Isaac Asimov - The Robots of Dawn

None of the robots moved, of course, but neither did Baley and neither did Dr. Vasilia Aliena. Long seconds—abnormally long ones—passed, before Vasilia let out her breath and, very slowly, rose to her feet.

Her face had tightened itself into a humorless smile and her voice was low. “You are saying, Earthman, that I am an accessory in the destruction of the humaniform robot?”

Baley said, “Something of the sort had occurred to me, Doctor.”

“Thank you for the thought. The interview is over and you will leave.” She pointed to the door.

Baley said, “I’m afraid I do not wish to.”

“I don’t consult your wishes, Earthman.”

“You must, for how can you make me leave against my wishes?”

“I have robots who, at my request, will put you out politely but firmly and without hurting anything but your self-esteem—if you have any.”

“You have but one robot here. I have two that will not allow that to happen.”

“I have twenty on instant call.”

Baley said, “Dr. Vasilia, please understand! You were surprised at seeing Daneel. I suspect that, even though you work at the Robotics Institute, where hunianiform robots are the first order of business, you have never actually seen a completed and functioning one. Your robots, therefore, haven’t seen one, either. Now look at Daneel. He looks human. He looks more human than any robot who has ever existed, except for the dead Jander. To your robots, Daneel will surely look human. He will know how to present an order in such a way that they will obey him in preference, perhaps, to you.”

Vasilia said, “I can, if necessary, summon twenty human beings from within the Institute who will put you out, perhaps with a little damage, and your robots, even Daneel, will not be able to interfere effectively.”

“How do you intend to call them, since my robots are not going to allow you to move? They have extraordinarily quick reflexes.”

Vasilia showed her teeth in something that could not be called a smile. “I cannot speak for Daneel, but I’ve known Giskard for most of my life. I don’t think he will do anything to keep me from summoning help and I imagine he will keep Daneel from interfering, too.”

Baley tried to keep his voice from trembling as he skated on ever-thinner ice—and knew it. He said, “Before you do anything, perhaps you might ask Giskard what he will do if you and I give conificting orders.”

“Giskard?” said Vasilia with supreme confidence.

Giskard’s eyes turned full on Vasilia and he said, with an odd timbre to his voice, “Little Miss, I am compelled to protect Mr. Baley. He takes precedence.”

“Indeed? By whose order? By this Earthman’s? This stranger’s?”

Giskard said, “By Dr. Han Fastolfe’s order.”

Vasilia’s eyes flashed and she slowly sat down on the stool again. Her hands, resting in her lap, trembled and she said through lips that scarcely moved, “He’s even taken you away.”

“If that is not enough, Dr. Vasilia,” said Daneel, speaking suddenly, of his own accord, “I, too, would place Partner Elijah’s welfare above yours.”

Vasilia looked at Daneel with bitter curiosity. “Partner Elijah? Is that what you call him?”

“Yes, Dr. Vasilia. My choice in this matter—the Earthman over you—arises not only out of Dr. Fastolfe’s instructions, but because the Earthman and I are partners in this investigation and because—” Daneel paused as though puzzled by what he was about to say, and then said it anyway, “—we are friends.”

Vasilia said, “Friends? An Earthman and a humaniform robot? Well, there is a match. Neither quite human.”

Baley said, sharply, “Nevertheless bound by friendship. Do not, for your own sake, test the force of our—” Now it was he who paused and, as though to his own surprise, completed the sentence impossibly, “—love.”

Vasilia turned to Baley. “What do you want?”

“Information. I have been called to Aurora—this World of the Dawn—to straighten out an event that does not seem to have an easy explanation, one in which Dr. Fastolfe stands falsely accused, with the possibility, therefore, of terrible consequences for your world and mine. Daneel and Giskard understand this situation well and know that nothing but the First Law at its fullest and most immediate can take precedence over my efforts to solve the mystery. Since they have heard what I have said and know that you might possibly be an accessory to the deed, they understand that they must not allow this interview to end. Therefore, I say again, don’t risk the actions they may be forced to take if you refuse to answer my questions. I have accused you of being an accessory in the murder of Jander Panell. Do you deny that accusation or not? You must answer.”

Vasilia said bitterly, “I will answer. Never fear! Murder? A robot is put out of commission and that’s murder? Well, I do deny it, murder or whatever! I deny it with all possible force. I have not given Gremionis information on robotics for the purpose of allowing him to put an end to Jander. I don’t know enough to do so and I suspect that no one at the Institute knows enough.”

Baley said, “I can’t say whether you know enough to have helped commit the crime or whether anyone at the Institute knows enough. We can, however, discuss motive. First, you might have a feeling of tenderness for this Gremionis. However much you might reject his offers—however contemptible you might find him as a possible lover—would it be so strange that you would feel flattered by his persistence, sufficiently so to be willing to help him if he turned to you prayerfully and without any sexual demands with which to annoy you?”

“You mean he may have come to me and said, ‘Vasilia, dear, I want to put a robot out of commission. Please tell me how to do it and I will be terribly grateful to you.’ And I would say, ‘Why, certainly, dear, I would just love to help you commit a crime.’—Preposterous! No one except an Earthman, who knows nothing of Auroran ways, could believe anything like this could happen. It would take a particularly stupid Earthman, too.”

“Perhaps, but all possibilities must be considered. For instance, as a second possibility, might you yourself not be jealous over the fact that Gremionis has switched his affections, so that you might help him not out of abstract tenderness but out of a very concrete desire to win him back?”

“Jealous? That is an Earthly emotion. If I do not wish Gremionis for myself, how can I possibly care whether he offers himself to another woman and she accepts or, for that matter, if another woman offers herself to him and he accepts?”

“I have been told before that sexual jealousy is unknown on Aurora and I am willing to admit that is true in theory, but such theories rarely hold up in practice. There are surely some exceptions. What’s more, jealousy is all too often an irrational emotion and not to be dismissed by mere logic. Still, let us leave that for the moment. As a third possibility, you might be jealous of Gladia and wish to do her harm, even if you don’t care the least bit for Gremionis yourself.”

“Jealous of Gladia? I have never even seen her, except once on the hyperwave when she arrived in Aurora. The fact that people have commented on her resemblance to me, every once in a long while, hasn’t bothered me.”

“Does it perhaps bother you that she is Dr. Fastolfe’s ward, his favorite, almost the daughter that you were once? She has replaced you.”

“She is welcome to that. I could not care less.”

“Even if they were lovers?”

Vasilia stared at Baley with growing fury and beads of perspiration appeared at her hairline.

She said, “There is no need to discuss this. You have asked me to deny the allegation that I was accessory to what you call murder and I have denied it. I have said I lacked the ability and I lacked the motive. You are welcome to present your case to all Aurora. Present your foolish attempts at supplying me with a motive. Maintain, if you wish, that I have the ability to do so. You will get nowhere. Absolutely nowhere.”