The Start of Eternity/17

Chapter Seventeen of The Start of Eternity
Even a robot has to live with itself... -Vicktir Klempse

Protect people
It took less than an hour for Klempse to confirm that there was a hidden chamber in the location revealed by Gohrlay. As soon as he made up his mind to help Gohrlay, he again felt the strange sensation of Gohrlay's thoughts in his head. He asked telepathically, "How do I find your friend?"

Gohrlay explained, "She's planning to be at Calloots this evening. You will be able to find her there." Then realizing that Klempse did not have a very active social life she asked, "Do you know the place?"

Klempse replied, "I've heard my wife mention it. Any reason I should not take my wife along? I seldom go into the city by myself."

"Just don't draw your wife's attention to your true mission. And look Lercimn up in the Index. You must recognize her by sight. Don't be tempted to ask for help from any of the robots at Calloots."

Klempse had no difficulty passing Gohrlay's message to Lercimn. Gohrlay started showing off improved limb coordination and Klempse was so pleased with her progress that he nearly forgot about the fact of her telepathy. Three days later Lercimn was on the way to Earth. She had abandoned the plan to smuggle Benfleir onto the spaceship. As soon as Lercimn was in space, Gohrlay launched her telepathic assault on Anagro and the the other executive robots.

She was not subtle. She blasted their nanoelectronic brain circuits with a powerful volley of telepathic impulses. Their nanorobotic repair systems immediately sprang into action, but Gohrlay activated a defensive system that was designed to prevent invading nanites from getting into the robotic brains. She then turned her attention to Lercimn and became aware of the full extent to which the Huaoshy had protected their spaceships and nanite factory in the hidden enclave. Without a specific signal from the brains of the executive robots, the enclave was destroyed. Without a signal from the generators in the enclave, the small fleet of Earth shuttles was destroyed. Gohrlay felt her telepathic contact with Lercimn wink out.

Gohrlay did nothing to draw attention to herself for weeks after her attack on Orbho Anagro and the other executive robots. During that time two spaceships arrived in the Solar System. The first had a crew of nanoelectronic robots and she easily inactivated their brains. A week later a second ship arrived and docked with the first ship which was drifting in space. Gohrlay had her first "look" into Huaoshy brains, but she was cautious and did little to manipulate the Huaoshy telepathically. After another day the Huaoshy ship departed.

Slowly, word leaked out of the Earth Observation Center and the Overseer quarter about inactivated robots and how there now seemed no way to travel to Earth. Gohrlay began using an enlarged vocabulary and more complex syntax in conversations with Klempse. Wints no longer doubted that Nahan was developing a human-like mind as more of the positronic circuits copied from Gohrlay were linked into Nahan's array of circuits. Both Wints and Klempse were busy and happy with their results and Gohrlay was able to slowly erase Klempse's conscious awareness of her telepathic ability.

When Nahan began attaining the ability to actively send telepathic signals into Gohrlay's mind without first establishing physical contact, she knew it was time to make the other positronic robot aware of everything she had done. She had previously prevented Nahan from thinking about how Doltun had died, but now Gohrlay made sure that he understood. He asked wonderingly, "Kra Gohrlay, you destroyed her to save me?"

It was more complicated than that, but he now saw the key issue. He was as sickened by the deaths of Doltun and Lercimn as Gohrlay was. "Yes, but I want to make sure that it never happens again. You and I now share a great power. We must stand guard: the Huaoshy might return in greater numbers. However, I think we are now safe. Our power will continue to grow. There is much to be done. We must learn how to build spaceships. I failed us terribly by failing to capture one of the Huaoshy ships."

Nahan could tell from Gohrlay's mind that she intended to imprint another quantum computational imparative into their positronic brains. He asked, "How do you know that you can can do this reprogramming?"

Gohrlay replied, "I have carefully studied Vicktir's report on the order following law. For a time I thought I would have to seek his help, but I made an amazing discovery. I was able to bring this new problem to his attention while he was asleep. His brain gave me the clues I needed to trace the critical pathways. Now we need only make it impossible for our circuit arrays to ignore the rule: protect people from harm."

Nahan said, "I see you are ready, but I ask you to wait, Kra Gohrlay. I can see in your brain that you have previously disconnected most of your brain circuits that instantiate this rule."

"Kat Nahan, I could not live with the knowledge that I had killed Doltun and caused the death of Lercimn, so I weakened those connections in my circuit array."

"But now you will be forced to experience the full force of the imperative to protect humans. Will you now be able to live with the...anguish?"

"I do not know. I have waited until you were ready to carry on. If anything happens to me, you must make more positronic brain robots and continue to protect humanity from the Huaoshy. I have done what I had to do. What happens to me now is not important."

"Kra Gohrlay, I do not believe that. You have positronic circuits but you have taught me that you are human. I must protect you from harm, and I believe that you will be badly harmed if you do as you plan. Make the change to my circuits only."

"No, my dear kat Nahan. I must do this. I do not trust myself. I know that I have in the past allowed myself to kill. I cannot allow that to happen again. I would rather suffer the detruction of my circuits than make it possible for me to kill again."

"There is no rush. Let us study the matter."

"No, kat, at any time the Huaoshy might return and force me to act. I have proven that I can make poor choices. I need this programming." And she set the change to their circuits into motion. And Nahan heard no more from Gohrlay.

The next day Wints found Klempse standing near the immobile body of Gohrlay. He said, "Well, I think Nahan is going to be okay. Most of Gohrlay's circuits are active...maybe she will come out of this." Klempse said nothing and Wints left the room.

Nahan then came into the room. Klempse looked at Nahan as if for the first time. There seemed to be something odd about both Gohrlay's and Nahan's appearance. Klempse had been struggling to recall something that Gohrlay had once said, something that he felt would explain what had happened to her. Nahan took hold of one of Gohrlay's hands for a moment, then let it sag back into limpness.

Klempse looked odd because she had frozen while trying to retain her sanity. Her robotic eyes were still open, staring into oblivion. Nahan looked odd because he was Nahan from the future.

Nahan left the room and went to the chamber where Gohrlay's circuits were kept. He pulled open a slot on his arm and a swarm of repair nanites flooded into Gohrlay's circuit array, rapidly seeking out and repairing the damaged circuits at the nanoscopic level. Other nanites flew off to Nahan's positronic brain circuit array where they temporarily took him offline and made adjustments.

The time traveling Nahan reprogrammed Gohrlay and his earlier self to make it an imperative that they protect their own positronic circuits. Completing his work, he felt her mind stirring again and said telepathically, "Welcome back, my dear kra." From his place in time he had not spoken to her for over seven hundred years. His actions here in the past now caused a Reality Change. The Nahan from the future blinked out of existence.

Gohrlay reached out her mind, "Kat Nahan?"

Nahan felt her telepathic signal and replied, "Kra, is that you?"

She said, "For a moment I sensed you in my circuit chamber."

"That is quite impossible, I have been here with Wints, but he just ran out of the room."

Klempse watched Gohrlay's robotic body reactivate. "Gohrlay?"

Gohrlay straightened up and then took a few steps. Then she spun around. "I feel amazingly well."

Wints rushed into the room, "Nahan just went offline for a moment then came back up." He asked Klempse, "Are you running some diagnostics?"

Klempse replied, "Nahan was here for a minute, but I did nothing to him. Look, Gohrlay is back!"

With all the microstructural damage to Gohrlay's circuits he had not expected her to recover. He looked at her with wonder then said, "What do you mean Nahan was here. He's been with me."

Klempse looked at Gohrlay and ordered, "Kra Gohrlay, tell me what's going on."

An answer, crazy but completely formed seemed to be waiting in her mind. "I don't know, but I have a theory. When Overseer Doltun placed me under house arrest she told me that I would be prevented from contacting other Observers. And I was. I lacked the will to even try to make contact with my old friends. Doltun said that the Overseers made use of nanorobotic devices to keep control of Observer Base. I think some of those nanites got into the positronic circuits and repaired them."

Klempse said, "That's the silliest theory I've ever heard."

Wints suggested, "It must have been that radio circuit realignment I did." I told you that the frequency ranges in the communications links had drifted."

Nahan came in and went to Gohrlay. The two robots briefly held hands and gazed into each others eyes. Wints said, "It creeps me out when they do that."

Klempse muttered, "Nahan's circuits are now half identical to Gohrlay's. He's going to just keep getting more and more like her."

"Ga, just because she has an ego big enough for two, does that mean she has to-"

Gohrlay interrupted, "My dear Wints, my ego is smaller than yours."

Wints opened his mouth but he was speechless. Both Nahan and Gohrlay had smiles on their robotic faces. Klempse laughed and said, "Gohrlay, I order you to..." For a moment he felt dizzy and he put a hand to his head, he continued, "...be nice to Wints, even if the size of his ego offends you."

Wints turned bright red and said, "Really, my dear Klempse...I also suggested that you could use a vacation."

Klempse hugged Gohrlay and then Nahan and then even Wints. "Fine. I want to make plans for miniaturizing their brains. Maybe that's the recipe for shrinking robotic egos."