He started by trying to make the nutrition bars more tasty. First he got too much vanilla flavoring, though the result was definitely strong in flavor. When he attempted to add a hint of banana, he got something similar to a muddy-tasting Auroran root vegetable. It wasn’t exactly good, but it certainly was different. He erased the code for that one, though he stuck the dish under the fan. Maybe his quarry liked Auroran root vegetables.
Ariel’s bacon was nearly perfect, so he didn’t mess with that. His first attempt at Magellanic frettage had come out more like over-boiled tyricus leaves in blue cheese, so he had recycled that one without even exhausting the aroma. Another attempt at that had been more successful, and the aroma was being fanned outside right now. He was trying to create a banana pudding when Ariel came back in.
“Yuck!” She winced and stuck out her tongue. “And I thought my stuff stunk. Frost, Derec, what did you kill in here?”
He laughed. “You’re smelling my first batch of Magellanic frettage. The second one is better, and this new dish should also work. Banana pudding should be easy, don’t you think?”
“If we don’t die from the tyricus fumes first. Did my stuff smell this bad? If it did, I owe you an apology.”
“No, not really. Could you smell anything outside?”
“Oh, yes. Basically, we’re in pretty good shape. The configuration of the surrounding buildings has created a pretty constant horizontal wind, going from the fan, let’s see, that way.” She jerked her thumb. “The robot traffic is fairly heavy in that direction, so they can all help direct our people here. Now we just have to hope they get close enough to ask.”
“The other way, though, nobody will smell anything.”
“True, but the robots are circulating on their normal activities. They’ll be spreading out allover the place.”
“Okay. I hope this works. We’ve done just about everything.” She nodded. “If you want to take a turn stretching your legs, I’ll take over here.”
“Thanks. I think that pudding needs more water.”
Derec strode outside with a spring in his step, glad to be in the open for a change. In the distance, however, the great shining dome of the Key Center seemed to taunt him. He refused to have his mood dampened, and turned away from it to start walking.
More out of curiosity than necessity, he located the breeze that she had mentioned. The banana pudding smelled pretty good, though he supposed starving people might prefer something more solid and nutritious. He stepped onto a slidewalk, but kept walking in a large rectangle around the general area. Actually spotting their human visitors didn’t seem as unlikely as it once had, even if that was only a new optimism. As he came downwind of the breeze from the fan again, he was pleasantly surprised to recognize the scent of a decent dish of Magellanic frettage carried along by it. Perhaps her extra practice with the processor was paying off. Now that he had loosened up a little, he decided that he might as well head back. Waiting was still waiting, whether he sat inside or marched aimlessly around town.
When he arrived, Ariel was leaning in the doorway. She raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw him.
“What are you doing back so soon? I thought the whole idea was for us to take turns in getting away for a bit.”
“I did get away. Now I’m back.”
“Frost, Derec. If I’d known that was all you were going to do, I would have stayed out longer myself. I came back early just for you.”
“I wouldn’t have cared if you’d stayed out longer. I didn’t ask you to come back early.”
“Well, do you mind if I go for another walk?”
“Of course not! Why are you making such a big deal of this?” As he waited for an answer, he stepped back from a humanoid robot walking toward them, assuming that the robot wanted to pass by.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said irritably. “I guess this do-nothing phase just doesn’t suit me very well.”
The robot did not walk past them. He looked at Derec closely as, without stopping, he moved past him through the doorway.
“Hey,” Derec said in surprise. “Can we help you? This is a private residence. Ours, that is.”
The robot turned and looked back and forth between them.
“Identify yourself, “ Ariel commanded.
“Uh…” The robot seemed uncertain, which was very rare in a robot.
“I gave you an instruction. Now identify yourself!”
“I, uh, I’m Tunnel Foreman, uh, 12.”
“Say, wait a minute. That sounds familiar. Did I talk to you before? About the search?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so? If you came to report, Derec and I are the ones to report to. What have you learned?”
“I…haven’t really learned anything.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Derec asked. “Do you have a question?”
The robot hesitated, again looking back and forth between them as if in puzzlement.
“Something’s wrong with him,” said Ariel. “Get on the console and call a repair facility. He isn’t acting right.”
The robot started to leave.
“Stay here,” Ariel ordered. When he didn’t stop, she caught his arm. “I ordered you to stay put. What’s wrong with you? Now freeze.”
Derec had started inside, but when the robot yanked his arm free of Ariel, he stopped in shock. “Are you forgetting the Laws? You’ve been ordered to freeze.”
The robot grabbed Ariel by the shoulders and flung her out of his way, slamming her against the wall. Derec launched himself between them, hoping to prevent the assault from continuing, even as disbelief flooded him. He saw the robot’s arm swinging backhand toward him, but had no chance to react as the incredibly hard robot hand casually smacked him in the forehead and blackened his vision.
Derec felt himself fall backward into the wall and slide to the base of the doorway in a sitting position. He sat motionless for a moment, getting his breath back and gathering his wits. When he looked around, the robot was gone.
Chapter 12. Teamwork
Ariel scooted over to Derec with a look of concern. Even in his stunned condition, he appreciated it.
“You hurt bad, Derec?”
“No.” His voice came out in a coarse mutter. “Got the breath knocked out of me, but that’s all. How about you?”
“I’m all right. Thanks for getting in his way.”
He grinned. “Any time, just so it isn’t too often.” He inhaled deeply a couple of times.
She took him under one arm and helped him to his feet. “Have you ever seen anything like that before?”
“Never. The positronic brains have always been totally reliable. That record is known everywhere.” He dusted himself off. “I think the shock is worse than getting knocked down.”
“This one’s not reliable, that’s for sure.”
“Did you see where he went?” Derec looked down the street.
“No, but a couple of other robots went chasing after him. They must have been close enough to see what happened.”
“I guess I heard a few footsteps. Let’s go inside. I want to get on the console and find out if there’s been any warning about a rogue robot. “
She followed him inside. “The robots chasing him weren’t shouting or anything. I suppose they were all talking through their comlinks.”
“I guess.” He rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the wall, and winced. “I wonder what kind of insults robots exchange among themselves.” He sat down at the computer and called up a variety of subjects-including warnings, city alerts, and suspected malfunctions. Nothing turned up.
“Maybe the malfunction just occurred,” Ariel suggested. “We’ll be the first ones to report.”
“I’ll do that. Let’s see… …Malfunctioning robot does not obey the Laws.Since he actually attacked us, the rest of the robots will make searching for him a top priority. I imagine they’ll even leave their regular jobs.” He entered a description of the pertinent events.