Predator

4

Wayne Nystrom rode the escalator tube that carried him from the exit door of his chartered jet directly down into Mojave Center. This escalator took him to a lift in one of the upper levels, which he used to reach the central floor. Dressed casually and carrying a large, light shoulder bag with personal items and one change of clothes, he stepped out of the lift and quickly walked to the nearest slidewalk on the main boulevard of the city.

“Everything looks normal,” he muttered to himself. The streets were still clean and smooth, indicating that the usual functions of maintenance robots were continuing. That was important since any danger to humans would, of course, force any robots who noticed to leave their regular jobs and help them. Around him, humans and robots conducted their business with a mixture of determination and everyday routine that also seemed ordinary.

“Excuse me. I need assistance,” he called to a robot driving by on a small cargo cart.

“How can I help you?” The robot came to a sudden stop.

“Please contact Mojave Center Governor for me. My name is Dr. Wayne Nystrom and he is expecting to see me. I need to know where to find him.”

“Of course, Dr. Nystrom.” The robot frowned. “I have signaled by radio. His response is usually immediate. Now I am sending a message through the city computer.”

Wayne nodded, waiting with mounting curiosity.

“The city computer has agreed to accept a message and page him,” said the robot. “I will convey a message for you if you like.”

“Tell him that I have arrived in Mojave Center and will meet him anywhere that he designates,” said Wayne.

“Done,” said the robot.

“Can you give me a ride to MC Governor’s office?”

“Of course. Join me up here on the bench and strap in, please.”

Wayne did so, riding in silence. He looked around as the cart moved, still observing that the city was to all appearances functioning normally. For MC Governor to be momentarily out of contact would not have been alarming except for the call he had made to Wayne. When they reached MC Governor’s office, Wayne hopped down and sent the robot on his way.

Wayne was surprised to find the door to MC Governor’s office closed. He pushed the doorbell, then knocked. Finally he tried the doorknob, expecting it to be locked. Instead, it turned. Cautiously, he opened the door.

“Normal here, too.” He glanced around, but the office of a Governor robot never had much in it. A couple of chairs stood across the desk for humans who might come here for an appointment. A beverage server was embedded in the wall for guests. Otherwise, only the desk and the desk chair were in the room. He closed the door behind him, moved around the desk, and sat down in the desk chair.

Wayne opened the desk drawers and found them empty. The desk was just for show. MC Governor didn’t need a computer terminal, either, since he had one inside his robot body. Wayne saw the wall jack that MC Governor would use for shielded communication, but a human had no use for it. No other communication devices were in the office for the simple reason that MC Governor bore all of them within his body.

“Nothing for me here,” Wayne got up and left the office, closing the door behind him. On the boulevard, he hailed another robot, who was using a hand-held inspection tool on a wall. “Call a Security robot to this location, please.”

“Of course,” said the robot. “Are you under the threat of harm, sir?”

“Not immediately,” said Wayne. “At this time, I just need to confer with a Security chief,” He identified himself.

“Very well.” The robot returned to his duties.

In less than a minute, a single robot arrived in a small, fast-moving Security vehicle. “Dr. Nystrom? I am R. Horatio, the Security chief assigned to this section of Mojave Center,” He jumped lightly out of the cart.

“Pleased to meet you. Are you familiar with my name?”

“Yes, sir, I have just verified your identity with the city computer through visual record and your voiceprint. I am honored to meet you. How can I assist you?”

“Can you locate MC Governor for me?”

“You mean by standard communication link?”

“Yes. I asked a robot to do this a little while ago and the Governor could not be reached.”

“I am still in contact with the city computer. I see that your message is on file. MC Governor has not accessed it.”

“Please try again.”

“Yes, sir. Attempting now.”

“Hm. No response?”

“Not yet, sir.”

“I would like a computer terminal with access to the city computer.”

Horatio hesitated. “You do not have the authority for that, sir.”

“Not by statute,” Wayne agreed. “Who is your superior in Security?”

“I report directly to MC Governor.”

“Ah! Then the choice falls to you. Here’s my problem. I think that MC Governor has an unusual difficulty of some sort. If he’s not able to perform his duties in running the city, then First Law imperatives may be developing for every human in Mojave Center. I request a chance to avoid that possibility. As the designer of Mojave Center and the Governor robots, I have the best chance of helping him here.”

Horatio observed him in silence, only for a split second, but long enough for Wayne to notice. Then the robot nodded. “Dr. Nystrom, I am persuaded to give you access to the terminal in my Security cart. However, I must request that you share your conclusions with me.”

Wayne knew that Horatio’s programming as Security chief required him to be very careful, so arguing would be a waste of time. “Agreed.”

“I am entering your voiceprint now,” said Horatio. “You are screened for use.” He turned aside and patted the front seat of the Security cart. Wayne climbed into the passenger side. A computer terminal was in the console in front of him.

“Display current function of MC Governor,” Wayne said to the terminal.

“None found,” said the computer terminal. “Insane,” muttered Wayne. “Display standard monitors of electricity generation and storage, water use, and the air mixture in the ventilation system.”

The monitors appeared in front of him. All the levels were well within the normal range. In fact, they were maddeningly average.

“Show curves of use in the last six hours.” Water use was high early in the curve, but only for a short while.

“Show me the most recent functions of Mojave center Governor identified on file.”

The screen read:

“Communication with R. Horatio, Security Chief, Antelope Valley Boulevard.

“Communication with R. Langtimm, Security Chief, Bohung Institute.”

Wayne suddenly realized that Horatio was keeping some information to himself. He blanked the screen and turned to Horatio. Before he could speak, Horatio beat him to it.

“An urgent call for Mojave Center Governor has come in to the city computer,” said Horatio. “The Governor Robot Oversight Committee is in a conference call.”

“Calling you?”

“When MC Governor was not available, they requested the Security Chief, bringing the call to me. When they requested help regarding MC Governor, I told them you were here and they wish to speak with you.”

“I wish you hadn’t told them,” Wayne said sourly. “None of your business that I’m here. None of theirs, either.”

Horatio ignored his tone. “Your portable terminal is not equipped for holographic images, but I can transfer the call to it for you. Shall I?”

“Sure,” muttered Wayne, feeling his heart begin to pound. “Let’s see what they want.”

The screen quartered into portrait shots of the four scientists on the committee. They were seeing his face at the same time. After greetings had been exchanged, they got right to the point.

“What are you doing there, Dr. Nystrom?” Dr. Redfield asked. She was a tall, slender blond. “Have you seen MC Governor in the last hour?”

“No,” Wayne growled angrily. “I came to see how my creation was doing. Is that a crime?”

“Easy, Doctor,” said Professor Post. He frowned, his dark curly hair and black pointed beard making him look threatening. “We’re all on the same side.”

“No, we aren’t,” Wayne said firmly. “I’m here to see to my work. You want to pass judgment on it and you’re doing it prematurely. Leave this to me.”

“You know we can’t do that,” said Dr. Chin, a short, pretty Chinese American. “We are charged with evaluating this system. Maybe you should know, Dr. Nystrom, that the other five Governors have failed in their duties in the last day or so.”

Wayne stared at her, astonished. “What?”

“They have entered closed loops.” Dr. Khanna enunciated precisely in his Hindi accent, which marked him as a native of northern India. “Their functions have been transferred to standard municipal robots.”

“Obviously,” said Dr. Redfield, “the same problem is likely for Mojave Center Governor. We were hoping to reach him before the same fate took him. It looks like we’re too late. However, we must find him.”

“In the meantime, we will have to assign new robots to take over the responsibilities of running Mojave Center,” said Professor Post.

Wayne stared at their faces, momentarily speechless. Finally, he shook his head. “No. No. This can’t be right. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“We put in calls to your Florida office today,” said Dr. Redfield. “You must have already left.”

“No.” Wayne leaned forward toward the screen. “No! I should have been told about this when the first Governor shut down. So I could get right on this!”

“Our first duty was to assign new robots to the cities to keep them running safely,” Professor Post said calmly.

“We contacted you as a courtesy,” said Dr. Chin. “This committee does not report to you.”

“Are you trying to sabotage my project?” Wayne pointed at her face accusingly. “You don’t want to let me in on this.”

“We are to judge the functioning of the Governor robots themselves,” said Dr. Khanna. “You signed an agreement to that effect when this project began. Now, then, as to the current situation-”

Wayne pounded on the disconnect key with his fist. The terminal screen returned to a standard display. Angrily, Wayne jumped out of the cart, landing in front of Horatio’s impassive face.

“Where is he?” Wayne demanded.

“I do not know.”

“Under the Second Law, I order you to answer all my questions honestly! Where is MC Governor?”

“I do not know where Mojave Center Governor robot is,” said Horatio carefully.

Wayne glared at him, slowly composing himself. He knew that Horatio could not lie about this unless a First Law imperative required it.

“Tell me if a First Law imperative is influencing your judgment and responses under the Second Law.”

“No, Dr. Nystrom. None is.”

Wayne thought about that. If the First Law imperative were strong enough, he could still be lying. “You communicated with MC Governor shortly before his disappearance. Was he involved with a First Law imperative?”

“To some degree.”

Wayne’s temper subsided. Dealing with erratic, untrustworthy humans often frustrated him, but robots were direct, honest, and reliable within the framework of the Three Laws. “So he felt an indirect concern over the First Law-maybe one that is not immediate?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Was he involved with a Third Law imperative?”

“Yes, Dr. Nystrom.”

“Aha.” Wayne nodded grimly. “So he vanished to save himself. Is that correct?”

“That is correct.”

“But you don’t know where he is now?”

“No.”

Wayne smiled wryly. “Doc Nystrom don’t program no idiot robots.”

“Sir?”

“Just a private joke. So MC Governor was careful not to leave you with information that would leave a clear trail.”

“That is correct.”

“Horatio, I have to convince you that I want to help MC Governor. Right now, it looks like he’s the only Governor who’s still functioning. Do you understand what will happen to all the other Governor robots?”

“They will have to be examined for their flaws.”

“Yes! Exactly. But those scientists on the committee just want to find a reason to destroy all the Governors-and my career as well. I’m not under the threat of physical harm, Horatio, but my life’s work is in danger, and that means all the years of my life could be thrown away-made into nothing. Do you understand how that can harm me?”

“I understand that your career is deeply important to you, Dr. Nystrom. However, the Governor robots must have their flaws corrected. Otherwise, they could accidentally harm all the humans under their influence someday, perhaps through neglect of their duties.”

“Of course, of course. But here’s the difference, Horatio. The committee wants to chop up the Governors, pull out their insides, and leave them in pieces.”

“I should think the roboticists would then fix them properly and return them to service.”

“You don’t know them, Horatio!” Wayne kept his frustration and worry in check. To persuade a robot to change his mind would require calm, clear thinking. “Committees don’t exist to fix things. Their purpose is to write reports. They will each write reports about the Governors. Then they will conclude that the Governors can’t be trusted to take care of humans and the Governor robots will be junked, along with my professional reputation. You follow me so far?”

“Yes, I do. But why would they not recommend improving the Governor robots and then using them as planned?”

“Aw, Horatio. I love robots. You’re so rational. The reason is that they’re jealous of my accomplishments and the financial success I’ve attained. They aren’t rational the way you are, Horatio. Perhaps you’ve noticed that about us humans in your own work.”

“Well, yes, I have.”

“Horatio, I want to save the Governors. If I can reach MC Governor first, then I can do the work. I can find the flaw, correct it, and demonstrate to the committee that he has been fixed.”

“If they hate you so much, could they not still stop you?”

“At that point, they wouldn’t dare stop me from putting the other Governors safely back on line. But if I can’t find and fix MC Governor first, the committee will kill my creations. I want to save them.”

“I see the difference, sir.”

“Then help me protect MC Governor. Tell me what you know, and take me to his last known location.”

“All right, Dr. Nystrom. Let us go.”