Robots and Empire

Daneel fell silent, but his lips trembled as though he were trying to talk despite the order.

Vasilia watched that manifestation with an amused smile on her lips. “You see, Daneel, you ca

And Daneel said in a hoarse whisper, “I can, madam, I find it difficult, but I can, for I find that something takes precedence over your order, which is governed by only the Second Law.”

Vasilia’s eyes opened wide and she said sharply, “Silence, I say. Nothing takes precedence over my order but the First Law and I have already shown that Giskard will do least harm—indeed, no harm at all—if he returns to me. He will do harm to me, to whom he is least capable of doing harm, if he follows any other course of action.” She pointed her finger at Daneel and said again with a soft hiss, “Silence!”

It was a clear effort for Daneel to make any sound at all. The small pump within him that manipulated the air current that produced the sound made a small, humming noise as it labored. Yet, though he spoke in an even lower whisper, he could still be heard.

He said, “Madam Vasilia, there is something that transcends even the First Law.”

Giskard said, in a voice equally low, but unforced, “Friend Daneel, you must not say that. Nothing transcends the First Law. “

Vasilia, frowning slightly, showed a spark of interest. “Indeed? Daneel, I warn you that if you attempt to progress further in this odd line of argument, you will surely destroy yourself. I have never seen or heard of a robot doing what you are doing and it would be fascinating to watch your self-destruction. Speak on.”

With the order given, Daneel’s voice returned immediately to normal. “I thank you, Madam Vasilia.—Years ago, I sat at the deathbed of an Earthman to whom you have asked me not to refer. May I now refer to him or do you know who it is that I speak of?”

“You speak of that policeman Baley,” said Vasilia tonelessly.

“Yes, madam. He said to me on his deathbed, ‘The work of each individual contributes to a totality, and so becomes an undying part of the totality. That totality of human lives—past and present and to come—forms a tapestry that has been in existence now for many tens of thousands of years and has been growing more elaborate and, on the whole, more beautiful in all that time. Even the Spacers are an offshoot of the tapestry and they, too, add to the elaborateness and beauty of the pattern. An individual life is one thread in the tapestry and what is one thread compared to the whole? Daneel, keep your mind fixed firmly on the tapestry and do not let the trailing off of a single thread affect you.’”

“Mawkish sentimentality,” murmured Vasilia.

Daneel said, “I believe Partner Elijah was attempting to protect me against the fact of his soon-to-come death. It was his own life he spoke of as but a thread in the tapestry, it was his own life that was ‘the trailing off of a single thread’ that was not to affect me. His words did protect me in that crisis.”

“No doubt,” said Vasilia, “but get to the point of transcending the First Law, for it is that which will now destroy you.”

Daneel said, “For decades I have brooded over Plainclothesman Elijah Baley’s statement and it is quite likely I would have understood it at once if the Three Laws had not stood in the way. I have been helped in my search by my friend Giskard, who has long felt the Three Laws to be incomplete. I have been helped also by points Lady Gladia made in a recent speech on a Settler world. What’s more, this present crisis, Lady Vasilia, has served to sharpen my thinking. I am certain, now, as to the ma

“A robot who is also a roboticist,” said Vasilia with a touch of contempt. “How are the Three Laws incomplete, robot?”

Daneel said, “The tapestry of life is more important than a single thread. Apply that not to Partner Elijah alone, but generalize it and—and—and we conclude that humanity as a whole is more important than a single human being.”

“You stumble as you say it, robot. You do not believe.”

Daneel said, “There is a law that is greater than the First Law. A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. I think of it now as the Zeroth Law of Robotics. The First Law should then be stated: ‘A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate the Zeroth Law of Robotics.”

Vasilia snorted. “And you still stand on your feet, robot?”

“I still stand on my feet, madam.”

“Then I will explain something to you, robot, and we will see if you can survive the explanation.—The Three Laws of Robotics involve individual human beings and individual robots. You can point to any individual human being or to an individual robot. But what is your ‘humanity” but an abstraction? Can you point to humanity? You can injure or fail to injure a specific human being and understand the injury or lack of injury that has taken place. Can you see an injury to humanity? Can you understand it? Can you point to it?”

Daneel was silent.

Vasilia smiled broadly. “Answer, robot. Can you see an injury to humanity and can you point to it?”

“No, madam, I ca

“Then ask Giskard as to whether he will—or can—obey your Zeroth Law of Robotics.”

Daneel’s head turned to Giskard. “Friend Giskard?”

Slowly Giskard said, “I ca

Daneel said, “But you know, friend Giskard, the fact that a danger to humanity now exists and that it will surely come to fruition if you become the property of Madam Vasilia. That, at least, is not an abstraction.”

Giskard said, “The danger to which you refer is not something known, but is merely inferred. We ca

Daneel paused, then said in a lower voice, “But you hope that your studies of human history will help you develop the Laws governing human behavior, that you will learn to predict and guide human history—or at lease make a begi

“Yes, friend Daneel, but it is thus far no more than a hope and I ca

To that, Daneel did not respond.

Vasilia said, “Well, robot, all your attempts have come to nothing and yet you stand on your feet. You are strangely stubborn and a robot such as yourself that can denounce the Three Laws and still remain functional is a clear danger to every and any individual human being. For that reason, I believe you should be dismantled without delay. The case is too dangerous to await the slow majesty of the law, especially since you are, after all, a robot and not the human being you attempt to resemble.”

Daneel said, “Surely, my lady, it is not fitting for you to reach such a decision on your own.”

“I have reached it nevertheless and if there are legal repercussions hereafter, I shall deal with them.”

“You will be depriving Lady Gladia of a second robot and one to which you make no claim.”