Vasilia turned a cold eye on Daneel. "Can he? But you see, it is not for you to decide who it is that Giskard considers his owner. I know that Giskard knows that I am his owner, so that his duty, within the Three Laws, belongs entirely to me. If he must make someone forget and can do so without physical harm, it will be necessary for him, in making a choice, to choose anyone but me. He cannot make me forget or tamper with my mind in any way. I thank you, Daneel, for giving me the occasion of making this quite plain."
Daneel said, "But Madam Gladia's emotions are so enwrapped in Giskard that for him to force forgetfulness upon her might harm her."
Vasilia said, "Giskard is the one to decide that. - Giskard, you are mine. You know you are mine and I order you to induce forgetfulness in this man-aping robot who stands beside you and in the woman who wrongfully treated you as her property. Do it while she is asleep and there will be no harm done to her of any kind."
Daneel said, "Friend Giskard, Lady Gladia is your legal owner. If you induce forgetfulness in Lady Vasilia, it will not harm her."
"But it will," said Vasilia at once. "The Solarian woman will not be harmed, for she need only forget that she is under the impression that she is Giskard's owner. I, on the other hand, also know that Giskard has mental powers. Digging that out will be more complex and Giskard can surely tell by my intense determination to keep that knowledge that he could not help but inflict damage on me in the process of removing it."
Daneel said, "Friend Giskard - "
Vasilia said, in a voice that was diamond-hard, "I order you, Robot Daneel Olivaw, to be silent. I am not your owner, but your owner is asleep and does not countermand it, so my order must be obeyed."
Daneel fell silent, but his lips trembled as though he were trying to talk despite the order.
Vasilia watched that manifestation with an amused smile on her lips. "You see, Daneel, you cannot talk."
And Daneel said in a hoarse whisper, "I can, madam, I find it difficult, but I can, for I find that something takes precedence over your order, which is governed by only the Second Law."
Vasilia's eyes opened wide and she said sharply, "Silence, I say. Nothing takes precedence over my order but the First Law and I have already shown that Giskard will do least harm - indeed, no harm at all - if he returns to me. He will do harm to me, to whom he is least capable of doing harm, if he follows any other course of action." She pointed her finger at Daneel and said again with a soft hiss, "Silence!"
It was a clear effort for Daneel to make any sound at all. The small pump within him that manipulated the air current that produced the sound made a small, humming noise as it labored. Yet, though he spoke in an even lower whisper, he could still be heard.
He said, "Madam Vasilia, there is something that transcends even the First Law."
Giskard said, in a voice equally low, but unforced, "Friend Daneel, you must not say that. Nothing transcends the First Law. "
Vasilia, frowning slightly, showed a spark of interest. "Indeed? Daneel, I warn you that if you attempt to progress further in this odd line of argument, you will surely destroy yourself. I have never seen or heard of a robot doing what you are doing and it would be fascinating to watch your self-destruction. Speak on."
With the order given, Daneel's voice returned immediately to normal. "I thank you, Madam Vasilia. - Years ago, I sat at the deathbed of an Earthman to whom you have asked me not to refer. May I now refer to him or do you know who it is that I speak of?"
"You speak of that policeman Baley," said Vasilia tonelessly.
"Yes, madam. He said to me on his deathbed, 'The work of each individual contributes to a totality, and so becomes an undying part of the totality. That totality of human lives - past and present and to come - forms a tapestry that has been in existence now for many tens of thousands of years and has been growing more elaborate and, on the whole, more beautiful in all that time. Even the Spacers are an offshoot of the tapestry and they, too, add to the elaborateness and beauty of the pattern. An individual life is one thread in the tapestry and what is one thread compared to the whole? Daneel, keep your mind fixed firmly on the tapestry and do not let the trailing off of a single thread affect you.'"
"Mawkish sentimentality," murmured Vasilia.
Daneel said, "I believe Partner Elijah was attempting to protect me against the fact of his soon-to-come death. It was his own life he spoke of as but a thread in the tapestry, it was his own life that was 'the trailing off of a single thread' that was not to affect me. His words did protect me in that crisis."
"No doubt," said Vasilia, "but get to the point of transcending the First Law, for it is that which will now destroy you."
Daneel said, "For decades I have brooded over Plainclothesman Elijah Baley's statement and it is quite likely I would have understood it at once if the Three Laws had not stood in the way. I have been helped in my search by my friend Giskard, who has long felt the Three Laws to be incomplete. I have been helped also by points Lady Gladia made in a recent speech on a Settler world. What's more, this present crisis, Lady Vasilia, has served to sharpen my thinking. I am certain, now, as to the manner in which the Three Laws are incomplete."
"A robot who is also a roboticist," said Vasilia with a touch of contempt. "How are the Three Laws incomplete, robot?"
Daneel said, "The tapestry of life is more important than a single thread. Apply that not to Partner Elijah alone, but generalize it and - and - and we conclude that humanity as a whole is more important than a single human being."