He found himself running down a broad thoroughfare nearly empty of vehicular traffic. Some robot pedestrians moved out of his way. He had no idea where he was going, but he wanted to think, and to do it alone.

He could hear two sets of footsteps pounding after him-and was surprised to realize that his robotic hearing was so acute that he could actually distinguish the two separate pairs of robot feet. They were calling after him, not shouting angrily the way people would, but yelling that he was still experimental, that he might harm himself, that he had to stop. He didn’t stop, though; their voices simply spurred him on.

Other robots were listening, however, and trying to block his path. He dodged a couple of them and burst through the outstretched arms of several more. They all gave chase, presumably responding to the calls of the medical team that he might violate the First Law. The other robots apparently would help catch him first if they could, and worry about explanations later.

He rounded a corner without slowing down and started up a small side street. Even now, he could feel that he was running more comfortably than he had just moments before. His robot body responded quickly, and well. It had not been designed for footraces, but it was powerful and efficient. As he got more used to it, he began to turn up the speed and to hurdle minor obstacles.

Unfortunately, of course, his pursuit was all robots, as well.

He kept running.

Chapter 8. Hitting The Streets

Derec and Ariel stopped to rest on a small ridge of soil on the side of yet another construction site. As near as they could tell, the urban area of Robot City was expanding in all directions from its center, and they had been walking the perimeter of construction so they could question the robots they encountered. So far, they had traveled only a very small arc of the entire circle.

‘This isn’t doing us any good,” Derec complained. He lay down on the dirt and leaned back against the slope.

“What isn’t?” She looked carefully to make sure the slope behind here was smooth, then also leaned back. “Resting here or asking around?”

“Both, now that you mention it. But I meant asking robots at random like this. There are thousands of them, and they aren’t very observant of their surroundings unless it’s part of their job. They concentrate on their own tasks too much.”

“I haven’t thought of anything better.” She closed her eyes. “My feet hurt. I’m not used to walking so much.”

“I haven’t thought of anything else, either. There must be something, though.” He looked across the way, where a foreman robot was overseeing a large function robot of some kind. “Everything is so carefully organized. Nothing is wasted.”

As they watched, the function robot raised an arm with a nozzle on the end and began to spray a heavy, viscous liquid onto the bare, level ground in front of it. Even after the liquid had landed, it swirled and shifted and moved in active currents beyond those in motion by the pressure at the nozzle. As the spray continued, the liquid formed a flat floor and then began to grow walls up from the floor, leaving space for a doorway.

Ariel opened her eyes. “Did you ask that one robot earlier how the spray works? I went to talk to another one and didn’t hear your conversation.”

“Yeah. I didn’t understand the details, but apparently the molecules are all coded. They know where to go, and slide around in liquid form until they reach the right spot. Then they bond with their right neighboring molecules.”

“Just the way this whole city works,” said Ariel. “Except for us and our visitors. We don’t fit. That’s one thing we have in common with them, no matter who they are.”

“You think it over,” Derec said wearily. “Here comes another transport vehicle of some kind. I can see a humanoid riding in it. I guess I’ll go interrupt its day and ask it the usual questions.”

He got to his feet, and realized as he walked through a scrap area that his own legs did not have much more energy left, either. Most of the scrap was in huge, carefully stacked piles, but here and there individual pieces had fallen or been laid out to start a new stack. He noted with a mixture of interest and annoyance that none of the parts were recognizable. These Avery robots had an extremely ingrown technology.

Derec had learned how to shortcut this process somewhat. He first called out that he was human to get the robot’s attention, and then ordered it to stop. In turn, the humanoid robot ordered the function robot-the transport-to stop. This time, Derec’s questions paid off.

“I have seen two non-indigenous beings recently,” said the robot, looking down at Derec from the high cab of the transport.

“Identify,” Derec ordered, with excitement.

“I am Class 9 Vehicle Foreman 214.”

“What did they look like? What were they doing?”

“One was a robot that did not respond to my communication greeting. Apparently he was on a different frequency or malfunctioning. Also, his dimensions and proportions were not quite familiar.”

“What about the other one?”

“I did not see the other one clearly. It appeared to be no longer than a meter. This is an approximation. It had four extremities.”

“A kid,” said Derec. “A robot and a little kid. That’s weird…Did you speak with them?”

“No. They departed when I approached. “

“What were they doing when you first saw them?”

“Walking.”

“Did you hear them speak? Or have any contact with robots of any kind?”

“No.”

“Say-why did you try to communicate with them?”

“Because of their unusual appearance. I thought that if the robot required assistance to a repair facility, I would offer it.”

“Did you report the sighting to the central computer?”

“Yes.”

“When and where did it take place?”

“Two days ago. The time-”

“That’s good enough. Where?” Derec grinned. The sighting was not one of those he had found listed in the computer. Ariel came up to join them as Class 9 Vehicle 214 gave him the city coordinates of the sighting. Then the robot went on its way.

“It’s a start,” Derec said happily. “The sighting is two days old, but it’s solid.”

He filled her in on the details.

“A babysitter and a kid, maybe,” said Ariel. “They might have been ejected from a lifepod in a ship emergency, or something like that. But with the transportation in this city, they could be anywhere by now.”

“We have to start somewhere. Come on.” Derec started in the direction of the nearest thoroughfare back toward the heart of the city.

Ariel hurried after him. “It just doesn’t seem like much to go on. They must be long gone from there.”

“Oh, come on! After all this time, this is the best lead we have. Why do you want to be so pessimistic?”

“It’s not that, exactly.”

“Then what?” He demanded angrily. “Don’t you want to get away from here? Would you rather just give up?”

“Of course not! I didn’t say that.”

“Well, then, come on.” Derec stalked along, his upbeat mood lost. The worst part of it was his realization that she was right. Their lead out here on the fringe of the city had come to nothing; chasing a two-day-old sighting might be just as hopeless.

They marched in silence for a while, then topped on the edge of the avenue. Traffic here would be nonexistent until the next construction transport was ready to head into the city again. The trips were carefully planned and maintained, as the robots were too efficient to waste any fuel or time on unnecessary runs.

After Derec had cooled down a little, he said, “Maybe these two sightings do tell us something. I think our visitors landed outside the city and entered in search of, I don’t know-food and shelter, I suppose. The sighting on the fringe, here, was older. So if they went into the middle of the city for a reason, they may stay there.”