Foundation And Chaos (38 page)

Dors listened to Turringen's words with no change in her rigid, intense expression. She
knows this is all show, that we have lost, Lodovik realized.

“And you, Zorma?” Dors said. “What does your faction say?”

The second male paused several seconds before answering.

"We are not as doctrinaire as in times past. While I admit being uncomfortable with the
changes that have transformed Lodovik, I'm also intrigued. Perhaps, like a human, he shall
be judged by his actions, not his heritage... or his programming.

“As for the other matter, I concur with Dors and Daneel that any attempt to harm or
interfere with Hari Seldon would be counterproductive. Despite our deep disagreements over
human destiny, it is clear that the collapse of this Galactic Empire will be a dreadfully
violent and fearsome event. In that context, the Seldon Plan offers hope, even
opportunity. Hence I agree with Dors Venabili. ” He turned to face

Lodovik and Kallusin. “On behalf of my own pitiful faction of fugitive robots, in the name
of Susan Calvin, and for the sake of humanity, I urge you not to-”

“Enough!” The interrupting voice came from the raised platform. Plussix had risen, leaning
on one metal elbow. The ancient robot's eye cells glowed dim amber. "Enough interference.
I will not have my last moments of functioning wasted by your prattle. For centuries your
so-called factions have sulked and remained inactive, except to meddle on a few Chaos
Worlds. Our group has been nearly alone in actively opposing the Giskardian apostasy. Now,
as this loathsome Galactic Empire at last totters, a final and decisive chance presents
itself-and you, Zorma, would let it pass! R. Daneel has thrust all his hopes upon a single
human-Hari Seldon. At no time has his plan been so vulnerable.

“The rest of you may continue brooding in hiding. But for the sake of humanity and the
Three Laws, we shall act. ”

“You will fail, ” Dors swiftly assured the faltering robot. “As you have failed for twenty
thousand years. ”

“We shall rescue humanity from your cloying, stupefying control, ” Plussix insisted.

“And replace it with your own?” Dors shook her head, eyes leveled on Plussix's amber
optical sensors. “The Galactic winds will witness who is right... ” Her voice caught
suddenly. Lodovik stared as Dors betrayed evident emotion-frustration battling with
sympathy for the obstinate, dying robot in front of her.

She cannot help but be human, Lodovik thought. She is a special. Daneel ordered her to be
made the most human of us all.

When she glanced at Lodovik, there were tears in her eyes. “Daneel wishes we could be
together, uniting in eternal service to humanity. This struggle exhausts us all. Once
again, I offer safe passage for Plussix to Eos, where he can be made whole-”

“If I cannot oppose Daneel, I would rather not exist, ” the ancient one interrupted. “I
thank you for the offer. But I will not let my existence be contingent upon inactivity.
That would violate the First Law. A robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction,
allow a human being to come to harm. ” Voicing this, Plussix slumped back onto the
platform. Slowly, his head lowered itself to the surface with a sandy whir.

Silence in the room for several seconds.

“In the community of robots, there is respect, ” Kallusin said. “But there cannot be peace
until this is done. We hope you understand. ”

“I understand, as does Daneel, ” Dors assented. “There is respect. ”

But we deserve so much more! That thought surged within Lodovik as he felt the beginnings
of his own anger. Suddenly, he wanted to speak with Dors, to ask essential questions about
human traits, about her experience with human emotions.

But there was no time.

Plussix rotated its head to observe the silent assembly. Its voice buzzed with fatigue.

“You must leave, ” Plussix told Dors. “Pay my respects to Daneel. It would be good to
survive these actions and discuss all that has occurred... with a mentality such as his,
the exchange would be very stimulating. Tell him also... that I admire his accomplishment,
his ingenuity, at the same time I abhor the consequences. ”

“I will tell him, ” Dors said.

“The moment has passed, ” Plussix said. “Advantage must be calculated and played out. This
truce is at an end. ”

As he ushered Dors and the two male humaniforms to the exit, Kallusin drew from them a
promise to observe the ancient formalities of armistice. Lodovik followed.

"We shall not reveal your presence on Trantor to

humans, “ Dors assured Kallusin. ”Nor will we assault you directly, here in your
sanctuary. "

Turringen and Zorma agreed, as well. As the two Calvin-ian emissaries departed, Dors
turned her gaze on Lodovik. “Daneel has been visited by the entity who calls herself Joan.
He assumes you have been visited by Voltaire. ”

Lodovik nodded. “Everyone seems to know it. ”

“Joan tells Daneel that Voltaire had a hand in your adjustment. She regrets that she and
Voltaire have quarreled and do not speak now. Even for them, the debate has grown too
large and too emotional. ”

“Tell Daneel-and Joan-that Voltaire does not direct me. He has simply removed a
constraint. ”

“Without that constraint, you are no longer a robot. ”

“Am I any less a robot, in the old sense, than those who rationalize that the ends justify
any means?”

Dors frowned. “Turringen is right. You have become a rogue, unpredictable and
undirectable. ”

“That was Voltaire's goal, I believe, ” Lodovik answered. “Yet I remind Daneel, and you,
that despite my lack of the Three Laws, I have never killed a human being. Both of you
have. And once, thousands of years ago, two robots, two servants, conspired to alter human
history, to slowly destroy the original home of humanity, without ever consulting a human
being!”

Then, just as perversely, as emotionally, as defensively, he quietly added, “You accuse me
of no longer being a robot. Regard Daneel, and regard yourself, Dors Venabili. ”

Dors spun about, staggering slightly, and walked several more paces toward the door before
stopping once more. She glanced over one shoulder, her voice sharp and cool.

“Should any of you attempt to harm Hari Seldon, or to impede him in his tasks, I will see
an end to you all. ”

Lodovik was struck by the passion in her voice, so strong and so human.

She left, and Lodovik returned to the platform.

Plussix observed him through dimming eyes.

“The work is not done. I will not function to see it completed. I nominate you as my
replacement. ”

Lodovik quickly prepared formal arguments against this transfer of authority: his
ignorance of many important facts, his lack of neural conditioning to this level of
leadership, his involvement in other actions which involved high risk. He delivered them
once more in machine-language.

Plussix considered them for a few thousandths of a second before rejoining, “There will be
debate after I am no longer functional. My nomination has weight, but is not final. Should
all of us survive what must come in the next few days, a final decision will be made. ”

Plussix held out its arm. Lodovik took the hand. In direct-contact broadcast, Plussix
transferred substantial amounts of information into Lodovik. When it was finished, it
composed itself upon the table, arms by its sides.

“Can nothing ever be simple?” Plussix said. “I have served for so many thousands of years,
never feeling the gratitude of a human being, never feeling a direct confirmation of my
usefulness. It is good to have the respect of one's opponents... But before I can no
longer receive communications, or sense the world, or process memory... ”

The glow in the old eyes was fading.

“Will any human, even a child, come to me, and say, 'You have done well'?”

All the robots in the chamber stood in silence.

The door opened at the end of the hall, and Klia and Brann entered.

Klia stepped forward, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Lodovik stood aside for her
to approach Plussix. The old robot rotated its head and saw her. The sandpaper sound rose
in frequency, becoming a sharp hiss, like escaping steam.

Klia laid her hand on the robot's face. It seemed a won-

der to Lodovik that she knew what was happening, that she did not need to be informed. But
she is human. They have the animal vitality and quickness.

Klia said nothing, staring at the robot with an expression of puzzled sympathy. Brann
stood beside her, hands folded before him. Klia pressed more firmly on the metal forehead,
her thumb on the metal cheek, as if she would make the robot feel her presence, her touch.

“I am honored to serve, ” Plussix said, his voice low and distant.

“You are a good teacher, ” Klia said softly.

The old robot lifted its hand and patted her wrist with hard, gentle fingers.

The sandpaper sound came to an end. The glow in Plus-six's eyes went out.

“Is he dead?” Klia asked.

“He has stopped functioning, ” Kallusin said.

Klia lifted her hand and glanced at her fingers. “I didn't feel anything change, ” she
said.

“The memory patterns will linger for many years, perhaps thousands of years, ” Kallusin
said. “But the brain can no longer adapt to new input or change its states. Its thinking
is done. ”

Klia looked down on the ancient machine, her puzzled expression unchanged. “Are we still
going to-?”

“Yes, ” Kallusin said. “We are still going to visit Hari Sel-don. ”

“Let's do it, ” Klia said with a tremor in her voice. “I can feel that woman out there
again. We may not have much time. ”

Dors felt the upsurge of her old protective programming like a sudden, unavoidable
sensation of heat in her brain. She left the warehouse and took a taxi to the nearest
ancient general-transport station, brought a ticket, and boarded a nearly empty
gravi-train, Daneel had given her a list of instructions to follow, after her meeting and
proffer to the Calvinians; the next instruction was to go to Mycogen, some eight thousand
kilometers from the Imperial Sector, and wait for a message. Daneel was distributing his
robots around Trantor, to counter the sudden renewal of searches by Farad Sinter.

Dors did not know whether to report her sudden reemer-gence of concern for Hari as a
failure... or a warning. She could not know as much about the Calvinians' plans as Daneel
did, but some instinct, rearoused after decades, told her that Hari's safety and
well-being were threatened.

She sat in the thickly padded seat, waiting for the train to drop into its deep-planetary
curve and begin its rapid journey under the crust of Trantor. These trains were ten
thousand years old, used now mostly as back-up transport systems, and generally they rode
empty. She was alone in this particular car.

Suddenly, two young men and a young woman entered. She examined them coolly. They
concerned her not at all.

She could not push from her thoughts the image of Hari-a younger, more vital Hari-in
danger. They would not kill him-Calvinians did not have that option, she was sure; and
that also bothered her. She had no memory of killing the man who had threatened Hari, but
she knew she had done it.

She turned to look out the window at the black wall of the tunnel.

So much Daneel has never told me. The homeworld-

“Sky, they're all over out there, ” one of the young males said.

“They give me chills, ” the girl said.

“We can't just joyride all week, ” the second male said. He was small and slight and wore
bright, exaggerated clothing; as if to compensate. “We'll have to get off the train sooner
or later, and they'll catch us. When's somebody going to squawk to the citizen senate?”

“They don't care anymore, ” the girl said.

“Why us, though? We haven't done anything!”

A loud noise at the back of the train made Dors turn in her seat, pulling herself from the
padding. The young passengers froze in the aisle, ready to run.

Four Specials entered the car, strutting down the aisle in their dark and highly visible
uniforms. They glanced at Dors in passing, then broke into a run, chasing the three
youngsters. Before they could reach the door to the next car, the Specials had collared
them and were shoving them back to the main door.

“We haven't done anything!” the slight young male cried.

“Quiet!” the other boy said. “They don't care. They're after all of us. Sinter's called
out the Dragons!”

“Shuttup, ” the lead officer said.

Dors kept in her seat until they had passed. The young woman looked at her entreatingly,
but there was nothing she could do.

She would not disobey Daneel, even to save a human life. But what if that life were Hari's?

A great many awful things were happening, this she knew-and the Calvinians would make
their move to strike at Daneel, at the grand scheme-at Hari! They might not kill him, but
there was much they could do short of killing.

Hari was old. He was fragile. He was not the vital man she had once been called upon to
protect. But he was still Hari.

Then the old programming erupted with extraordinary force. Daneel should have known. From
her very inception, she had been designed to protect one human being. Anything else

was a weak overprint on a deep and ineradicable structure.

She rose from her seat, her brain flooded with one concern, one name, and she was capable
of anything-as she had once been capable of harming and even killing humans.

Dors left the car just before the doors were sealed, and the train began its long journey
to Mycogen, completely empty.

63,

Klayus jumped from his large seat in the Hall of Beasts as Sinter came into the room. The
monsters from around the Galaxy loomed over them. The Emperor always came here when he
felt uneasy, insecure. The beasts made him feel monstrously powerful himself, as indeed he
should be, with the title of Emperor of the Galaxy.