Caliban

Anshaw smiled bleakly. “New Law robots at Limbo was my doing. Pillow talk, I suppose you’d call it. I mentioned the New Law project to Tonya, and she was fascinated by the idea. She could see they were just the thing for the Limbo Project, a real chance for compromise and common ground, for Spacer and Settler to work together, for a world with the advantages of robots with none of the drawbacks. Oh, she got very excited.

“She knew that I would want my name kept out, of course, and she managed to fake a leak of the information from some other source. A Settler running into a Leving Labs worker in a bar, or something.”

“That sounds plausible. Your security isn’t very tight.”

“I don’t even know if that’s how it worked. I didn’twant to know the details. Anyway, Tonya went to see Fredda and let it be known that she had heard about the New Law project. Fredda was furious about the leak, of course, but then she started to get excited about the idea herself. They presented the idea to Governor Grieg as a joint proposal, and he accepted it.”

“It sounds as if it was a fruitful collaboration,” Donald said. “What caused the two of them to fallout?”

Gubber shifted uncomfortably. “ Ambition,” he said at last. “Both of them always wanted-and still want-to be in charge of whatever project they are working on.”

Ambition, competition,Kresh thought. Those could be damned potent motives, and Gubber knew it. What would be tougher for him-admitting those motives to the police or wondering, in spite of all protestations to the contrary, if those motives had indeed tempted his wild, brazen Settler lover into this violent attack?

“You’ve said that you and Dr. Leving had argued as well. Might I ask the nature of those arguments?” Alvar asked. “Did she perhaps object to your relationship with Tonya Welton?”

“What?” Gubber seemed surprised by the question. “Oh, no, no. She couldn’t have. She didn’t know about-doesn’tknow about it.” He hesitated for a minute, and then doubt seemed to creep into his voice. “ At least I thought she didn’t. But we didn’t do much of a job keeping it from you.”

Kresh smiled. “If it’s of any comfort, she hasn’t given any sign of knowing about it.”

“If I may broach a new subject, Dr. Anshaw,” Donald said. Kresh leaned back and let Donald carry on. At least Anshaw didn’t seem dreadfully insulted at the very idea of a robot asking questions. “We have a report concerning a minor point in connection with the New Law robots. Perhaps you could clear it up.”

“Well, if I can.”

Interesting how the man had become so cooperative in his own interrogation. Kresh had seen it before-the strange moment when the questioning became not a battle, but a collaboration.

“You were asked to perform certain tests on a pair of sessile testbed New Law units without being told what you were testing them for. Do you recall that?”

“Yes, of course. Nothing all that remarkable about it. It was some weeks ago. The only reason I remember it clearly is that Tonya-Lady Welton-happened to stop by that day. I remember thinking later that was the last time she stopped by the lab without an argument starting between Fredda and Tonya. She stayed and watched the tests, and even chatted with one of the sessiles. We do that sort of test all the time. Two units, one experimental and the other a production unit robot, a control, with the experiment operator not knowing which is which-or even the purpose of the experiment. The operator just gets a list of procedures to follow and runs the test as described.”

“What is the purpose of masking the test unit and the experiment’s goal from the experiment operator?” Donald asked.”

“To avoid bias. Usually the test is of something that might be skewed by the experimenter’s own reactions, or by an interaction between the experimenter’s emotional response and the robot’s desire to please the experimenter. All of us at the lab have used each other to run that sort of test from time to time.”

“On this particular test, what were you asked to do?”

“Oh, nothing very much. I was told to discuss the three Laws with the two robots and then record their basal reactions to simulated situations that would test their reactions. The two sessile robots were delivered toward the end of the day, and I got to work on them the next morning, explaining the Three Laws in detail, using a set series of procedures. Then I put them through the simulation drill and they both did fine.”

“What became of them?”

“Well, this was some time ago. The usual procedure would be to destroy the test unit and complete assembly of the control and place it in service. Let me think. The test unit, the experimental unit, was definitely destroyed. Standard safety procedure. As for the control-” Gubber thought for a moment. “You know, Ican tell you about the control unit, come to think of it.