Terrible?Beta caught himself. A judgmental expression? Yes, Beta decided, it was terrible. Great responsibility had devolved on him that day a year before, when a malleable robot named SilverSides had appeared and adopted the wolf-like shape of the local dominant species. Breaking into Central Hall, it had attempted to destroy Central.

In that respect, SilverSides had failed. The backup and protective systems had kicked in in time to save Central’s “life. ”

The city had survived, and Central’s authority was simply distributed to first-tier supervisors, like Beta.

In another respect, though, SilverSides had succeeded. Where once Central was a scintillating intellect that guided all the robots in the city and kept them working and thinking in harmony, now it was a babbling idiot-savant, full of bits and pieces of ideas, only occasionally lucid.

Still, we keep believing that it can be restored. We keep telling ourselves that the damage caused by SilverSides can be repaired. and that it can again be the Central we once knew.

Is this another example of how we are evolving? Simple efficiency demands that we scrap Central and leave the supervisors permanently in charge. Yet we supervisors are reluctant to even suggest the idea. We keep insisting that our authority is only temporary. and that we will return power to Central just as soon as it passes diagnostics. That only Central is equipped to administer our fundamental programming.

Could that be the difference between being intelligent and being civilized? Valuing preservation of a fellow robot over efficiency?Caught between his evolving values and his orders to use resources efficiently, Beta felt himself drifting closer and closer to a Second Law crisis.

He was saved by the arrival of his fellow supervisors, Alpha and Gamma. Alpha spoke first. “Friend Beta, I have-with Central’s permission-called this meeting to discuss the status of our mission. ”

Beta turned to greet the arriving robots. “Friend Alpha, Friend Gamma: I received your summons and I am here. ” Beta couldn’t help but noting that his reply was a redundant statement of a self-evident fact; still the traditions had to be maintained. Alpha and Gamma walked past without breaking stride. Beta wheeled and joined them. Together, the three marched straight into the atrium at the heart of Central.

When they were in their assigned positions, Alpha raised his face and addressed the slab that held Central’s console of audio/ video inputs and outputs. “Central, we are here for the meeting. “

“Hmmm?” Central’s one great red eye glowed briefly, then dimmed.

“The meeting, Central. You remember, to discuss the status of our mission?”

“I have the greatest confidence in the mission,” Central said.

“That’s right, Central, we all have confidence in it. ” Beta and Gamma nodded, in support of Alpha. “And, now, if it’s okay with you, we’re going to discuss the status. ”

“What status?”

“Of the mission, Central. ”

“I have the greatest confidence in the mission,” Central said, then he began softly singing “Daisy. ”

Alpha emitted a burst of white noise and turned to Beta and Gamma. “Let’s get on with this. Beta, what exactly is our mission?”

Beta knew that Alpha and Gamma were both exactly as familiar with the mission as he was. After all, it was darned tough to forget something that was coded in ROM. Still, there were traditions that needed to be maintained, and the recitation of common knowledge was one of them.

“Robot City is a self-replicating mechanism designed to convert uninhabited planets for human use. Through the use of hyperspace teleportation keys and a unique, cellular robot technology-”

“That’s enough, Beta. ” Alpha waved a hand to cut him off. “Gamma, what do you think is the most important word in our mission statement?”

Gamma’s eyes glowed brightly. “The same word that’s the crux of the Laws of Robotics. Human. ”

“Right. ” Alpha looked at Beta again, then back to Gamma. “We have successfully established a viable robotic community on this planet. We have initiated mining operations, developed a manufacturing base, and-insofar as Master Derec allowed-built a city. What’s the one thing missing that prevents us from completing our mission plan?”

Beta thought of his clean, straight, empty streets, and his perfect, unused buildings.

“Humans,” Central said. The heads of all three supervisors jerked up as if they were marionettes on strings.

“Central?” Alpha asked. The great machine’s one red eye glowed brightly. “French: humain. Latin: humanus; akin to humus, the ground. Pertaining to, belonging to, or having the qualities of mankind. ‘The human species is composed of two distinct races, the men who borrow, and the men who lend. ’ Charles Lamb. ”

Alpha looked down again. “Forget it, Central. ”

“Forgetting. ” The red eye went out a moment and then came back on. “Oh, Alpha, you came to visit!”

“For-” Alpha caught himself. Turning to the other two supervisors, he said, “So this is our problem. How do we serve humans if there are no humans here to serve?”

Gamma thought this over a moment. “There are humans on other planets, correct?”

“We can presume so. ”

“And they have some means of travel?”

“Again, we can presume so. ”

“Then we ca-ca-ca-”

Beta reached through to Gamma by commlink. Priority override. Abort thought pattern. Gamma’s eyes dimmed, and he twitched involuntarily as the reset command upset his joint motors.

He was fine a moment later. “Thank you, Beta. There’s a strong Second Law block in my system. I can’t even voice the thought. ”

Alpha nodded. “I know. I have the same block. Beta?”

“I also. However, if one were to phrase it carefully in passive voice, one could suggest that perhaps a robot with a quantity of hyperspace keys could be sent out to recruit human inhabitants. ”

Alpha agreed. “One could indeed suggest that. However, since we all share the common basic instruction block, one could presume that there are no robots in Robot City capable of carrying out this mission. ”

“In theory, I agree,” Gamma said.

Alpha turned back to Beta. “So if one cannot recruit humans directly, and if one has a similar block regarding building a hyperwave transmitter and broadcasting our location, how would one go about finding humans to serve?”

“The indigenous species?” Gamma suggested.

Beta shook his head. “No. They are clearly not human. ”

“But Master Derec treated them as equals. ” All three supervisors fell silent.

In a small, hesitant voice, Central said, “A equals B. ” Alpha looked up. “What did you say?”

“A equals B,” Central repeated.

Alpha looked to Beta. “Do you have any idea what it’s talking about?”

“If A equals B, and B equals C,” Central said, quite confidently this time, “then A equals C. ”

Slowly, it dawned on Beta. “Central, is A human?”

“Yes. ”

“And is B Master Derec?”

“Yes. ”

Gamma broke in. “What’s C, Central?” But the massive idiot had begun softly whistling an inane ditty.

Beta caught Gamma’s attention. “Don’t you see? If human equals Master Derec, and Master Derec treats the local inhabitants as equals - ”

Gamma’s eyes flared brightly. “Then the local inhabitants are equivalent to humans!”

Alpha protested. “Incorrect. A human is a primate of the genus Homo - ”

Beta and Gamma both turned on Alpha. “We’re not saying that the local inhabitants are truly human. We’re just saying that they’re equivalent to humans. ”

For long seconds, Alpha’s eyes went dim. Just when Beta was beginning to worry about whether the supervisor had gone into First Law lockup, Alpha spoke.