Isaac Asimov Robot City 6 Perihelion

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.am Pei, said the robot, with somewhat less hesitation. My task isArchitectural Designer. He bent down and gently picked up Derec. Where.shall we go? We want to be out of sight of this row, said Jeff. But not too far.Uh,let s cross that row and go to the other side. Very well, said Pei. However, we cannot go out of sight of this row unlesswe go some distance.I see a slight dip in the row ahead that may suffice ifwe all sit on the ground. Perfect, said Ariel. C mon, let s hurry.With Pei carrying Derec, the group moved quickly for the first time since theyhad left the Minneapolis.As they walked, Derec relaxed a little and closedhis eyes.It was a relief to rest again, even for a few moments before theystopped.Pei set him down with extreme care.Then the others sat down around him on thedamp, soft soil. Explain.my transgression.of the First Law, said Pei.He began quiveringa little more again.Derec, lying with eyes closed, felt guilty about distressing the robot thisway.He reminded himself, however, that the same robot was under Averyprogramming.He would turn them all in if the central computer or the Huntersknew he was with them and instructed him to do so.Besides, he could be repaired or reprogrammed later with no lasting damage.lcan t, Derec thought.He opened his eyes. You harmed me, Derec asserted as firmly as he could. Shut yourself down. At least for a while, you know, until you can be checked, said Ariel. That s standard procedure, isn t it?Page 64ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlHer phrasing sounded lame to Derec.He realized that she felt guilty aboutthis, too. I.must be.convinced, said Pei.CHAPTER 16TO CHALLENGE UTOPIADerec suddenly acted on another impulse.With effort, he rolled onto his sideand got his aching legs under him.Then he launched himself at Jeff withoutwarning, reaching for Jeff s throat as if he wanted to strangle him.Just as he got his hands around Jeff s neck, Pei gently grasped his wrists.Even at the slight pressure, Derec screamed and fell back, drawing his armsaway with his hands limp.Then he collapsed to the ground with his eyesclosed. You did it again! Jeff cried, not too loudly. You ve really hurt him this time, said Ariel. This is an acceptable move, said Pei. I have prevented greater harm tothis human by making a less harmful move to the one attacking him.Noviolation of the First Law has been made. His confidence was returning.Derec opened his eyes, not otherwise moving. Uh. Jeff looked helplessly at Ariel. You overdid it, said Ariel excitedly. Look at him.That s not called for! That s right, Jeff declared. Stopping him with reasonable force is allright, but this is something else!Pei looked down at Derec. I.could not.have hurt him.I.was.gentle. Not gentle enough, Ariel wailed. That s twice you ve hurt him.You justdon t understand how fragile humans are. That s right, said Jeff eagerly. That s the problem.If you ve never hadcontact with humans before, that explains it.Suppose you shut down till yourjudgement is fixed up.Or something. He shrugged lamely at Ariel. It s your judgement, Ariel agreed, that must be faulty at the core, so tospeak.You can t risk harming a human because of that, can you? Perhaps.you have.a point. Pei s voice grew faint and he froze in place. Pei, are you awake? Ariel asked cautiously. Pei, if you can hear me, I order you to say so, said Jeff.When Derec didn t hear anything, he forced himself up on one elbow. Hey, itfinally worked. I guess it did, said Ariel. Then it should work again, said Jeff. And now that we know what it takes,we can refine our scenario. Let s get back over to that row they re taking, said Derec. Can you help meup?Yet again, Jeff and Ariel helped him to his feet and supported his arms overtheir shoulders.The trio shuffled back to the one row that these humanoidrobots were using for their trip down into the valley.There Derec once moresank to the ground.Jeff and Ariel this time paced nervously between the high stalks on each sideof the furrow. Maybe we ought to move on, said Ariel. Isn t one mugged robot enough? Imean, one murdered human and one murdered robot caused major crises in RobotCity before. That s a good point, said Jeff. Maybe we could drag him over here where thenext migrating robot will be sure to find him.But we could move on, keepahead of the Hunters. I can t help you drag him, said Derec. And he s pretty big.I doubt thetwo of you could get him all the way over here.Jeff ran a hand through his straight black hair and sighed. You re right.It s been a rough day already, and we may have a lot more running ahead. One more robot, said Derec. That s all we need. What are you talking about? Ariel demanded. If we just stand here and waitPage 65ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlfor the Hunters, all this has been for nothing anyway.We have to get out ofhere. Just one more robot.Instead of mugging it, we ll just make sure it sees Pei,back there.Then we ll move on. Well.all right, said Ariel. We ll wait a little while.But if nothingcomes before long, we re leaving anyway.Agreed? Fair enough, said Derec. But remember, it has to be one robot walkingalone.I m pretty sure that trying to fool more than one would be tougherbecause the others will observe and may spot the fraud.Let s not chancethat.More robots did walk down the row before much time had passed, and all of themseemed to be migrating alone in the sense that they were not part of a crew ora team.However, they often came down the row in sight of one or more robotsbehind them, and Derec did not dare attempt their charade under thosecircumstances. Remember, said Derec, not that much time has really passed for the Huntersto get here [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki