Home > The Robots of Dawn (Robot #3)(82)

The Robots of Dawn (Robot #3)(82)
Author: Isaac Asimov

Baley said, "How did you find me?"

Gremionis said, "She asked me about that robot and said you had asked about me. I had heard you - had been called to Aurora by Dr. Fastolfe to solve this - puzzle - about the robot. It was on the hyperwave news. And - " The words ground out as though they were emerging, from him with the utmost difficulty.

"Go on," said Baley.

"I had to talk to you and explain that I had had nothing to do with that robot. Nothing! Gladia didn't know where you were, but I thought Dr. Fastolfe would know."

"So you called him?"

"Oh no, I - I don't think I'd have the nerve to - He's such an important scientist. But Gladia called him for me. She's that kind of person. He told her you had gone to see his daughter, Dr. Vasilia Aliena. That was good because I know her."

"Yes, I know you do," said Baley.

Gremionis looked uneasy. "How did you - Did you ask her about me, too?" His uneasiness seemed to be degenerating to misery. "I finally called Dr. Vasilia and she said you had just left and I'd probably find you at some Community Personal and this one is the closest to her establishment. I was sure there would be no reason for you to delay in order to find a farther one. I mean why should you?"

"You reason quite correctly, but how is it you got here so quickly?"

"I work at the Robotics Institute and my establishment is on the Institute grounds. My scooter brought me here in minutes.

"Did you come here alone?"

"Yes! With only one robot. The scooter is a two-seater, you see."

"And your robot is waiting outside?"

"Yes."

"Tell me again why you want to see me."

"I've got to make sure you don't think I've had anything to do with that robot. I never even heard of him till this whole thing exploded in the news. So can I talk to you now?"

"Yes, but not here," said Baley firmly. "Let's get out."

How strange it was, thought Baley, that he was so pleased to get out from behind walls and into the Outside - There was something more totally alien to this Personal than anything else he had encountered on either Aurora or Solaria. Even more disconcerting, than the fact of planet-wide indiscriminate use had been the horror of being openly and casually addressed of behavior that drew no distinction between this place and its purpose and any other place and purpose.

The book-films he had viewed had said nothing of this.

Clearly, as Fastolfe had pointed out, they were not written for Earthpeople but for Aurorans and, to a lesser extent, for possible tourists from the other forty-nine Spacer worlds. Earthpeople, after all, almost never went to the Spacer worlds, least of all to Aurora. They were not welcome there. Why, then, should they be addressed?

And why should the book-films expand on what everyone knew? Should they make a fuss over the fact that Aurora was spherical in shape, or that water was wet, or that one man might address another freely in a Personal?

Yet did that not make a mockery of the very name of the structure? Yet Baley found himself unable to avoid thinking of the Women's Personals on Earth where, as Jessie had frequently told him, women chattered incessantly and felt no discomfort about it. Why women, but not men? Baley had never thought seriously about it before, but had accepted it merely as custom - as unbreakable custom - but if women, why not men?

It didn't matter. The thought only affected his intellect and not whatever it was about his mind that made him feel overwhelming and ineradicable distaste for the whole idea. He repeated, "Let's get out."

Gremionis protested, "But your robots are out there."

"So they are. What of it?"

"But this is something I want to talk about privately, man to m-man." He stumbled over the phrase.

"I suppose you mean Spacer to Earthman."

"If you like."

"My robots are necessary. They are my partners in my investigation."

"But this has nothing to do with the investigation. That's what I'm trying to tell you."

"I'll be the judge of that," said Baley firmly, walking out of the Personal.

Gremionis hesitated and then followed.

47

Daneel and Giskard were waiting - impassive, expressionless, patient. On Daneel's face, Baley thought he could make out a trace of concern, but, on the other hand, he might merely be reading that emotion into those inhumanly human features. Giskard, the less human-looking, showed nothing, of course, even to the most willing personifier.

A third robot waited as well - presumably that of Gremionis. He was simpler in appearance even than Giskard and had an air of shabbiness about him. It was clear that Gremionis was not very well-to-do.

Daneel said, with what Baley automatically assumed to be the warmth of relief, "I am pleased that you are well, Partner Elijah."

"Entirely well. I am curious, however, about something. If you had heard me call out in alarm from within, would you have come in?"

"At once sir," said Giskard.

"Even though you are programmed not to enter Personals?"

"The need to protect a human being - you, in particular - would be paramount, sir."

"That is so, Partner Elijah," said Daneel.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Baley. "This person is Santirix Gremionis. Mr. Gremionis, this is Daneel and this is Giskard."

Each robot bent his head solemnly. Gremionis merely glanced at them, and lifted one hand in indifferent acknowledgment. He made no effort to introduce his own robot.

Baley looked around. The light was distinctly dimmer, the wind was brisker, the air was cooler, the sun was completely hidden by clouds. There was a gloom to the surroundings that did not seem to affect Baley, who continued to be delighted at having escaped from the Personal. It lifted his spirits amazingly that he was actually experiencing the feeling of being pleased at being Outside. It was a special case, he knew, but it was a beginning and he could not help but consider it a triumph.

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