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.I bet people always say much the same thing to their human doctors.Don't worry.Your personality integrals won't be fiddled with.""A sorely tempting prospect," put in M334.The sudden interruption startled Derec; he had almost forgotten about theother two."Forgive me," he said, "but was that an attempt at sarcasm?""I have been ruthlessly studying all the tricks," M334 replied."Ridicule,dramatic irony, hyperbole, and I stand ready to put them at your service at amoment's notice, sir.""No, thank you," Ariel said, smiling, "he's armed well enough on his own."M334 shook its head.,.A pity.But no doubt there shall soon come a human tothis planet who has need of my services.Perhaps I shall one day even bepermitted to be a valet in the diplomatic corps."Benny raised its hand and put it on M334's shoulder in the same manner it hadput it on Harry's."Hold the lifepod, comrade, but might I suggest it is tooearly in the game to conceive of such grandiose goals?" Humans do," said M334."They design their own buildings, as well."Derec instinctively stepped back, as if he feared he would be caught in asudden explosion.Generally, robots' philosophical discussions centeredaround how best to serve humans in the standards dictated by the Three Laws.But both Benny and M334 had been talking about their own interests.Hmm, but with normal speech, he noted.Is that only automatic, for my benefit,because I happen to be in the vicinity? Or is there some deeper purpose therethat I'm unaware of?Come to think of it, what's the deeper point of their discussion? They'redoing all this for a reason.Derec inched forward so that he could hear more easily.But before he couldhear their next words, Harry stepped between him and them.Harry had performedthe aggressive move as politely as possible, but it was exasperating all thesame."Harry, just what do you think you're doing?""The Third Law of Robotics dictates that I make an inquiry," he said.The Third Law states: A robot must protect its own existence as tong as suchprotection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.That would explainthe action but not the impropriety.Derec sighed in surrender."Yes, Harry,what is it? No wait a second.Mandelbrot are you confused by all this?""Yes.""Then I guess these three are funny.""If you are referring to our earlier conversation, yes, they are.""Thanks.Yes, Harry.What's in your positronic brain? Please refrain from misunderstanding me," Harry said, "but I would severelyfail to adjust if some random electronic scan disrupted my carefully assembledphilosophy of life.""Excuse me what philosophy of life?" asked Derec, his gut tightening when herealized that, whatever happened next, he had directly asked for it."Ever since I was first switched on, I have striven to perform by three rulesPage 23ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlof life, in addition to the Three Laws.""Yes," said Derec uncertainly, now really dreading the answer.Harry held out one finger."Make sure you are closed down for twelve hours ofevery cycle." Two fingers."Never play tri-dimensional chess with a robot thathas a planet for a first name." Three fingers."And never quibble with thelogic of a robot that has sixteen notches on his beta-thruster."Derec stared wide-eyed at the robot in stunned disbelief."What in the name ofthe galaxy are you talking about?""Humor, as opposed to sarcasm.I was attempting to elicit laughter," said therobot in unmistakably defensive tones."Is not humor one of the personalitytraits we robots must know and understand if we are to serve humanityproperly?""Uh, not necessarily; in fact, it's never been done before, at least to myknowledge.But I don't see how it could hurt unless the human in question isone of those rare birds who has no funnybone and hence views laughter asunhealthy or otherwise undesirable.""Well, thus far my fellow robots are convinced I have succeeded in theundesirable department.I apologize most abjectly if you find my jokesseverely lacking marrow.I promise to do better next time, especially if youhelp me correct my errors which, after all, may have absolutely nothing to dowith my positronic keenness, but with my delivery instead.Is it possible? Howsay you?""Tomorrow.Tomorrow, first thing.I promise." Without waiting for a response,Derec took an equally stunned Ariel by the arm and guided her through thecrowd separating them from the main object of attention."Are that robot's pathways in the right place?" she whispered."If they are, then I suggest we dismantle the entire city first chance we get.""Hmmm.Maybe so," replied Ariel, taking a parting glance at Harry."If wemust, I know exactly where to begin."But Derec had already forgotten the matter of Harry and his two comrades, forhe was finally getting a good look at the calm center of the commotion: arather slight supervisor robot slight despite its dull gray chromium surface,which lent a weighty air to the narrow body.The reflection of the buildinglight on its surface was considerably more lackluster than that of the rest.The robot's posture indicated that it was uncertain of how to deal with allthis attention.Its arms were crossed timidly over its chestplate.Itsshoulders slumped as if its spinal structure had been compromised by a defect.Occasionally it straightened, or pointed a finger, but generally its gestureswere hesitant, its verbal pauses frequent, and its level of coherence largelya matter of conjecture."I fail to understand how you can reach such a conclusion through any sort oflogic, however spotty," it was saying, apparently in reply to a question froma tall ebony robot that, arms crossed, looked down on it as if from a stormcloud."My pathways have never been clearer [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]