Unicorn Point (35 page)

He could try to move out, bringing back the regular hens.
 
But if she had caught on to him, she would have set new monitors, and the attempt would be foiled. Perhaps she only suspected—and was waiting for something mat would con firm her idea, without making an issue. This was her kind of subtlety. Troubot had decided to stand pat; Merle would ei ther expose him, or she would not, as her whim dictated.
 
This last session had been the worst. Before, she had merely looked in on the flock; this time she had joined it. He had fashioned each part to resemble a specific hen, but could not pass more than a cursory inspection. His hope had been based on the assumption that the Citizen would pay no more atten tion to her hens than she had in the past. This change in her attitude was alarming. And for her to speak so openly and clearly of her history with Stile and Blue, and of his own disappearance . . .

There was little doubt now: she knew. He was surely at her mercy—which was perhaps where she wanted him to be.
 
Why had she taken so much trouble to explain things to him?
 
He had known of the intensity of the search, but had not known of this extra element. He had been chosen to represent Citizen Blue in a key Game-match? That was an amazing development. If it was true, he should certainly come forth and do what he could, because his association with Nepe had also put him firmly on her side, and therefore Blue’s side.
 
But was it true? How could he be sure that Merie, for reasons of her own, was not teasing him, so that he might expose himself and fall into the wrong hands? If she did not want to betray Blue openly—because, as she so candidly put it, she hoped to arrange another sexual liaison with him—but actu ally sympathized with the other side, this could be a way. If that were her plan, the best thing he could do would be to sit tight, refusing to reveal himself. That would force her to do her own dirty work, and pay the penalty. Troubot was sure that Merle had no concern at all for his welfare, but only hoped to use him in some fashion to her advantage.
 
But if what she said was true, and he did not come forth, Citizen Blue could lose his match by default. Probably the Citizens had selected Troubot in part because of this. They hoped that Troubot would not trust the summons, and so would serve their objective.

Troubot did not have feelings in the living sense, but he was a sophisticated self-willed machine who could react emo tionally when applicable circuits were set up and invoked. In the course of his association with Nepe, he had set up such circuits, and felt a reasonable facsimile of friendship for her, and loyalty to the principles she had adopted. Thus there was an emotional component involved, which he could cut out, but only at the cost of his feeling for Nepe. He did not like to do that, because his feeling toward Nepe was the only thing that really distinguished him from an ordinary self-willed machine. He knew that if he voided that circuit, he would be unlikely to re-invoke it later, because his nature would be changed; he simply would not care any more. It would be like death in a living creature. So he retained the circuit—and so he suffered now this agony of indecision. He knew he wanted to help Nepe and her grandfather Blue; he did not know in what way he best could do that. Should he believe Merle, or doubt her?

He lacked the circuitry to resolve such a conflict. He was not, after all, the Oracle, whose nature was more sophisti cated than that of any other machine. He was not even similar to Sheen, or Mach; he was just an ordinary self-willed robot who had been influenced by long and close association with a living alien child who understood robots because her father was one. Perhaps that had made him unusual among ma chines, but it did not provide him with superior intellectual competence. He had modified his body and his emotion, but his intellect was locked in to what it had been at the start.
 
He had been smart at the start—too smart, for a machine, and therefore out of tolerance—but he had never been able to approach Nepe’s level.

So he waited, doing nothing. He let his components sep arate, and reverted to the lesser state that was not the sum of his parts. As six units he was conscious, but unable to utilize his full mental capacity; too much of it had been distributed to the others, to make them separately functional. As Hen ingway, he possessed the main awareness, and could make decisions, but was hesitant to without being able to draw on his full complement. He pecked up a seed, which he could not digest, biding his time.

Soon Merie returned. “Well, chickens,” she said brightly.
 
“I have just called Blue, and prevailed on him to appear here within the hour, alone. Would you like me to enable you to witness my bit of sport with him?”

Troubot tried to reason whether he should make a response. If she did not know his nature, he did not want to give it away, but his brief mergence with his other parts had enabled him to think more comprehensively, and he had concluded that she did know; therefore there was no point in hiding from her. He did want to see Citizen Blue, because he understood that that was a man he could trust and possibly find sanctuary with. So he should make a positive response; that seemed clear enough.

He stepped forward, making one cluck.

“Well, now, Heningway! You are becoming positively literary!” she exclaimed, pleased. In the course of his researches he had encountered a name that resembled the one she had bestowed on this hen; perhaps she was making a pun.
 
“Very well, I shall do it. He will be here within the half hour; I shall go change, and a servitor will install appropriate furniture here.” She looked sternly at the hens. “Do not drop anything untoward on it!”

She exited. In a moment a rolling transport brought in a couch that looked much like a bed. Then the machine set up a baffle that consisted of a curtain, so that the couch was concealed from the view of the main coop.
 
Troubot reassembled his units, touching beaks, so he could ponder this development. It seemed obvious that Merle in tended to seduce Citizen Blue in exchange for the information about Troubot’s location. Was this proper? He doubted it, but was not certain of his proper response. He knew that if he were alive, he would resent being used this way; as it was, he merely noted it, and disbanded, making no decision.
 
As scheduled. Merle returned, wearing a voluminous mock-fur coat, escorting Citizen Blue, who was in his usual blue cloak. She turned to close and secure the door behind them. “There—now we are secure,” she said. “This is the only chamber where I am assured that no monitors are active; no one can eavesdrop on us here except my flock of chickens, and they really do not pass judgments.”

Blue ignored the hens. “Merle, thou didst say thou hadst something important for me.”

“Indeed I do,” she said. “You may remember our tryst of some years back. I have a hunger for something similar.”

He frowned. “I be married now.”

“To a machine.”

“Aye. But still married. Thou knowest how I feel about this matter. I have problems enough without—”

“I love it when you talk Phazish!”

Blue paused. “I revert to it unconsciously when under stress. I apologize. Now I assume you did not call me here to waste my time and yours. What do you really have on your mind?”

Merle opened her coat, then slid out of it. She was nude beneath, of course. “I just told you. Blue.”

“Impossible!” he snapped.

“By no means, my bantam lover. See, I have prepared.”

She drew the curtain, revealing the couch.

“What makes you think I would indulge you at this time?” he asked, openly irritated.

“Suppose I were to say that I had information you very much wanted, for a price?”

“The only information I want is—“ He paused. “You know—?”

“Where Troubot is. Yes, I believe I do, bantam. And I might even tell you. Would that information be worth the price?”

Now he hesitated. “I would have to ask my wife.”

“I shall be happy to query her for you, Blue. I am sure she will understand. She did before.”

He reconsidered. “That will not be necessary. Merle, are you saying you have this information, or are you teasing me?”

“I am doing both, dear boy. Join me on the couch, and in due course I will tell you.”

“Damn thee!” he swore. “To put such a price on such a need!”

Merle sighed. “Now I have made him angry, and that spoils the mood. Very well, I will postpone my satisfaction. I will give you Troubot, and you will be the judge of the nature and the timing of my reward. I believe that is more than fair; don’t you agree?”

“Damn thee!” he repeated.

Merle turned to face the hens. “As you can see, this is definitely Citizen Blue. Any lesser man would have taken my offering and damned with the price. Show yourself.” Troubot, as Heningway, stepped forward. He clucked to the others, and they joined him.

Citizen Blue stared. “The chickens?”

“A most effective ruse, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’m not sure I believe this! How could he be in six living parts?”

“Six parts yes, living no. That is pseudoflesh. Take him and verify him; you will discover him to be a single self willed robot.”

Blue began to believe. “I never thought to check for some thing like this, and neither did the Citizens. It just could be!
 
But I’m not sure I can distinguish one self-willed machine from another; this could be a plant by the Citizens.”

“That had occurred to me,” she said. “Therefore we must take the next step with suitable dispatch. We must bring in the one person who can identify Troubot without doubt.”

“That can only be Nepe! But she be captive o’ the enemy!”

“So we deal with the enemy. They have a similar interest, after all; what is to stop us from planting our own imitation, a machine designed to be a likely winner in a Game?”

“Mine honor!” he flared.

“But the Contrary Citizens hardly believe in honor. They will distrust yours, without reason, and mine, with reason.
 
They must be assured of Troubot’s identity too. So call them; they will bring her here.”

Citizen Blue considered, and nodded. “Thou be earning thy keep,” he said.

“I always do. I only regret that it requires such a situation to entice you to do what any other man would do without price.”

Now he laughed. “It were a good night, that one! Me thought the dawn would ne’er come!”

“I delayed it by retiming the lights.”

He stared at her, then shook his head. “Mind thee, my wife will have thy head for this!”

“Make the call; time is short.”

“Aye.” He opened the door and stepped out, while she picked up her coat and put it on. Then she sat in the couch and waited.

“You see, chickens, there is more than just coming for ward,” she said. “You have to be verified. This is the only way to do it. I do have your best interest at heart, and I trust you will do what needs to be done. If you fail to convince Nepe, all is lost. Make sure you appreciate that.” Troubot appreciated it. Merle was more of a person than he had credited. Again he understood that the intricacies of human logic and action went beyond his own capacities.
 
Later that afternoon a second party arrived: Merle, Blue, Citizen Translucent and Nepe. The contrast between the two men was sharp. Translucent was large and stout in his almost transparent robe, while Blue was so small in his blue robe as to seem childlike; Nepe looked more like his sister than his granddaughter. This was a parlay under truce between those who could be trusted; Translucent was the only one of the Contrary Citizens with a sufficient sense of honor.

Translucent and Blue sat on the couch, and Nepe sat on her grandfather’s lap and hugged him. She knew she would have to return to captivity with Translucent; this was her only chance to visit with the one who by appearances meant more to her than her father. Troubot knew that Blue had not expected issue from a man in the body of a robot with an alien creature, yet it had happened, and Blue had taken the child to his heart at the outset. He had also used her as a tool against the Contrary Citizens, but with her full consent. Nepe had told Troubot everything, needing a confidant in her iso lation, and in the process he had become more human than could otherwise have been the case.

“Now that we are private, here is the situation,” Merie said. “The Contrary Citizens have chosen the self-willed ro bot servitor identified as Troubot to represent Citizen Blue in the second contest of three, to decide who shall have ultimate power in the frame. But Troubot is in hiding, and Blue will have to default if Troubot is not found in time. Only one person can identify this machine, and that person is Nepe, who is his friend.” Merle looked at the child. “Nepe, do you understand that you must speak the truth and only the truth in this matter?”

“I do,” Nepe said.

Merle glanced at the two men. “Do each of you accept her veracity in this?”

Each man nodded.

Merle spoke to Nepe again. “Then I ask you, Nepe: do you see your friend Troubot here?”

“Here?” Nepe asked, startled. “I thought we were going to go find him!”

“We may be. Please answer the question.”

“But there’s no one here but—“ Her eyes fell on the hens, and went abruptly round. “Gosh! It is!” She jumped down and ran to the little flock. She plumped down on the ground and opened her arms, trying to hug all the hens at once.
 
“How clever of you, Troubot! You even had me fooled!”