Second Variety and Other Stories (55 page)

Ed and Donnie entered the kitchen. It was full of people. Bob McIntyre and his wife Pat. John
Hollister and his wife Joan and their two daughters. Pete Klein and Rose Klein. Neighbors, Nat Johnson
and Tim Davis and Barbara Stanley. An eager murmur buzzed through the room. Everybody was
grouped around the table, excited and nervous. Sandwiches and beer bottles were piled up in heaps. The
men and women were laughing and grinning happily, eyes bright with agitation.

"What's up?" Ed grumbled. "Why the party?"

Bob McIntyre clapped him on the shoulder. "How you doing, Ed? We've got news." He rattled a
public news tape. "Get ready. Brace yourself."

"Read it to him," Pete Klein said excitedly.

"Go on! Read it!" They all grouped around McIntyre. "Let's hear it again!"

McIntyre's face was alive with emotion. "Well, Ed. This is it. He made it. He's there."

"Who? Who made what?"

"Crow. Jim Crow. He made Class One." The tape spool trembled in Mclntyre's hand. "He's
been named to the Supreme Council. Understand? He's in. A human being. A member of the supreme
governing body of the planet."

"Gosh," Donnie said, awed.

"Now what?" Ed asked. "What's he going to do?"

McIntyre grinned shakily. "We'll know, soon. He's got something. We know. We can feel it. And
we should start seeing it in action -- any time, now."

Crow strode briskly into the Council Chamber, his portfolio under his arm. He wore a slick new
suit. His hair was combed. His shoes were shined. "Good day," he said politely.

The five robots regarded him with mixed feelings. They were old, over a century old. The
powerful N Type that had dominated the social scene since its construction. And an incredibly ancient D
Type, almost three centuries old. As Crow advanced toward his seat the five robots stepped away,
leaving a wide path for him.

"You," one of the N Types said. "You are the new Council member?"

"That's right." Crow took his seat. "Care to examine my credentials?"

"Please."

Crow passed over the card plate given him by the Lists Committee. The five robots studied it
intently. Finally they passed it back.

"It appears to be in order," the D admitted reluctantly.

"Of course." Crow unzipped his portfolio. "I wish to begin work at once. There's quite a lot of
material to cover. I have some reports and tapes you'll find worth your while."

material to cover. I have some reports and tapes you'll find worth your while."

"Of course," Crow snapped. "Let's forgo this and get down to business."

One of the N Types leaned toward him, massive and contemptuous, its patina-encrusted hull
glinting dully. "Mr Crow," it said icily. "You must understand this is utterly impossible. In spite of the legal
ruling and your technical right to sit on this --"

Crow smiled calmly back. "I suggest you check my Listing scoring. You'll discover I've made no
errors in all twenty Lists. A perfect score. To my knowledge, none of you has achieved a perfect score.
Therefore, according to the Governmental ruling contained in the official Lists Committee decree, I'm
your superior."

The word fell like a bomb shell. The five robots slumped down in their seats, stricken. Their eye
lenses flickered uneasily. A worried hum rose in pitch, filling the chamber.

"Let's see," an N murmured, extending his gripper. Crow tossed his List sheets over and the five
robots each scanned them rapidly.

"It's true," the D stated. "Incredible. No robot has ever achieved a perfect score. This human
outranks us, according to our own laws."

"Now," Crow said. "Let's get down to business." He spread out his tapes and reports. "I won't
waste any time. I have a proposal to make. An important proposal bearing on the most critical problem
of this society."

"What problem is that?" an X asked apprehensively.

Crow was tense. "The problem of humans. Humans occupying an inferior position in a robot
world. Menials in an alien culture. Servants of robots."

Silence.

The five robots sat frozen. It had happened. The thing they had feared. Crow sat back in his
chair, lighting a cigarette. The robots watched each motion, his hands, the cigarette, the smoke, the match
as he ground it out underfoot. The moment had come.

"What do you propose?" the D asked at last, with metallic dignity. "What is this proposal of
yours?"

"I propose you robots evacuate Earth at once. Pack up and leave. Emigrate to the colonies.
Ganymede, Mars, Venus. Leave Earth to us humans."

The robots got instantly up. "Incredible! We built this world. This is our world! Earth belongs to
us. It has always belonged to us."

"Has it?" Crow said grimly.

An uneasy chill moved through the robots. They hesitated, strangely alarmed. "Of course," the D
murmured.

Crow reached toward his heap of tapes and reports. The robots watched his movement with
fear. "What is that?" an N demanded nervously. "What do you have there?"

Tapes," Crow said.

"What kind of tapes?"

"History tapes." Crow signaled and a gray-clad human servant hurried into the chamber with a
tape scanner. "Thanks," Crow said. The human started out. "Wait. You might like to stay and watch this,
my friend."

The servant's eyes bulged. He found a place in the back and stood trembling and watching.

"Highly irregular," the D protested. "What are you doing? What is this?"

"Watch." Crow snapped on the scanner, feeding the first tape into it. In the air in the center of the
Council table, a three-dimensional image formed. "Keep your eyes on this. You'll remember this moment
for a long time."

The image hardened. They were looking into the Time Window. A scene from the Total War
was in motion. Men, human technicians, working frantically in an undersurface lab. Assembling
something. Assembling -

The human servant squawked wildly. "An A! It's a Type A robot! They're making it!"

The human servant squawked wildly. "An A! It's a Type A robot! They're making it!"

The scene changed. It showed the first robots, the original Type A, rising to the surface to fight
the war. Other early robots appeared, snaking through the ruins and ash, approaching warily. The robots
clashed. Bursts of white light. Gleaming clouds of particles.

"Robots were originally designed as soldiers," Crow explained. "Then more advanced types were
produced to act as technicians and lab workers and machinists."

The scene showed an undersurface factory. Rows of robots worked presses and stampers. The
robots worked rapidly, efficiently -- supervised by human foremen.

"These tapes are fake!" an N cried angrily. "Do you expect us to believe this?"

A new scene formed. Robots, more advanced, types more complex and elaborate. Taking over
more and more economic and industrial functions as humans were destroyed by the War.

"At first robots were simple," Crow explained. "They served simple needs. Then, as the War
progressed, more advanced types were created. Finally, humans were making Types D and E. Equal to
humans -- and in conceptual faculties, superior to humans."

"This is insane!" an N stated. "Robots evolved. The early types were simple because they were
original stages, primitive forms that gave rise to more complex forms. The law of evolution fully explains
this process."

A new scene formed. The last stages of the War. Robots fighting men. Robots eventually
winning. The complete chaos of the latter years. Endless wastes of rolling ash and radioactive particles.
Miles of ruin.

"All cultural records were destroyed," Crow said. "Robots emerged masters without knowing
how or why, or in what manner they came into being. But now you see the facts. Robots were created as
human tools. During the War they got out of hand."

He snapped off the tape scanner. The image faded. The five robots sat in stunned silence.

Crow folded his arms. "Well? What do you say?" He jerked his thumb at the human servant
crouching in the rear of the chamber, dazed and astonished. "Now you know and now he knows. What
do you imagine he's thinking? I can tell you. He's thinking --"

"How did you get these tapes?" the D demanded. "They can't be genuine. They must be fakes."

"Why weren't they found by our archeologists?" an N shouted shrilly.

"I took them personally," Crow said.

"You took them? What do you mean?"

"Through a Time Window." Crow tossed a thick package onto the table. "Here are the
schematics. You can build a Time Window yourself if you want."

"A time machine." The D snatched up the package and leafed through the contents. "You saw
into the past." Dawning realization showed on its ancient face. "Then --"

"He saw ahead!" an N searched wildly. "Into the future! That explains his perfect Lists. He
scanned them in advance."

Crow rattled his papers impatiently. "You've heard my proposal. You've seen the tapes. If you
vote down the proposal I'll release the tapes publicly. And the schematics. Every human in the world will
know the true story of his origin, and yours."

"So?" an N said nervously. "We can handle humans. If there's an uprising we'll put it down."

"Will you?" Crow got suddenly to his feet, his face hard. "Consider. Civil war raging over the
whole planet. Men on one side, centuries of pent-up hatred. On the other side robots suddenly deprived
of their myth. Knowing they were originally mechanical tools. Are you sure you'll come out on top this
time? Are you positive?"

The robots were silent.

"If you'll evacuate Earth I'll suppress the tapes. The two races can go on, each with its own
culture and society. Humans here on Earth. Robots on the colonies. Neither one master. Neither one
slave."

The five robots hesitated, angry and resentful. "But we worked centuries to build up this planet! It
won't make sense. Our leaving. What'll we say? What'll we give as our reason?"

won't make sense. Our leaving. What'll we say? What'll we give as our reason?"

There was silence. The four Type N robots looked at each other nervously, drawing together in a
whispered huddle. The massive D sat silent, its archaic brass eye lens fixed intently on Crow, a baffled,
defeated expression on its face.

Calmly, Jim Crow waited.

"Can I shake your hand?" L-87t asked timidly. "I'll be going soon. I'm in one of the first loads."

Crow stuck out his hand briefly and L-87t shook, a little embarrassed.

"I hope it works out," L-87t ventured. "Vid us from time to time. Keep us posted."

Outside the Council Buildings the blaring voices of the street speakers were beginning to disturb
the late afternoon gloom. All up and down the city the speakers roared out their message, the Council
Directive.

Men, scurrying home from work, paused to listen. In the uniform houses in the human quarter
men and women glanced up, pausing in their routine of living, curious and attentive. Everywhere, in all
cities of Earth, robots and human beings ceased their activities and looked up as the Government
speakers roared into life.

"This is to announce that the Supreme Council has decreed the rich colony planets Venus, Mars,
and Ganymede, are to be set aside exclusively for the use of robots. No humans will be permitted outside
of Earth. In order to take advantage of the superior resources and living conditions of these colonies, all
robots now on Earth are to be transferred to the colony of their choice.

"The Supreme Council has decided that Earth is no fit place for robots. Its wasted and still
partly-devastated condition renders it unworthy of the robot race. All robots are to be conveyed to their
new homes in the colonies as quickly as adequate transportation can be arranged.

"In no case can humans enter the colony areas. The colonies are exclusively for the use of robots.
The human population will be permitted to remain on Earth.

"This is to announce that the Supreme Council had decreed that the rich colony planets of Venus
--"

Crow moved away from the window, satisfied.

He returned to his desk and continued assembling papers and reports in neat piles, glancing at
them briefly as he classified them and laid them aside.

"I hope you humans will get along all right," L-87t repeated. Crow continued checking the heaps
of top-level reports, marking them with his writing stick. Working rapidly, with absorbed attention, deep
in his work. He scarcely noticed the robot lingering at the door. "Can you give me some idea of the
government you'll set up?"

Crow glanced up impatiently. "What?"

"Your form of government. How will your society be ruled, now that you've maneuvered us off
Earth? What sort of government will take the place of our Supreme Council and Congress?"

Crow didn't answer. He had already returned to his work. There was a strange granite cast to his
face, a peculiar hardness L-87t had never seen.

"Who'll run things?" L-87t asked. "Who'll be the Government now that we're gone? You said
yourself humans show no ability to manage a complex modern society. Can you find a human capable of
keeping the wheels turning? Is there a human being capable of leading mankind?"

Crow smiled thinly. And continued working.

The late afternoon sun shone down blinding and hot, a great shimmering orb in the sky. Trent
halted a moment to get his breath. Inside his lead-lined helmet his face dripped with sweat, drop after
drop of sticky moisture that steamed his viewplate and clogged his throat.

The late afternoon sun shone down blinding and hot, a great shimmering orb in the sky. Trent
halted a moment to get his breath. Inside his lead-lined helmet his face dripped with sweat, drop after
drop of sticky moisture that steamed his viewplate and clogged his throat.