“I know, George. There are robots doing every conceivable type of work.”
“And none of them wear clothes.”
“But none of them are free, George.”
Little by little, Andrew added to his wardrobe. He was inhibited by George’s smile and by the stares of the people who commissioned work.
He might be free, but there was built into Andrew a carefully detailed program concerning. his behavior to people, and it was only by the tiniest steps that he dared advance; open disapproval would set him back months. Not everyone accepted Andrew as free. He was incapable of resenting that, and yet there was a difficulty about his thinking process when he thought of it. Most of all, he tended to avoid putting on clothes -or too many of them-when he thought Little Miss might come to visit him. She was older now and was often away in some warmer climate, but when she returned the first thing she did was visit him.
On one of her visits, George said, ruefully, “She’s got me, Andrew. I’ll be running for the legislature next year. `Like grandfather,’ she says, `like grandson.”‘
“Like grandfather . . .” Andrew stopped, uncertain.
“I mean that I, George, the grandson, will be like Sir, the grandfather, who was in the legislature once.”
“It would be pleasant, George, if Sir were still-” He paused, for he did not want to say, “in working order.” That seemed inappropriate.
“Alive;” George said. “Yes, I think of the old monster now and then, too.”
Andrew often thought about this conversation. He had noticed his own incapacity in speech when talking with George. Somehow the language had changed since Andrew had come into being with a built-in ‘: vocabulary. Then, too, George used a colloquial speech, as Sir and Little Miss had not. Why should he have called Sir a monster when surely that word was not a appropriate. Andrew could not even turn to his own -‘ books for guidance. They were old, and most dealt with woodworking, with art, with furniture design. .; There were none on language, none on the ways off; human beings.
Finally, it seemed to him that he must seek the proper books; and as a free robot, he felt he must not ask George. He would go to town and use the library. j It was a triumphant decision and he felt his electro potential grow distinctly higher until he had to throw in
an impedance coil. j
He put on a full costume, including even a shoulder chain of wood. He would have preferred the glitter plastic, but George had said that wood was much more appropriate. and that polished cedar was considerably more valuable as well.
He had placed a hundred feet between himself and the house before gathering resistance brought him to a halt. He shifted the impendance coil out of circuit, and when that did not seem to help enough he returned to his home and on a piece of notepaper wrote neatly, “I have gone to the library,” and placed it in clear view on his worktable.
10
Andrew never quite got to the library.
He had studied the map. He knew the route, but not the appearance of it. The actual landmarks did not resemble the symbols on the map and he would hesitate. Eventually, he thought he must have somehow gone wrong, for everything looked strange. He passed an occasional field-robot, but by-the time he decided he should ask his way none were ii; sight. A vehicle passed and did not stop. Andrew stood irresolute, which meant calmly motionless, for coming across the field toward him were two human beings. He turned to face them, and they altered their course to meet him. A moment before, they had been talking loudly. He had heard their voices. But now they were silent. They had the look that Andrew associated with human uncertainty; and they were young, but not very young. Twenty, perhaps? Andrew could never judge human age. “Would you describe to me the route to the town library, sirs?” One of them, the taller of the two, whose tall hat lengthened him still farther, almost grotesquely, said, not to Andrew, but to the other, “It’s a robot.” The other had a bulbous nose and heavy eyelids. He said, not to Andrew but to the first, “It’s wearing clothes.” The tall one snapped his fingers. “It’s the free robot. They have a robot at the old Martin place who isn’t owned by anybody. Why else would it be wearing clothes?” “Ask it,” said the one with the nose. “Are you the Martin robot?” asked the tall one. “I am Andrew Martin, sir,” Andrew said. “Good. Take off your clothes. Robots don’t wear clothes.” He said to the other, “That’s disgusting. Look at him!” Andrew hesitated. He hadn’t heard an order in that tone of voice in so long that his Second Law circuits had momentarily jammed. The tall one repeated, “Take off- your clothes. I order you.” Slowly, Andrew began to remove them. “Just drop them,” said the tall one. The nose said, “If it doesn’t belong to anyone, it could be ours as much as someone else’s.” “Anyway,” said the tall one, “who’s to object to