Daneel | 001 | Public Video

[thezerothlaw]

For the benefit of those to whom I haven't introduced myself, my name is R. Daneel Olivaw. I'm aware that several people have had experiences in regards to the cameras being repaired or food being replaced while they were not looking. With this in mind, I took it upon myself to perform an experiment.

[He pauses; it's a troubling thing for him.]

I damaged a camera and I sat up to watch. I do not sleep, and I was confident that I would encounter who or what is sent to repair them. This... did not happen. I found myself disabled, and I awoke later, with the camera repaired. No one approached me, human or robot.

[He's positive of that. He can't say why -- might be better to keep his awareness of other minds a secret for now, if he can. He can't imagine the reaction to a telepathic robot would be a good one. Daneel presses on, earnest. There's more important things.]

This shouldn't be possible. My positronic brain does not possess the right structure to allow me to sleep, or any equivalent state. I don't possess an "off" switch. It should require special equipment to put me into a dormant state without cutting my brain off from my power source, which would permanantly destroy it. This has evidently not happened, but I cannot account for it, either.

Comments

[indiscreet]

I've never heard of either of those men. [ forgive her sexism; she's from 1932 ] But...this is...incredible. I had no idea such things were possible. Might I ask... what year is it, where you are from? Since apparently it isn't the same for all of us; I've come to suspect I'm comparatively behind the times. And are robots very common, where you're from?

[thezerothlaw]

Robots are indeed very common, though ones like myself are not. I'm from 3740, as it happens.

[indiscreet]

[ That actually breaks her brain a little bit, it seems so impossibly far off, and there's a bit of a wait before her next reply comes: she needs to process that idea. ]

[ And even then the only initial response she can think of is a good, old-fashioned (Russian) expletive. ]

охуеть. That...that is incredible. Society has managed to survive that far after all? And with acceptance of...non-humans? I don't know what else there may be besides, ah, robots. [ She tries to keep her tone light there, but gauging "non-human" acceptance is very relevant to her interests. ]

[thezerothlaw]

[Non-humans? Her phrasing is odd. He answers her carefully.]

Acceptance of robots varies depending on the culture. Earth dislikes robots greatly. Spacer planets are often more heavily populated with robots than human beings and are certainly an accepted part of life. If you refer to extraterrestrials, though... well, none have been found, to my knowledge. They may not exist. What else there might be in the galaxy is a mystery to me.

[indiscreet]

[ Well...that answers that. Even if she did have to employ some rather awkward phrasing to get there. ]

I see — so all those outlandish science fiction novels weren't quite right about that part. [ Of course, she decides, it does mean that she's going to have to keep him just as in the dark as anyone else: business as usual. ] Still, it's all so remarkable, and so remarkably different from 1932. [ She has got to tell Jones about this. ]

I appreciate your telling me about it. I'm Anna, by the way.

[thezerothlaw]

It's a pleasure to meet you, Anna. If I can tell you anything else that you might like to know, please don't hesitate to ask.