asimov, isaac - the bicentennial man (v1.0) Read online

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  ISAAC ASIMOV

  The Bicentennial Man

  In the introduction to this Nebula Awards volume it was mentioned that science fiction writers-successful science fiction writers--are unique. No one, however, is quite as unusual as Isaac Asimov. He is unique in almost any direction you look. He has written more on more subjects, and better on more subjects, and more unexpectedly on most subjects, and in more ways on more subjects, than anyone else in the field. He writes poetry, limericks, short stories, novels, essays, articles, nonfiction books, trilogies, jokes and so on-more of them than anyone else could imagine. He has written the first successful science fiction detective story, after being told by the revered John Campbell, long-time editor of ASTOUNDING and later ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION, that it couldn't be done. He has written curious articles about chemicals that have not yet been invented, such as a chemical that travels in time.

  However did this remarkable man come to create this enormous body of work?

  He was born January 2, 1920, apparently with an incredible appetite for reading and an equally incredible ability to recall almost everything he has ever read. A third talent, which did not surface until some little time after he had already made his name as a science fiction writer, was the talent of taking the turgid prose in which a great many other people write about matters in the field of science, history, and just about everything else, and turning it into a clear and readable language so effective that other people came very close to remembering the facts so presented as well as Isaac Asimov did himself. But it is as a writer of science fiction that we know and treasure him best. From his early classics in the field, novels such as I, ROBOT, The Foundation series, and PEBBLE IN THE SKY are some of his early science fiction that come to mind. His magnificent story NIGHTFALL and a host of others down the years lead us now to the award winning novelette which follows, THE BICENTENNIAL MAN. In it we are back again with Isaac Asimov's three laws of robotics which have stood the test of time, and once again back up a novelette to be remembered.

  The Three Laws of Robotics

  1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

  I

  Andrew Martin said, "Thank you," and took the seat offered him. He didn't look driven to the last resort, but he had been.

  He didn't, actually, look anything, for there was a smooth blankness, to his face, except for the sadness one imagined one saw in his eyes. His hair was smooth, light brown, rather fine; and he had no facial hair. He looked freshly and cleanly shaved. His clothes were distinctly old-fashioned, but neat, and predominantly a velvety red-purple in color.

  Facing him from behind the desk was the surgeon The nameplate on the desk included a fully identifying series of letters and numbers which Andrew didn't bother with. To call him Doctor would be quite enough

  "When can the operation be carried through, Doctor?" he asked.

  Softly, with that certain inalienable note of respect that a robot always used to a human being, the surgeon said, "I am not certain, sir, that I understand how or upon whom such an operation could be performed."

  There might have been a look of respectful intransigence on the surgeon's face, if a robot of his sort, in lightly bronzed stainless steel, could have such an expression-or any expression.

  Andrew Martin studied the robot's right hand, his cutting hand, as it lay motionless on the desk. The fingers were long and were shaped into artistically metallic, looping curves so -graceful and appropriate that one could imagine a scalpel fitting them and becoming, temporarily, one piece with them. There would be no hesitation in his work, no stumbling, no quivering, no mistakes. That confidence came with specialization, of course, a specialization so fiercely desired by humanity that few robots were, any longer, independently brained. A surgeon, of course, would have to be. But this one, though brained, was so limited in his capacity that he did not recognize Andrew, had probably never heard of him .

  "Have you ever thought you would like to be a man?" Andrew asked.

  The surgeon hesitated a moment, as though the question fitted nowhere in his allotted positronic pathways. "But I am a robot, sir."

  "Would it be better to be a man?"

  "If would be better, sir, to be a better surgeon. I could not be so if I were a man, but only if I were a more advanced robot. I would be pleased to be a more advanced robot."

  "It does not offend you that I can order you about? That I can make you stand up, sit down, move right or left, by merely telling you to do so?"

  "It is my pleasure to please you, sir. If your orders were to interfere with my functioning with respect to you or to any other human being, I would not obey you. The First Law, concerning my duty to human safety, would take precedence over the Second Law relating to obedience. Otherwise, obedience is my pleasure. Now, , upon whom am I to perform this operation?"

  "Upon me," Andrew said.

  "But that is impossible. It is patently a damaging operation."

  "That does not matter," said Andrew, calmly. "I must not inflict damage," said the surgeon. "On a human being, you must not," said Andrew, "but I, too, am a robot."

  2

  Andrew had appeared much more a robot when he had first been manufactured. He had then been as much a robot in appearance as any that had ever existed smoothly designed and functional.

  He had done well in the home to which he had been factors brought in those days when robots in households, or on the planet altogether, had been a rarity. There had ` been four in the home: Sir and Ma'am and Miss and, Little Miss. He knew their names, of -course, but he ", never used them. Sir was Gerald Martin.

  His own serial number was NDR- . . . He eventually forgot the numbers. It had been a long time, of course; j but if he had wanted to remember, he could not- have ? forgotten. He had not wanted to remember.

  Little Miss had been the first to call him Andrew,

  because she could not use the letters, and all the rest .

  followed her in doing so.

  Little Miss . . . She had lived for ninety years and,

  was long since dead. He bad tried to call her Ma'am

  once, but she would not allow it. Little Miss she had

  been to her last day. s

  Andrew had been intended to perform the duties

  of a valet, a butler, even a lady's maid. Those were

  the experimental days for him and,. indeed, for all

  robots anywhere save in the industrial and exploratory;

  factories and stations off Earth. t

  The Martins enjoyed him, and half the time he was

  prevented from doing his work because Miss and Little

  Miss wanted to play with him. It was Miss who first

  understood how this might be arranged. "We order

  you to play with us and you must follow orders."

  "I am sorry, Miss, but a prior order from Sir must

  surely take precedence."

  But she said, "Daddy just said he hoped you would take care of the cleaning. That's not much of an order. I order you."

  Sir did not mind. Sir was fond of Miss and of Little Miss, even more than Ma'am was; and Andrew was fond of them, too. At least, the effect they had upon his actions were those which in a human being would have been called the result of fondness. Andrew thought of it as fondness for he did not know
any other word for it.

  It was for Little Miss that Andrew had carved a pendant out of wood. She had ordered him to. Miss, it seemed, had received an ivorite pendant with scrollwork for her birthday and Little Miss was unhappy over it. She had only a piece of wood, which she gave Andrew together with a small kitchen knife.

  He had done it quickly and Little Miss had said, "That's nice, Andrew. I'll show it to Daddy."

  Sir would not believe it. "Where did you really get this, Mandy?" Mandy was what he called Little Miss. When Little Miss assured him she was really telling the truth, he turned to Andrew. "Did you do this, Andrew?"

  "Yes, Sir."

  "The design, too?"

  "Yes, Sir."

  "From what did you copy the design?"

  "It is a geometric representation, Sir, that fits the grain of the wood."

  The next day, Sir brought him another piece of wood-a larger one-and an electric vibro-knife. "Make something out of this, Andrew. Anything you want to," he said.

  Andrew did so as Sir watched, then looked at the product a long time. After that, Andrew no longer waited on tables. He was ordered to read books on furniture design instead, and he learned to make cabinets and desks.

  "These are amazing productions, Andrew," Sir soon told him.

  "I enjoy doing them, Sir," Andrew admitted.

  `Enjoy?"

  "It makes the circuits of my brain somehow flow more easily. I have heard you use the word `enjoy' and the way you use it fits the way I feel. I enjoy doing them, Sir."

  3

  Gerald Martin took Andrew to the regional offices of the United States Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation. As a member of the Regional Legislature he y had no trouble at all in gaining an interview with the chief robopsychologist. In fact, it was only as a member of the Regional Legislature that he qualified as a 7 robot owner in the first place-in those early days when robots were rare.

  Andrew did not understand any of this at the time. But in later years, with greater learning, he could review that early scene and understand it in its proper light.

  The robopsychologist, Merton Mansky, listened with a growing frown and more than once managed to stop his fingers at the point beyond which they would have irrevocably drummed on the table. He had drawn features and a lined forehead, but he might actually have been younger than he looked.

  "Robotics is not an exact art, Mr. Martin," Mansky . explained. "I cannot explain it to you in detail, but the mathematics governing the plotting of the positronic pathways is far too complicated to permit of any but approximate solutions. Naturally, since we build everything around the Three Laws, those are incontrovertible. We will, of course, replace your robot--2'

  "Not at all," said Sir. "There is no question of failure , on his part. He performs his assigned duties perfectly. The point is he also carves wood in exquisite fashion and never the same twice. He produces works of art.",

  Mansky looked confused. "Strange. Of course, we're attempting generalized pathways these days. Really creative, you think?"

  "See for yourself." Sir handed over a little sphere >>

  7

  of wood on which there was a playground scene in which the boys and girls were almost too small to make out, yet they were in perfect proportion and they blended so naturally with the grain that it, too, seemed to have been carved.

  Mansky was incredulous. "He did that?" He handed it back with a shake of his head. "The luck of the draw. Something in the pathways."

  "Can you do it again?"

  "Probably not. Nothing like this has ever been reported."

  "Good! I don't in the least mind Andrew's being the only one."

  "I suspect that the company would like to have your robot back for study," Mansky said.

  "Not a chance!" Sir said with sudden grimness. "Forget it." He turned to Andrew, "Let's go home, now."

  4

  Miss was dating boys and wasn't about the house much. It was Little Miss, not as little as she once was, who filled Andrew's horizon now. She never forgot that the very first piece of wood carving he had done had been for her. She kept it on a silver chain about her neck.

  It was she who first objected to Sir's habit of giving away Andrew's work. "Come on, Dad, if anyone wants one of them, let him pay for it. It's worth it."

  "It isn't like you to be greedy, Mandy."

  "Not for us, Dad. For the artist."

  Andrew had never heard the word before, and when he had a moment to himself he looked it up in the dictionary.

  Then there was another trip, this time to Sir's lawyer.

  "What do you think of this, John?" Sir asked.

  The lawyer was John Finegold. He had white hair and a pudgy belly, and the rims of his contact lenses were tinted a bright green. He looked at the small

  plaque Sir had given him. "This is beautiful. But I've already heard the news. Isn't thus a carving made by your robot? The one you've brought with you."

  "Yes, Andrew does them. Don't you, Andrew?"

  "Yes, Sir," said Andrew.

  "How much would you pay for that, John?" Sir asked.

  "I can't say. I'm not a collector of such things"

  "Would you believe I have been offered two hundred and fifty dollars for that small thing. Andrew has made chairs that have sold for five hundred dollars. There's two hundred thousand dollars in the bank

  from Andrew's products."

  "Good heavens, he's making you rich, Gerald."

  "Half rich," said Sir. "Half of it is in an account in

  the name of Andrew Martin." a

  "The robot?"

  "That's right, and I want to know if it's legal"

  "Legal . . . ?" Feingold's chair creaked as he leaned

  back in it. "There are no precedents, Gerald. How did

  your robot sign the necessary papers?"

  "He can sign his name. Now, is there anything

  further that ought to be done?"

  "Um." Feingold's eyes seemed to turn inward for a

  moment. Then he said, "Well, we can set up a trust

  to handle all finances in his name and that will place _

  a layer of insulation between him and the hostile world '

  Beyond that, my advice is you do nothing. No one has e

  stopped you so far. If anyone objects, let him bring .

  suit"

  "And will you take the case if the suit is brought?" p

  "For a retainer, certainly."

  "How much?"

  "Something like that," Feingold said, and pointed to the wooden plaque.

  "Fair enough," said Sir.

  Feingold chuckled as he turned to the robot. "Andrew, are you pleased that you have money?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "What do you plan to do with it?"

  "Pay for things, sir, which otherwise Sir would have to pay for. It would save him expense, sir."

  5

  Such occasions' arose. Repairs were expensive, and revisions were even more so. With the years, new models of robots were produced and Sir saw to it that Andrew had the advantage of every new device, until he was a model of metallic excellence. It was all done at Andrew's expense. Andrew insisted on that.

  Only his positronic pathways were untouched. Sir insisted on that.

  "The new models aren't as good as you are, Andrew," he said. "The new robots are worthless. The company has learned to make the pathways more precise, more closely on the nose, more deeply on the track. The new robots don't shift. They do what they're designed for and never stray. I like you better."

  "Thank you, Sir."

  "And it's your doing, Andrew, don't you forget that. I am certain Mansky put an end to generalized pathways as soon as he had a good look at you. He didn't like the unpredictability. Do you know how many times he asked for you back so he could place you under study? Nine times! I never let him have you, though; and now that he's retired, we may have some peace."

  So Sir's hair thinned and grayed and his face grew pou
chy, while Andrew looked even better than he had when he first joined the family. Ma'am had joined an art colony somewhere in Europe, and Miss was a poet in New York. They wrote sometimes, but not often. Little Miss was married and lived not far away. She said she did not want to leave Andrew. When her child, Little Sir, was born, she let Andrew hold the bottle and feed him.

  With the birth of a grandson, Andrew felt that Sir finally had someone to replace those who had gone. Therefore, it would not be so unfair now to come to him with the request.

  "Sir, it is kind of you to have allowed me to spend my money as I wished" ' "It was your money, Andrew." "Only by your voluntary act, Sir. I do not believe the law would have stopped you from keeping it all." "The law won't persuade me to do wrong, Andrew." 3 "Despite all expenses, and despite taxes, too, Sir, I have nearly six hundred thousand dollars:"