to get out of here. Got it?”

“I understand that we are going somewhere. I do not know what ‘here’ we are getting out of.”

“I’ll explain one step at a time,” said Jeff, eyeing the robot thoughtfully. “Well, well. I think we’re going to get along. You know, taking over this town is going to be easier than I thought. Let’s go down to the nearest tunnel stop. You know where it is?”

“Yes. Follow me.”

Derec was munching bacon and wiping out the inside of the chemical processor’s receptacle when Ariel sat up straight in her chair by the computer console.

“Derec, we’ve got something. He’s been found. Sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of? What is it?” He hurried to her and leaned down to read over her shoulder.

“A partial alert came into the central computer just now. All it says is, 'Jeff Leong located.’ “