[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
money I control personally will be left in trust in your name and you'll
continue to be economically secure as far into the future as anyone can
foresee."
"This is unnecessary, Paul," Andrew said, with difficulty. He had to admit to
himself that what Paul had said about his not understanding death, not being
able to understand it, was true. In all this time he had not really managed to
get used to the deaths of the Charneys.
Page 81
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Paul said, "Let's not argue, all right? I can't take the money with me and
there isn't anything I'd rather do with it than leave it to you, so that's the
way it's going to be. And I don't want to consume any more of my remaining
life-span discussing the matter with you. Let's talk about something else. --
What are you working on these days?"
"Biology, still."
"What aspect in particular?"
"Metabolism."
"Robot metabolism, you mean? There isn't any such thing, is there? Or is
there? Do you mean android metabolism? Human metabolism?"
"All three," Andrew said. " A synthesis of sorts." He paused, and then he went
plunging ahead. Why hold anything back from Paul? "I've been designing a
system that would allow androids--I mean myself; I am still the only
functioning android, am I not?--to draw energy from the combustion of
hydrocarbons rather than from atomic cells."
Paul gave him a long, slow look.
"You mean," he said finally, "that you want to make it possible for an android
to be able to breathe and eat the same way humans do?"
"Yes."
"You've never mentioned any such project as this to me before, Andrew.
Is it something new?"
"Not really. In truth, Paul, it is the reason I began all this biological
research in the first place."
Paul nodded abstractedly. It was as though he was listening from a very great
distance. He seemed to be having a difficult time absorbing what Andrew was
telling him.
"And have you achieved anything significant so far?" he asked, after a time.
"I am approaching something significant," Andrew said. "It needs more work but
I think I have succeeded in designing a compact combustion chamber that will
be adequate for catalyzed controlled breakdown."
"But why, Andrew? What's the point of it? You know that it can't possibly be
as efficient as the atomic cell your body uses now."
"Very likely not," said Andrew. "But it ought to be efficient enough. At least
as efficient as the system that the human body uses, I would say, and not all
that different from it in fundamental principle. The main problem with the
atomic cell, Paul, is that it is inhuman. My energy--my very life, you could
say--is drawn from a source that is wholly other than human. And I am not
content with that."
SIXTEEN
IT TOOK TIME, but Andrew had all the time he needed. And he was in no hurry to
complete his research. He wanted everything to be properly worked out before
he attempted to have it put into service. There was another reason for going
slowly, also. Andrew had decided not to undergo any further upgrading beyond
the android level while Paul Charney was still alive.
Paul had not expressed any overt criticism of the work Andrew was doing, other
than his initial response that Andrew's new combustion chamber might be less
efficient than the atomic cell that powered his body now. But Andrew could see
that Paul was troubled by the idea. It was too bold for him, too strange, too
great a leap. Even Paul, it seemed, had his limits when it came to the
progress of robot design. Even Paul!
Perhaps that was one of the side effects of aging, Andrew thought.
Challenging new ideas become too challenging for you, no matter how open your
mind may have been to dynamic change when you were younger. Everything new
comes to seem disturbing and threatening to you. You feel the world rushing
past you in a frightening stampede; you want things to slow down, you want the
ferocious pace of progress to slacken.
Was that how it was? Andrew wondered.
Did humans inevitably become more conservative with age?
Page 82
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
So it would seem. Little Miss had been uneasy about his wearing clothing.
George had thought it odd that he would want to write a book. And
Paul--Paul--
Looking back now, Andrew remembered how startled, even shocked, Paul had been
when he learned for the first time, in Smythe-Robertson's office, that what
Andrew wanted was to be transferred into an android body. Paul had made a
quick enough adaptation to the idea and had fought furiously and brilliantly
to make it a reality. But that did not necessarily mean that he thought it was
a good idea for Andrew.
They have all let me do what I felt I needed to do, Andrew thought, even when
they privately disagreed with it. They have granted me my wishes--out of love
for me.
Yes, love. For a robot.
Andrew dwelled on that thought for a while, and sensations of warmth and
pleasure went through him. But it was a little troubling, too, to realize that
sometimes the Charneys had supported him not out of personal convictions of
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
