Isaac Asimov - The Robots of Dawn

“Husband, Mr. Chairman.”

Fastolfe, who half-rose, sat down again, looking perturbed.

The Chairman said harshly, “That is illegal. Worse, it is ridiculous. A robot could not impregnate her. There could be no children. The status of a husband—or of a wife—is never granted without some statement as to willingness to have a child if permitted, even an Earthman, I should think, would know that.”

Baley said, “I am aware of this, Mr. Chairman. So, I am certain, was Gladia. She did not use the word ‘husband’ in its legal sense but in an emotional one. She considered Jander the equivalent of a husband. She felt toward him as though he were a husband.”

The Chairman turned to Fastolfe. “Did you know of this, Dr. Fastolfe? He was a robot on your staff.”

Fastolfe, clearly embarrassed, said, “I knew she was fond of him. I suspected she made use of him sexually. I knew nothing of this illegal charade, however, until Mr. Baley told me of it.”

Baley said, “She was a Solarian. Her concept of ‘husband’ was not Auroran.”

“Obviously not,” said the Chairman.

“But she did have enough of a sense of reality to keep it to herself, Mr. Chairman. She never told of this charade, as Dr. Fastolfe calls it, to any Auroran. She told me the day before yesterday because she wanted to urge me on in the investigation of something that meant so much to her. Yet even so, I imagine she would not have used the word if she had not known I was an Earthman and would understand it in her sense—and not in an Aurorans.”

“Very well,” said the Chairman. “I’ll grant her a bare minimum of good sense—for a Solarian. Is that the one more subject you wanted to bring up?”

“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”

“In that case, it is totally irrelevant and can play no part in our deliberations.”

“Mr. Chairman, there is one question I must still ask. One question. A dozen words, sir, and then I will be through.” He said it as earnestly as he could, for everything depended on this.

The Chairman hesitated. “Agreed. One last question.”

“Yes, Mr. Chairman.” Baley would have liked to bark out the words, but he refrained. Nor did he raise his voice. Nor did he even point his finger. Everything depended on this. Everything had led up to this and yet he remembered Fastolfe’s warning and said it almost casually. “How is it that Dr. Amadiro knew that Jander was Gladia’s husband?”

“What?” The Chairman’s white and bushy eyebrows raised themselves in surprise. “Who said he knew anything of this?”

Asked a direct question, Baley could continue. “Ask him, Mr. Chairman.”

And he merely nodded in the direction of Amadiro, who had risen from his seat and was staring at Baley in obvious horror.

Baley said again, very softly, reluctant to draw attention, away from Amadiro, “Ask him, Mr. Chairman. He seems upset.”

The Chairman said, “What is this, Dr. Amadiro? Did you know anything about the robot as supposed husband of this Solarian woman?”

Amadiro stuttered, then pressed his lips together for a moment and tried again. The paleness which had struck him had vanished and was replaced by a dull flush. He said, “I am caught by surprise at this meaningless accusation, Mr. Chairman. I do not know what it is all about.”

“May I explain, Mr. Chairman? Very briefly?” said Baley. (Would he be cut off?)

“You had better,” said the Chairman grimly. “If you have any explanation, I would certainly like to hear it.”

“Mr. Chairman,” said Baley. “I had a conversation with Dr. Amadiro yesterday afternoon. Because it was his intention to keep me until the storm broke, he spoke more lengthily than he intended and, apparently, more carelessly. In referring to Gladia, he casually referred to the robot, Jander, as her husband. I’m curious as to how he knew that fact.”

“Is this true, Dr. Amadiro?” asked the Chairman.

Amadiro was still standing, bearing almost the appearance of a prisoner before a judge. He said, “Whether it is true or not has no bearing on the question under discussion.”

“Perhaps not,” said the Chairman, “but I was astonished at your reaction to the question when it was put. It occurs to me that there is a meaning to this that Mr. Baley and you both understand and that I do not. I therefore want to understand also. Did you or did you, not know of this impossible relationship between Jander and the Solarian woman?”

Amadiro said in a choking voice, “I could not possibly have.”

“That is no answer,” said the Chairman. “That is an equivocation. You are making a judgment when I am asking you to hand me a memory. Did you or did you not make the statement imputed to you?”

“Before he answers,” said Baley, feeling more certain of his ground now that the Chairman was governed by moral outrage, “it is only fair to Dr. Amadiro for me to remind him that Giskard, a robot who was also present at the meeting, can, if asked to do so, repeat the entire conversation, word for word, using the voice and intonation of both parties. In short, the conversation is recorded.”

Amadiro burst into a kind of rage. “Mr. Chairman, the robot, Giskard, was designed, constructed, and programmed by Dr. Fastolfe, who announces himself to be the best roboticist who exists and who is bitterly opposed to me. Can we trust a recording produced by such a robot?”

Baley said, “Perhaps you ought to hear the recording and come to your own decision, Mr. Chairman.”

“Perhaps I ought,” said the Chairman. “I am not here, Dr. Amadiro, to have my decisions made for me.—But let us put that aside for a moment. Regardless of what the recording says, Dr. Amadiro, do you wish to state for the record that you did not know that the Solarian woman considered her robot to be her husband and that you never referred to him as her husband? Please remember (as you both, being legislators, should) that, although no robot is present, this entire conversation is being recorded in my own device.” He tapped a small bulge it his breast pocket. “Flatly, then, Dr. Amadiro. Yes or no.”

Amadiro said, with an edge of desperation in his voice, “Mr. Chairman, I honestly cannot remember what I said in casual conversation. If I did mention the word—and I don’t admit I did—it may have been the result of some other casual conversation in which someone mentioned the fact that Gladia acted as love-struck toward her robot as though he were her husband.”

The Chairman said, “And with whom did you have this other casual conversation? Who made this statement to you?”

“At the moment, I cannot say.”

Baley said, “Mr. Chairman, if Dr. Amadiro will be so kind as to list anyone and everyone who might have used the word to him, we can question every one of them to discover which one can remember making such a remark.”

Amadiro said, “I hope, Mr. Chairman, you will consider the effect on the morale of the Institute if anything of this sort is done.”

The Chairman said, “I hope you will consider it, too, Dr. Amadiro, and come up with a better answer to our question, so that we are not forced to extremes.”

“One moment, Mr. Chairman,” said Baley, as obsequiously as he could manage, “there remains a question.”

“Again? Another one?” The Chairman looked at Baley without favor. “What is it?”

“Why is Dr. Amadiro struggling so to avoid admitting he knew of Jander’s relation to Gladia? He says it is irrelevant. In that case, why not say he knew of the relationship and be done with it? I say it is relevant and that Dr. Amadiro knows that his administration could be used to demonstrate criminal activity on his part.”

Amadiro thundered, “I resent the expression and I demand an apology!”