THE BICENTENNIAL MAN by Isaac Asimov

Author:Isaac Asimov [Asimov, Isaac]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-05-01T18:49:56+00:00

8.

A week later, the robot walked in Arizona, a thousand miles away. He walked stiffly, and sometimes he fell down, and sometimes he clanked his ankle against an obstruction, and sometimes he whirled on one foot and went off in a surprising new direction.

“He's a baby, learning to walk,” said William. Dmitri came occasionally, to learn of progress. “That's remarkable,” he would say.

Anthony didn't think so. Weeks passed, then months. The robot had progressively done more and more, as the Mercury Computer had been placed, progressively, under a more and more complex programming. (William had a tendency to refer to the Mercury Computer as a brain, but Anthony wouldn't allow it.) And all that happened wasn't good enough.

“It's not good enough, William,” he said finally. He had not slept the night before.

“Isn't that strange?” said William coolly. “I was going to say that I thought we had it about beaten.”

Anthony held himself together with difficulty. The strain of working with William and of watching the robot fumble was more than he could bear. “I'm going to resign, William. The whole job. I'm sorry....It's not you.”

“But it is I, Anthony.”

“It isn't all you, William. It's failure. We won't make it. You see how clumsily the robot handles himself, even though he's on Earth, only a thousand miles away, with the signal round trip only a tiny fraction of a second in time. On Mercury, there will be minutes of delay, minutes for which the Mercury Computer will have to allow. It's madness to think it will work.”

William said, “Don't resign, Anthony. You can't resign now. I suggest we have the robot sent to Mercury. I'm convinced he's ready.”

Anthony laughed loudly and insultingly. “You're crazy, William.”

“I'm not. You seem to think it will be harder on Mercury, but it won't be. It's harder on Earth. This robot is designed for one-third Earth-normal gravity, and he's working in Arizona at full gravity. He's designed for 400° C, and he's got 300° C. He's designed for vacuum and he's working in an atmospheric soup.”

“That robot can take the difference.”

“The metal structure can, I suppose, but what about the Computer right here? It doesn't work well with a robot that isn't in the environment he's designed for....Look, Anthony, if you want a computer that is as complex as a brain, you have to allow for idiosyncrasies....Come, let's make a deal. If you will push, with me, to have the robot sent to Mercury, that will take six months, and I will take a sabbatical for that period. You will be rid of me.”

“Who'll take care of the Mercury Computer?”

“By now you understand how it works, and I'll have my two men here to help you.”

Anthony shook his head defiantly. “I can't take the responsibility for the Computer, and I won't take the responsibility for suggesting that the robot be sent to Mercury. It won't work.”

“I'm sure it will.”

“You can't be sure. And the responsibility is mine. I'm the one who'll bear the blame. It will be nothing to you.

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