Foundation and Chaos

70.

Kallusin had finished the removal of Plussix’s head. He withdrew the cables which had provided temporary power to the robot as the most recent memories were fixed in permanent storage within the iridium-sponge backup, then he lifted the head from the plastic cradle, away from the slightly smoking neck, and lowered it into the archival metal box.

He could hear the commotion among Plussix’s wards as the troops moved through the warehouse. Through the window overlooking the warehouse interior, Kallusin could see Prothon’s troops herding the young mentalics-thirty in all-toward personnel carriers at street level. Whatever their persuasive skills, they did not seem able to escape.

He could do nothing for them now. He lifted the box, carried it to the end of the long chamber, and stopped as he heard boots beyond the door.

To Kallusin’s surprise, it was Prothon himself who entered, pushing the door open with a slight kick. Kallusin stood in place as the general walked into the chamber. Prothon surveyed the dilapidated equipment and the half dismantled robot in the harness a few meters away.

The general was unarmed, and his troops hung back behind the door. For a moment, nothing was said and neither moved.

“Are you human?” Prothon finally asked.

Kallusin did not reply.

“Robot, then. All my men down there are getting headaches-I’m just as glad you’re not one of the youngsters.” Prothon nodded at the box carrying Plussix’s head. “What’s that-a bomb?”

Kallusin said, “No.”

“No weapons, no means of defense-almost certainly a robot.” Prothon regarded him curiously. “In good condition, and very convincing. Very old, centuries?”

Kallusin did not even blink. There was nothing more he could do without harming Prothon or the troops before him, and he could not harm humans.

“I order you to identify yourself,” Prothon said, then, astonishingly, he added, “Owner identity may be excluded, but personal type and origin and serial number may not.”

“R. Kallusin Dass, S-13407-D-IO237.”

“Robot Kallusin Dass, Solaria, late model,” Prothon said quietly. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I have instructions to take two robots into custody. One is R. Daneel or Danee, surname and ID unknown. The other is R. Lodovik Trema, ID also unknown. You are neither of these?”

Kallusin shook his head.

“What’s in the box, R. Kallusin? Mandatory, excluding information that may be of harm to your master or owner.”

Prothon knew the old forms of interrogation. Kallusin could have eluded a question that his programming could consider ambiguous or harmful to his owners-the human race. Plussix had reassigned ownership of his robots to the broader category a century before, foreseeing advantages to this workaround.

A restrained kind of Zeroth Law…Never necessary, until now.

Kallusin could not, on short notice, come up with any reason not to inform Prothon what was in the box. Their mission was over, at any rate.

“A robotic head,” Kallusin said. “Nonfunctional.”

“Are you the only robot remaining? We have reason to believe others have left this building already, before we arrived.”

“I am the only one remaining.”

“If I take you into custody, will you remain functional?”

“No,” Kallusin said. That would harm the cause, and possibly therefore harm his owner-the human race.

“If my men enter…you will not remain functional?”

“I will not,” Kallusin said

“A standoff, then. I have very little time, but I’m curious. What were you trying to do, here?”

Prothon had neglected to use the form of address. Kallusin weighed the situation carefully. He had no hope of escape, and there was no profit in discussing anything more with General Prothon. But before he shut himself down, permanently, he was himself curious-about Prothon’s knowledge.

“I will answer your question if you will answer mine,” Kallusin said.

“I’ll try.” Prothon seemed amused by this remarkable dialog.

“How do you know about robots?”

“Personally, suspicions, only suspicions, all these years of service to the Empire. Found a dysfunctional robot on a distant planet once-destroyed during an invasion. Haven’t seen one since.”

“How do you know the forms of address?”

“Linge Chen gave me instructions, told me to speak directly with any robots, also told me there was no danger addressing the robots we would find here.”

“Thank you,” Kallusin said. Suspicions, only suspicions, Daneel. “My answer is, I am here to serve my owner.” He reached into the box and pressed a hidden comer switch. The box began to heat. He placed it on the floor. Within several seconds, Plussix’s head would be cooked, useless. Then Kallusin stood tall. He could not deactivate himself just yet. The threat had to be immediate.

Prothon looked at the box, now glowing a dull red and crackling slightly against the tiles on the floor. He made a small grimace and called for his troops to enter.

That was enough. The threat of capture and interrogation became very real. Kallusin would become a danger to his owner.

He collapsed on the floor before anyone of the troops could reach him.

Prothon observed this with an air of profound respect. He had seen many human soldiers do precisely the same thing. It was time-honored, and actually, more than he had expected from a robot-but then, he had only known this one robot for a few minutes, and was in no position to judge.

He left the chamber and ordered it to be searched by a party of the Commissioner’s engineers.