49
It took only a few minutes before Baley found himself in the fourth Auroran establishment he had seen since his arrival on the planet a day and a half before: Fastolfe's, Gladia's, Vasilia's, and now Gremionis'.
Gremionis' establishment appeared smaller and drabber than the others, even though it showed, to Baley's unpracticed eye in Auroran matters, signs of recent construction. The distinctive mark of the Auroran establishment - the robotic niches were, however, present. On entering, Giskard and Daneel moved quickly into two that were empty and faced the room, unmoving and silent. Gremionis' robot, Brundij, moved into a third niche almost as quickly.
There was no sign of any difficulty in making their choices or of any tendency for any one niche to be the target of two robots, however briefly. Baley wondered how the robots avoided conflict and decided there must be signal communication among them of a kind that was subliminal to human beings. It was something (provided he remembered to do so) concerning which he might consult Daneel.
Gremionis was studying the niches also, Baley noticed.
Gremionis' hand had gone to his upper lip and, for a moment, his forefinger stroked the small mustache. He said, a bit uncertainly, "Your robot, the human looking one, doesn't seem right in the niche. That's Daneel Olivaw, isn't it? Dr. Fastolfe's robot?"
"Yes," said Baley. "He was in the hyperwave drama, too. Or at least an actor was - one who better fit the part."
"Yes, I remember."
Baley noted that Gremionis - like Vasilia and even like Gladia and Fastolfe - kept a certain distance. There seemed to be a repulsion field - unseen, unfelt, unsensed in any way around Baley that kept these Spacers from approaching too closely, that sent them into a gentle curve of avoidance when they passed him.
Baley wondered if Gremionis was aware of this or if it was entirely automatic. And what did they do with the chairs he sat in while in their establishments, the dishes he ate from, the towels he used? Would ordinary washing suffice? Were there special sterilizing procedures? Would they discard and replace everything? Would the establishments be fumigated once he left the planet - or every night? What about the Community Personal he used? Would they tear it down and rebuild it? What about the woman who had ignorantly entered it after he had left? Or could she possibly have been the fumigator?
He realized he was getting silly.
To outer space with it. What the Aurorans did and how they dealt with their problems was their affair and he would bother his head no more with them. Jehoshaphat! He had his own problems and, right now, the particular splinter of it was Gremionis - and he would tackle that after lunch.
Lunch was rather simple, largely vegetarian, but for the first time he had a little trouble. Each separate item was too sharply defined in taste. The carrots tasted rather strongly of carrots and the peas of peas, so to speak.
A little too much so, perhaps.
He ate rather reluctantly and tried not to show a slightly rising gorge.
And, as he did so, he became aware that he grew used to it - as though his taste buds saturated and could handle the excess more easily. It dawned on Baley, in a rather sad way, that if his exposure to Auroran food was to continue for any length of time, he would return to Earth missing that distinctiveness of flavor and resenting the flowing together of Earth tastes.
Even the crispness of various items - which had startled him at first, as each closing of his teeth seemed to create a noise that surely (he thought) must interfere with conversation - had already grown to seem exciting evidence that he was, in fact, eating. There would be a silence about an Earth meal that would leave him missing something.
He began to eat with attention, to study the tastes. Perhaps, when Earthpeople established themselves on other worlds, this Spacer-fashion food would be the mark of the new diet, especially if there were no robots to prepare and serve the meals.
And then he thought uncomfortably, not when but if Earthpeople established themselves on other worlds - and the ifness of it all depended on him, on Plainclothesman Elijah Baley. The burden of it weighed him down.
The meal was over. A pair of robots brought in the heated, moistened napkins with which one could clean one's hands. Except that they weren't ordinary napkins, for when Baley put his down on the plate, it seemed to move slightly, thin out, and grow cobwebby. Then, quite suddenly, it leaped up insubstantially and was carried into an outlet in the ceiling. Baley jumped slightly and his eyes moved upward, following the disappearing item open-mouthed.
Gremionis said, "That's something new I just picked up. Disposable, you see, but I don't know if I like it yet. Some people say it will clog the disposal vent after a while and others worry about pollution because they say some of it will surely get in your lungs. The manufacturer says not, but - "
Baley realized suddenly that he had said not a word during the meal and that this was the first time either of them had spoken since the short exchange on Daneel before the meal had been served. - And there was no use in small talk about napkins.
Baley said, rather gruffly, "Are you a barber, Mr. Gremionis?"
Gremionis flushed, his light skin, reddening to the hairline. He said in a choked voice, "Who told you that?"
Baley said, "If that is an impolite way of referring to your profession, I apologize. It is a common way of speaking on Earth and is no insult there."
Gremionis said, "I am a hair designer and a clothing designer. It is a recognized branch of art. I am, in fact, a personnel artist." His finger went to his mustache again.
Baley said gravely, "I notice your mustache. Is it common to grow them on Aurora?"
"No, it is not. I hope it will become so. You take your masculine face - A great many of them can be strengthened and improved by the artful design of facial hair. Everything is in the design - that's part of my profession. You can go too far, of course. On the world of Pallas, facial hair is common, but it is the practice there to indulge in parti-colored dying. Each individual hair is separately dyed to produce some sort of mixture. - Now, that's foolish. It doesn't last, the colors change with time, and it looks terrible. But even so, it's better than facial baldness in some ways. Nothing is less attractive than a facial desert. - That's my own phrase. I use it in my personal talks with potential clients and it's very effective. Females can get by with no facial hair because they make up for it in other ways. On the world of Smitheus - "
There was a hypnotic quality to his quiet, rapid words and his earnest expression, the way in which his eyes widened and remained fixed on Baley with an intense sincerity. Baley had to shake loose with ah almost physical force.
He said, "Are you a roboticist, Mr. Gremionis?"
Gremionis looked startled and a little confused at being interrupted in midflow. "A roboticist?"
"Yes. A roboticist."
"No, not at all. I use robots as everyone does, but I don't know what's inside them. - Don't care really."
"But you live here on the grounds of the Robotics Institute. How is that?"
"Why shouldn't I?" Gremionis' voice was measurably more hostile.
"If you're not a roboticist - "
Gremionis grimaced. "That's stupid! The Institute, when it was designed some years ago, was intended to be a self-contained community. We have our own transport vehicle repair shops, our own personal robot maintenance shops, our own physicians, our own structuralists. Our personnel live here and, if they have use for a personnel artist, that's Sandrix Gremionis and I live here, too. - Is there something wrong with my profession that I should not?"
"I haven't said that."
Gremionis turned away with a residual petulance that Baley's hasty disclaimer had not allayed. He pressed a button, then, after studying a varicolored rectangular strip, did something that was remarkably like drumming his fingers briefly.
A sphere dropped gently from the ceiling and remained suspended a meter or so above their heads. It opened as though it were an orange that was unsegmenting and a play of colors began within it, together with a soft wash of sound. The two melted together so skillfully that Baley, watching with astonishment, discovered that, after a short while, it was hard to distinguish one from the other.
The windows opacified and the segments grew brighter.
"Too bright?" asked Gremionis.
"No," said Baley, after some hesitation.
"It's meant for background and I've picked a soothing combination that will make it easier for us to talk in a civilized way, you know." Then he said briskly, "Shall we get to the point?"
Baley withdrew his attention from the - whatever it was (Gremionis had not given it a name) - with some difficulty and said, "If you please. I would like to."
"Have you been accusing me of having anything to do with the immobilization of that robot Jander?"
"I've been inquiring into the circumstances of the robot's ending."
"But you've mentioned me in connection with that ending. - In fact, just, a little while ago, you asked me if I were a roboticist. I know what you had in mind. You were trying to get me to admit I knew something about robotics, so that you could build up a case against me as the - as the - ender of the robot."
"You might say the killer."
"The killer? You can't kill a robot. - In any case, I didn't end it, or kill it, or anything you want to call it. I told you, I'm not a roboticist. I know nothing about robotics. How can you even think that - "
"I must investigate all connections, Mr. Gremionis. Jander belonged to Gladia - the Solarian woman - and you were friendly with her. That's a connection."
"There could be any number of people friendly with her. That's no connection."
"Are you willing to state that you never saw Jander in all the times you may have been in Gladia's establishment?"
"Never! Not once!"
"You never knew she had a humaniform robot?"
"No!"
"She never mentioned him."
"She had robots all over the place. All ordinary robots. She said nothing about having anything else."
Baley shrugged. "Very well. I have no reason - so far - to suppose that that is not the truth."
"Then say so to Gladia. That is why I wanted to see you. To ask you to do that. To insist."
"Has Gladia any reason to think otherwise?"
"Of course. You poisoned her mind. You questioned her about me in that connection and she assumed - she was made uncertain - The fact is, she called this morning and asked me if I had anything to do with it. I told you that."
"And you denied it?"
"Of course I denied it and very strenuously, too, because I didn't have anything to do with it. But it's not convincing if I do the denying. I want you to do it. I want you to tell her that, in your opinion, I had nothing to do with the whole business. You just said I didn't and you can't, without any evidence at all, destroy my reputation. I can report you."
"To whom?"
"To the Committee on Personal Defense. To the Legislature. The head of this Institute is a close personal friend of the Chairman himself and I've already sent a full report to him on this matter. I'm not waiting, you understand. I'm taking action."
Gremionis shook his head with an attitude that might have been intended for fierceness but that did not entirely carry conviction, considering the mildness of his face. "Look," he said, "this isn't Earth. We are protected here. Your planet, with its overpopulation, makes your people exist in so many beehives, so many anthills. You push against each other, suffocate each other - and it doesn't matter. One life or a million lives - it doesn't matter."
Baley, fighting to keep contempt from showing in his voice, said, "You've been reading historical novels."
"Of course I have - and they describe it as it is. You can't have billions of people on a single world without its being so. - On Aurora, we are each a valuable life. We are protected physically, each of us, by our robots, so that there is, never an assault, let alone murder, on Aurora."
"Except for Jander."
"That's not murder; it's only a robot. And we are protected from the kinds of harm more subtle than assault by our Legislature. The Committee on Personal Defense takes a dim view - a very dim view - of any action that unfairly damages the reputation or the social status of any individual citizen. An Auroran, acting as you did, would be in trouble enough. As for an Earthman - well - "
Baley said, "I am carrying on an investigation at the invitation, I presume, of the Legislature. I don't suppose Dr. Fastolfe could have brought me here without Legislative permission."
"Maybe so, but that wouldn't give you the right to overstep the limits of fair investigation."
"Are you going to put this up to the Legislature, then?"
"I'm going to have the Institute head - "
"What is his name, by the way?"
"Kelden Amadiro. I'm going to ask him to put it up to the Legislature - and he's in the Legislature, you know - he's one of the leaders of the Globalist party. So I think you had better make it plain to Gladia that I am completely innocent."
"I would like to, Mr. Gremionis, because I suspect that you are innocent, but how can I change suspicion to certainty, unless you will allow me to ask you some questions?"
Gremionis hesitated. Then, with an air of defiance, he leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his neck, the picture of a man utterly failing to appear at ease. He said, "Ask away. I have nothing to hide. And after you're done, you'll have to call Gladia, right on that trimensional transmitter behind you and say your piece - or you will be in more trouble than you can imagine."
"I understand. But first - How long have you known Dr. Vasilia Fastolfe, Mr. Gremionis? Or Dr. Vasilia Aliena, if you know her by that name?"
Gremionis hesitated, then said in a tense voice, "Why do you ask that? What does that have to do with it?"
Baley sighed and his dour face seemed to sadden further.
"I remind you, Mr. Gremionis, that you have nothing to hide and that you want to convince me of your innocence, so that I can convince Gladia of the same. Just tell me how long you have known her. If you have not known her, just say so - but before you do, it is only fair to tell you that Dr. Vasilia has stated that you knew her well - well enough, at least, to offer yourself to her."
Gremionis looked chagrined. He said in a shaky voice, "I don't know why people have to make a big thing out of it. An offer is a perfectly natural social interaction that concerns no one else. - Of course, you're an Earthman, so you'd make a fuss about it."
"I understand she didn't accept your offer."
Gremionis brought - his hands down upon his lap, fists clenched. "Accepting or rejecting is entirely up to her. There've been people who've offered themselves to me and whom I've rejected. It's no large matter.
"Well, then. How long have you known her?"
"For some years. About fifteen."
"Did you know her when she was still living with Dr. Fastolfe?"
"I was just a boy then," he said, flushing.
"How did you get to know her?"
"When I finished my training as a personnel artist, I was called in to design a wardrobe for her. It gave her pleasure and after that she used my services - in that respect - exclusively."
"Was it on her recommendation, then, that you received your present position as - might we say - official personnel artist for the members of the Robotics Institute?"
"She recognized my qualifications. I was tested, along with others, and won the position on my merits."
"But she did recommend you?"
Briefly and with annoyance, Gremionis said, "Yes."
"And you felt the only decent return you could make was to offer yourself to her."
Gremionis grimaced and drew his tongue across his lips, as though tasting something unpleasant. "That is disgusting! I suppose an Earthman would think in such a way offer meant only that it pleased me to do so."
"Because she is attractive and has a warm personality?" Gremionis hesitated.
"Well, I wouldn't say she has a warm personality," he said cautiously, "but certainly she's attractive."
"I've been told that you - offer yourself to everybody - without distinction.
"That is a lie."
"What is a lie? That you offer yourself to everybody or that I have been told so?"
"That I offer myself to everybody. Who said that?"
"I don't know that it would serve any purpose to answer that question. Would you expect me to quote you as a source of embarrassing information? Would you speak freely to me if you thought I would?"
"Well, whoever said it is a liar."
"Perhaps it was merely dramatic exaggeration. Had you offered yourself to others before you offered yourself to Dr. Vasilia?"
Gremionis looked away. "Once or twice. Never seriously."
"But Dr. Vasilia was someone you were serious about?"
"Well - "
"It is my understanding you offered yourself to her repeatedly, which is quite against Auroran custom."
"Oh, Auroran custom - " Gremionis began furiously. Then he pressed his lips together firmly and his forehead furrowed. "See here, Mr. Baley, can I speak to you confidentially?"
"Yes. All my questions are intended to satisfy myself that you had nothing to do with Jander's death. Once I am satisfied of that, you may be sure I'll keep your remarks in confidence."
"Very well, then. It's nothing wrong - it's nothing I'm ashamed of, you understand. It's just that I have a strong sense of privacy and I have a right to that if I wish, don't I?"
"Absolutely," said Baley consolingly.
"You see, I feel that social sex is best when there is a profound love and affection between partners."
"I imagine that's very true."
"And then there's no need for others, wouldn't you say?"
"It sounds - plausible."
"I've always dreamed of finding the perfect partner and never seeking anyone else. They call it monogamy. It doesn't exist on Aurora, but on some worlds it does - and they have it on Earth don't they, Mr. Baley?"
"In theory, Mr. Gremionis."
"It's what I want. I've looked for it for years. When I experimented with sex sometimes, I could tell something was missing. Then I met Dr. Vasilia and she told me - well, people get confidential with their personnel artists because it's very personal work and this is the really confidential part - "
"Well, go on."
Gremionis licked his lips. "If what I say now gets out, I'm ruined. She'll do her best to see to it that I get no further commissions. Are you sure this has something to do with the case?"
"I assure you with as much force as I can, Mr. Gremionis, that this can be totally important."
"Well, then" - Gremionis did not look quite convinced - "the fact is, that I gathered from what Dr. Vasilia told me, in bits and pieces, that she is" - his voice dropped to a whisper - "a virgin."
"I see," said Baley quietly (remembering Vasilia's certainty that her father's refusal had distorted her life and getting a firmer understanding of her hatred of her father).
"That excited me. It seemed to me I could have her all to myself and I would be the only one that she would ever have. I can't explain how much that meant to me. It made her look gloriously beautiful in my eyes and I just wanted her so much."
"So you offered yourself to her?"
"Yes."
"Repeatedly. You weren't discouraged by her refusals?"
"It just reinforced her virginity, so to speak and made me more eager. It was more exciting that it wasn't easy. I can't explain and I don't expect you to understand."
"Actually, Mr. Gremionis, I do understand. - But there came a time when you stopped offering yourself to Dr. Vasilia?"
"Well, yes."
"And began offering yourself to Gladia."
"Well, yes."
"Repeatedly?"
"Well, yes."
"Why? Why the change?"
Gremionis said, "Dr. Vasilia finally made it clear that there was no chance and then Gladia came along and she looked like Dr. Vasilia and - and - that was it."
Baley said, "But Gladia is no virgin. She was married on Solaria and she experimented rather widely on Aurora, I am told."
"I knew about that, but she - stopped. You see, she's a Solarian by birth, not an Auroran, and she didn't quite understand Auroran customs. But she stopped because she doesn't like, what she calls 'promiscuity'."
"Did she tell you that?"
"Yeh. Monogamy is the custom on Solaria. She wasn't happily married, but it is still the custom she's used to, so she never enjoyed the Auroran way when she tried it - and monogamy is what I want, too. Do you see?"
"I see. But how did you meet her in the first place?"
"I just met her. She was on the hyperwave when she arrived in Aurora, a romantic refugee from Solaria. And she played a part in that hyperwave drama - "
"Yes yes, but there was something else, wasn't there?"
"I don't know what else you want."
"Well, let me guess. Didn't there come a point when Dr. Vasilia said she was rejecting you forever - and didn't she suggest an alternative to you?"
Gremionis, in sudden fury, shouted, "Did Dr. Vasilia tell you that?"
"Not in so many words, but I think I know what happened, even so. Did she not tell you that it might be advantageous if you looked up a new rival on the planet, a young lady from Solaria who was a ward or protegee of Dr. Fastolfe - who you know is Dr. Vasilia's father? Did Dr. Vasilia perhaps not tell you that people thought this young lady, Gladia, rather resembled herself, but that she was younger and had a warmer personality? Did Dr. Vasilia not, in short, encourage you to transfer your attentions from herself to Gladia?"
Gremionis was visibly suffering. His eyes flicked to those of Baley and away again. It was the first time that Baley saw in the eyes of any Spacer a look of fright - or was it awe? (Baley shook his head slightly. He must not take too much satisfaction at having overawed a Spacer. It could damage his objectivity.)
He said, "Well? Am I right or wrong?"
And Gremionis said in a low voice. "That hyperwave show was no exaggeration, then. - Do you read minds?"
50
Baley said calmly, "I just ask questions. - And you haven't answered directly. Am I right or wrong?"
Gremionis said, "It didn't quite happen like that. Not just like that. She did talk about Gladia, but - " He bit at his lower lip and then said, "Well, it amounted to what you said. It was just about the way you described it."
"And you were not disappointed? You found that Gladia did resemble Dr. Vasilia?"
"In a way, she did." Gremionis' eyes brightened. "But not really. Stand them side by side and you'll see the difference. Gladia has much greater delicacy and grace. A greater spirit of - of fun."
"Have you offered yourself to Vasilia since you met Gladia?"
"Are you mad? Of course not."
"But you have offered yourself to Gladia?"
"Yes."
"And she rejected you?"
"Well, yes, but you have to understand that she has to be sure, as I would have to be. Think what a mistake I would have made if I had moved Dr. Vasilia to accept me. Gladia doesn't want to make that mistake and I don't blame her."
"But you don't think it would be a mistake for her to accept you, so you have offered yourself again - and again and again."
Gremionis stared vacantly, at Baley for a moment and then seemed to shudder. He thrust out his lower lip, as though he were a rebellious child. "You say it in an insulting way - "
"I'm sorry. I don't mean it to be insulting. Please answer the question."
"Well, I have."
"How many times have you offered yourself?"
"I haven't counted. Four times. Well, five. Or maybe more."
"And she has always rejected you."
"Yes. Or I wouldn't have to offer again, would I?"
"Did she reject you angrily?"
"Oh no. That's not Gladia. Very kindly."
"Has it made you offer yourself to anyone else?"
"What?"
"Well, Gladia has rejected you. One way of responding would be to offer yourself to someone else. Why not? If Gladia doesn't want you - "
"No. I don't want anyone else."
"Why is that, do you suppose?"
And, strenuously, Gremionis said, "How should I know why that is? I want Gladia. It's a - it's a kind of madness, except that I think it's the best kind of insanity. I'd be mad not to have that kind of madness. - I don't expect you to understand."
"Have you tried to explain this to Gladia? She might understand."
"Never. I'd distress her. I'd embarrass her. You don't talk about such things. I should see a mentologist."
"Have you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Gremionis frowned. "You have a way of asking the rudest questions, Earthman."
"Perhaps because I'm an Earthman. I know no better. But I'm also an investigator and I must know these things. Why have you not seen a mentologist?"
Surprisingly, Gremionis laughed. "I told you. The cure would be greater madness than the disease. I would rather be with Gladia and be rejected than be with anyone else and be accepted. - Imagine having your mind out of whack and wanting it to stay out of whack. Any mentologist would put me in for major treatment."
Baley thought awhile, then said, "Do you know whether Dr. Vasilia is a mentologist in any way?"
"She's a roboticist. They say that's the closest thing to it. If you know how a robot works, you've got a hint as to how a human brain works. Or so they say."
"Does it occur to you that Vasilia knows these strange feelings you have in connection with Gladia?"
Gremionis stiffened. "I've never told her. - I mean in so many words."
"Isn't it possible that she understands your feelings without having to ask? Is she aware that you have repeatedly offered yourself to Gladia?"
"Well - She would ask how I was getting along - In the way of long-standing acquaintanceship, you know. I would say certain things. Nothing intimate."
"Are you sure that it was never anything intimate? Surely she encouraged you to continue to offer."
"You know - now that you mention it, I seem to see it all in a new way. I don't see quite how you managed to put it into my head. It's the questions you ask, I, suppose, but it seems to me now that she did continue to encourage my friendship with Gladia. She actively supported it." He looked very uneasy. "This never occurred to me before. I never really thought about it."
"Why do you think she encouraged you to make repeated offers to Gladia?"
Gremionis twitched his eyebrows niefully and his finger went to his mustache. "I suppose some might guess she was trying to get rid of me. Trying to make sure I wouldn't want to bother her." He made a small laughing sound. "That's not very complimentary to me, is it?"
"Did Dr. Vasilia cease being friendly with you?"
"Not at all. She was more friendly - if anything."
"Did she try to tell you how to be more successful with Gladia? To show a greater interest in Gladia's work, for example?"
"She didn't have to do that. Gladia's work and mine are very similar. I work with human beings and she with robots, but we're both designers - artists - That does make for closeness, you know. We even help each other at times. When I'm not offering and being neglected, we're good friends. - That's a lot, when you come to think of it."
"Did Dr. Vasilia suggest you show a greater interest in Dr. Fastolfe's work?"
"Why should she suggest that? I don't know anything about Dr. Fastolfe's work."
"Gladia might be interested in her benefactor's work and it might be a way for you to ingratiate yourself with her."
Gremionis' eyes narrowed. He rose with almost explosive force, walked to the other end of the room, came back, stood in front of Baley, and said, "Now - you - look - here! I'm not the biggest brain on the planet, not even the second-biggest, but I'm not a blithering idiot. I see what you're getting at, you know."
"Oh?"
"All your questions have served to sort of wriggle me into saying that, Dr. Vasilia got me to fall in love - That's it" - He stopped in sudden surprise - "I'm in love, like in the historical novels." He thought about that with the light of wonder in his eyes. Then the anger returned. "That she got me to fall in love and to stay in love, so that I could find out things from Dr. Fastolfe and learn how to immobilize that robot, Jander."
"You don't think that's so?"
"No, it's not!" shouted Gremionis. "I don't know anything about robotics. Anything. No matter how carefully anything about robotics were explained to me, I wouldn't understand it. And I don't think Gladia would either. Besides, I never asked anyone about robotics. I was never told - by Dr. Fastolfe or anyone - anything about robotics. No one ever suggested I get involved with robotics. Dr. Vasilia never suggested it. Your whole rotten theory doesn't work." He shot his arms out to either side. "It doesn't work. Forget it."
He sat back, folded his arms rigidly across his chest, and forced his lips together in a thin line, making his small mustache bristle.
Baley looked up at the unsegmented orange, which was still humming its low, pleasantly varying tune and displaying a gentle change of color as it swayed hypnotically through a small, slow arc.
If Gremionis' outburst had upset his line of attack, he showed no sign of it. He said, "I understand what you're saying, but it's still true that you see much of Gladia, isn't it?"
"Yes, I do."
"Your repeated offers do not offend her - and her repeated rejections do not offend you?"
Gremionis shrugged. "My offers are polite. Her refusals are gentle. Why should we be offended?"
"But how do you spend time together? Sex is out, obviously, and you don't talk robotics. What do you do?"
"Is that all there is to companionship - sex and robotics? We do a great deal together. We talk, for one thing. She is very curious about Aurora and I spend hours describing the planet. She's seen very little of it, you know. And she spends hours telling me about Solaria and what a hellhole it is. I'd rather live on Earth - no offense intended. And there's her dead husband. What a miserable character he was. Gladia's had a hard life, poor woman.
"We go to concerts, I took her to the Art Institute a few times, and we work together. I told you that. We go over my designs - or her designs - together. To be perfectly honest, I don't see that working on robots is very rewarding, but we all have our own notions, you know. For that matter, she seemed to be amused when I explained why it was so important to cut hair correctly - her own hair isn't quite right, you know. But mostly, we go for walks."
"Walks? Where?"
"Nowhere particularly. Just walks. That is her habit - because of the way she was brought up on Solaria. Have you ever been on Solaria? - Yes, you have been, of course. I'm sorry. - On Solaria, there are these huge estates with only one or two human beings on them, just robots otherwise. You can walk for miles and be completely alone and Gladia says that it makes you feel as though you owned the entire planet. The robots are always there, of course, keeping an eye on you and taking care of you, but, of course, they keep out of sight. Gladia misses that feeling of world ownership here on Aurora."
"Do you mean that she wants world ownership?"
"You mean a kind of lust for power? Gladia? That's crazy. All she means is that she misses the feeling of being alone with nature. I don't see it myself, you understand, but I like humoring her. Of course, you can't quite get the Solarian feeling in Aurora. There are bound to be people about, especially in the Eos metropolitan area, and robots haven't been programmed to keep out of sight. In fact, Aurorans generally walk with robots. - Still, I know some routes that are pleasant and not very crowded and Gladia enjoys them."
"Do you enjoy them, too?"
"Well, only because I would be with Gladia. Aurorans are walkers, too, by and large, but I must admit I'm not. I had protesting muscles at first and Vasilia laughed at me."
"She knew you went on walks did she?"
"Well, I came in limping one day and creaking at the thighs, so I had to explain. She laughed and said it was a good idea and the best way to get a walker to accept an offer was to walk with them. 'Keep it up,' she said, 'and she'll cancel her rejection before you get a chance to offer again. She'll make the offer herself.' As it happened, Gladia didn't, but eventually I grew to like the walks very much, just the same."
He seemed to have gotten over his flash of anger and was now very much at his ease. He might have been thinking of the walks, Baley thought, for there was a half-smile on his face. He looked rather likable - and vulnerable - with his mind back on who-knew-what conversational passage on a walk that had taken them who-knew-where. Baley almost smiled in response.
"Vasilia knew, then, that you continued the walks."
"I suppose so. I began to take Wednesdays and Saturdays off because that fit in with Gladia's schedule choice - and Vasilia would sometimes joke about my 'WS walks' when I brought in some sketches."
"Did Dr. Vasilia ever join the walks?"
"Certainly not."
Baley shifted in his seat and stared intently at his fingertips as he said, "I presume you had robots accompanying you on your walks."
"Absolutely. One of mine, one of hers. They kept rather out of the way, though. They didn't tag along in what Gladia called Aurora fashion. She wanted Solarian solitude, she said. So I obliged, though at first I got a crick in my neck looking around to see if Brundij was with me."
"And which robot accompanied Gladia?"
"It wasn't always the same one. Whichever he was, he held off, too. I didn't get to talk to him."
"What about Jander?"
Some of the sunniness left Gremionis' expression at once.
"What about him?" he asked.
"Did he ever come along? If he did, you would know, wouldn't you?"
"A humaniform robot? I certainly would. And he did not accompany us - not ever."
"Are you certain?"
"Completely certain." Gremionis scowled. "I imagine she thought him far too valuable to waste on duties any ordinary robot could perform."
"You seem annoyed. Did you think so, too?"
"He was her robot. I didn't worry about it."
"And you never saw him when you were at Gladia's establishment?"
"Never.
"Did she ever say anything about him? Discuss him?"
"Not that I recall."
"Didn't you consider that strange?"
Gremionis shook his head. "No. Why talk about robots?"
Baley's, somber eyes fixed on the other's face. "Did you have any idea of the relationship between Gladia and Jander?"
Gremionis said, "Are you going to tell me that there was sex between them?"
Baley said, "Would you be surprised if I did?"
Gremionis said stolidly, "It happens. It's not unusual. You can use a robot sometimes, if you feel like it. And a humaniform robot - completely humaniform, I believe - "
"Completely," said Baley with an appropriate gesture.
Gremionis' lips curved downward. "Well, then, it would be hard for a woman to resist."
"She resisted you. Doesn't it bother you that Gladia would prefer a robot to you?"
"Well, if it comes to that, I'm not sure that I believe this is true - but if it is, it's nothing to worry about. A robot is just a robot. A woman and a robot - or a man and a robot - it's just masturbation."
"You honestly never knew of the relationship, Mr. Gremionis? You never suspected?"
"I never gave it any thought," insisted Gremionis.
"Didn't know? Or did know, but paid it no mind?"
Gremionis scowled. "You're pushing again. What do you want me to say? Now that you put it into my head and push, it seems to me, if I look back, that maybe I was wondering about something like that. Just the same, I never felt anything was happening before you started asking questions."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Don't badger me."
"I'm not badgering you. I'm just wondering if it were possible that you did know that Gladia was regularly engaging in sex with Jander, that you knew that you would never be accepted as her lover as long as that was so, that you wanted her, so much that you would stop at nothing to eliminate Jander, that, in short, you were so jealous that you - "
And at that moment, Gremionis - as though some tightly coiled spring, held back with difficulty for some minutes, had suddenly twitched loose - hurled himself at Baley with a loud and incoherent cry. Baley, taken completely by surprise, pushed backward instinctively and his chair went over.
51
There were strong arms upon him at once. Baley felt himself lifted, the chair righted, and was aware that he was in the grip of a robot. How easy it was to forget they were in the room when they stood silent and motionless in their niches.
It was neither Daneel nor Giskard who had come to his rescue, however. It was Gremionis' robot, Brundij.
"Sir," said Brundij, his voice just a bit unnatural, "I hope you are not hurt."
Where were Daneel and Giskard?
The question answered itself at once. The robots had divided the labor neatly and quickly. Daneel and Giskard, estimating instantly that an overturned chair offered less chance of harm to Baley than a maddened Gremionis, had launched themselves at the host. Brundij, seeing at once that he was not needed in that direction, saw to the welfare of the guest.
Gremionis - still standing, his breath heaving - was completely immobilized in the careful double-grasp of Baley's robots.
Gremionis said, in very little above a whisper, "Release me. I am in control of myself."
"Yes, sir," said Giskard.
"Of course, Mr. Gremionis," said Daneel with what was almost suavity.
But although their arms released their hold, neither moved back for a period of time. Gremionis looked right and left, adjusted the smoothness of his clothing, and then, deliberately, sat down. His breathing was still rapid and his hair was - to a small extent, in disarray.
Baley now stood, one hand on the back of the chair on which he had been sitting.
Gremionis said, "I am sorry, Mr. Baley, for losing control. It is something I have not done in my adult life. You accused me of being j-jealous. It is a word no respectable Auroran, use of another, but I should have remembered you are an Earthman. It is a word we encounter only in historical romances and even then the word is usually spelled with a followed by a dash. Of course, that is not so on your world."
"I understand that."
"I am sorry, too, Mr. Gremionis," said Baley gravely, "that my forgetfulness of Auroran custom led me astray in this instance. I assure you that such a lapse will not happen again." He seated himself and said, "I don't know that there is much more to discuss - "
Gremionis did not seem to be listening. "When I was a child," he said, "I would sometimes push against another, and be pushed, and it would be awhile before the robots would take the trouble to separate us, of course - "
Daneel said, "If I may explain, Partner Elijah. It has been well-established that total suppression of aggression in the very young has undesirable consequences. A certain amount of youthful play involving physical competition is permitted - even encouraged - provided no real hurt is involved. Robots in charge of the young are carefully programmed to be able to distinguish the chance's and level of harm that may take place. I, for instance, am not properly programmed in this respect and would not qualify as a guardian of the young except under emergency conditions for brief periods. - Nor would Giskard."
Baley said, "Such aggressive behavior is stopped during adolescence, I suppose."
"Gradually," said Daneel, "as the level of harm that maybe inflicted increases and as the desirability of self-control becomes more pronounced."
Gremionis said, "By the time I was ready for higher schooling, I, like all Aurorans, knew quite well that all competition rested on the comparison of mental capacity and talent - "
"No physical competition?" said Baley.
"Certainly, but only in fashions that do not involve deliberate physical contact with intent to injure."
"But since you've been an adolescent - "
"I've attacked no one. Of course I haven't. I've had the urge to do so on a number of occasions, to be sure. I suppose I wouldn't be entirely normal if I hadn't, but until this moment, I've been able to control it. But then, no one ever called me that before."
Baley said, "It would do no good to attack, in any case, if you are going to be stopped by robots, would it? I presume there is always a robot within reach on both sides of both the attacker and the attacked."
"Certainly. - All the more reason for me to be ashamed of having lost my self-control. I trust that this won't have to go into your report."
"I assure you I will tell no one of this. It has nothing to do with the case."
"Thank you. Did you say that the interview is over?"
"I think, it is."
"In that case, will you do as I have asked you to do?"
"What is that?"
"To tell Gladia I had nothing to do with Jander's immobilization."
Baley hesitated. "I will tell her that that is my opinion."
Gremionis said, "Please make it stronger than that. I want her to be absolutely certain that I had nothing to do with it; all the more so if she was fond of the robot from a sexual standpoint. I couldn't bear to have her think I was j-j - Being a Solarian, she might think that."
"Yes, she might," said Baley thoughtfully.
"But look," said Gremionis, speaking quickly and earnestly. "I don't know anything about robots and no one - Dr. Vasilia or anyone else - has told me anything about them - how they work, I mean. There is just no way in which I could have destroyed Jander."
Baley seemed, for a moment, to be deep in thought. Then he said, with clear reluctance, "I can't help but believe you. To be sure, I don't know everything. And it is possible - I say this without meaning offense - that either you or Dr. Vasilia both - are lying. I know surprisingly little about the intimate nature of Auroran society and I can perhaps be easily fooled. And yet, I can't help but believe you. Nevertheless, I can't do more than tell Gladia that, in my opinion, you are completely innocent. I must say 'in my opinion,' however. I am sure she will find that strong enough."
Gremionis said gloomily, "Then I will have to be satisfied with that - if it will help, though, I assure you, on the word of an Auroran citizen, that I am innocent."
Baley smiled slightly. "I wouldn't dream of doubting your word, but my training forces me to rely on objective evidence alone."
He stood up, stared solemnly at Gremionis for a moment, then said, "What I am about to say should not be taken amiss, Mr. Gremionis. I take it that you are interested in having me give Gladia this reassurance because you want to retain her friendship."
"I want that very much, Mr. Baley."
"And you intend, on some suitable occasion, to offer yourself again?"
Gremionis flushed, swallowed visibly, then said, "Yes, I do."
"May I then give you a word of advice, sir? Don't do it."
"You may keep your advice, if that's what you're going to tell me. I don't intend ever to give up."
"I mean do not go through the usual formal procedure. You might consider simply" - Baley looked away, feeling unaccountably embarrassed - "putting your arms around her and kissing her."
"No," said Gremionis earnestly. "Please. An Auroran woman would not endure that. Nor an Auroran man."
"Mr. Gremionis, won't you remember that Gladia is not Auroran? She is Solarian and has other customs, other traditions. I would try it if I were you."
Baley's level gaze masked a sudden internal fury. What was Gremionis to him that he should give such advice? Why tell another to do that - which he himself longed to do?