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Chapter 7 · Slaves to the Metal Horde

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  Chapter seven of Slaves to the Metal Horde by Stephen Marlowe. This LibriVox recording
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  is in the public domain. Slaves to the Metal Horde, Chapter seven.
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  I found it, Johnny. It was so obvious. It seems incredible.
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  No one has tried to end the robot's reign. Before we can do it.
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  One man could do it alone, one man with careful planning. Diana
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  is here, Amos. I saw her to night. We're going to try
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  to break out to morrow night, the three of us, you see.
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  Westler went on, there are two items of importance to consider. The first
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  is central intelligence, the mind, the illan vital, the sentience which motivates
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  the robots. Did you know could you ever imagine that there was but one
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  central intelligence for the entire western hemisphere, Johnny? It seems incredible, but
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  it is not. That was the Achilles heel. We sought the of destruction,
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  which some pessimistic scientist had sown into the robots in case man had created
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  a Frankenstein. Can you believe it? Tomorrow night, the three of us
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  will be on our way out of here. I think we stand a good
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  chance, Amos. If we the second item, why what in the world
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  are you talking about escape now? Never within our grasp is the chance to
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  free humanity from a thraldom which it does not yet fully recognize. Would you
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  give up the chance to render the robots harmless in exchange for your own personal
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  safety, not mine Diane's. We love each other, Amos, I wouldn't
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  expose her to any danger. We're leaving tomorrow, and we want you to
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  come with us. Wester paste back and forth, caged in spirits more than
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  in body. Look at you, he said bitterly. You call yourself a
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  man, But have you the right to a woman's love? When you think
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  only of tomorrow, of one day out of thousands, of one small life,
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  out of all that humanity has to offer, you want to hold the
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  girl and kiss her and show her your virility. Eh, while the rest
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  of the race goes to pot That's enough, Amos, Johnny cried, My
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  motives are my own. We leave here tomorrow. You're weak, Johnny Hope,
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  you're a coward, Johnny said, shut up, damn you. He
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  couldn't deny all that Amos was saying. But his parents had perished at the
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  hands of a man made plague. He had been driven from his home rejected
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  by the shining ones, even until he proved himself in battle. What did
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  he owe to humanity, to that big, sprawling concept which took in all
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  kinds of men and their women, children, good people, bad ones,
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  big and small, with every type of mind and every type of body.
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  All right, marry the girl. Will you raise a family? Your shining
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  was, Johnny, both of you. The rest of humanity fears you,
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  and rightfully, your children will be stoned away if they venture near normal people.
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  Perhaps life with the robots will be best for them. After all,
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  here you have the chance to stop all that. Not only could we negate
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  the power of the robots, but we could destroy the plague as well.
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  Did you hear me? We could destroy the plague. Before you give me
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  your final answer, let me tell you what I found. I'm listening,
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  but but nothing. Only listen. This Central Intelligence is a vast cybernetics machine
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  occupying an entire building. Ironically, it is the United Nations Building, where
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  once were housed the dreams of mankind. Now understand this, Johnny. Every
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  robot in North and South America has its own particular wavelength, although the Master
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  Intelligence is in tune with all of them. Each individual robot sentience is dependent
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  for its existence upon the great cybernetics machines in Central Intelligence. In other words,
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  if you were to destroy them at one blow, you would kill every
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  robot in the hemisphere. How did you find out all that? Wesler smiled.
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  There was one thing the robots did not bargain for an ex college professor.
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  The information was available in, of all places, the main library for
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  humans here in the city. It took some finding, but as an old
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  hand at research, I had an edge even on the robots with their mechanical
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  minds. Anyway, all you'd have to do is destroy this central intelligence,
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  and might as well, say, destroy the moon, Amos. It's probably
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  so well guarded a whole army of men couldn't break through, let alone two
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  of us. That's right, Wester said eagerly. Men could never hope to
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  get through, but robots could. What are you talking about? The second
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  thing I learned to night once again, it was so deeply cross referenced,
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  so thoroughly hidden away, that although it was available if one knew where to
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  look, the science of research is such a dead thing that no one knew
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  of its existence, Probably not even the robots. Johnny, the earliest model
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  robots were built of function in a double fashion. They were robots, yes,
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  but they are also compartments in which a man can fit for manual control.
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  They were originally designed, you might say, as glorified suits of armor.
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  While the research material is naturally old, all I could gather seems to
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  indicate that no changes have ever been made structurally in those early models. In
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  other words, a man could climb inside a robot to day right now,
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  and no one would know the difference your getting one thing, Johnny pointed out,
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  are you going to walk up to a robot and tell him pardon me,
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  old fellow? I like to borrow you and use you for a disguise
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  for a while. I'm not forgetting anything. We work in the repair bays.
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  Remember we have access to partially dismantled robots. We could find ourselves two
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  dismantled old ones, somehow manage to get inside make our way to Central intelligence.
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  I still haven't said I'm going to do it. I'd like to help
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  you, Amos. I'll take your word about the plan. It has possibilities,
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  but that has nothing to do with my own problems. Right now.
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  Diane is the most important thing. Diane's future, Your future, all our
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  futures ultimately depend on this. What's the matter with you? You fail to
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  see the forest for the trees tomorrow? What's tomorrow when all mankind's days ahead
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  of us, slave or free. Perhaps one man could do the job alone,
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  although two would have a better chance. But I think you know I'm
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  not the man for the job. I don't await your answer, Johnny Hope,
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  I've no one else to turn to. Humanity awaits your answer. Let
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  me think, said Johnny, waving Westler away. When he would have continued
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  talking more quickly than he dared Hope, he had found Diane. With equal
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  swiftness, Wessler had discovered what he sought. That left Johnny in the middle
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  of a tug of war which wouldn't wait indefinitely for his answer. As the
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  closing gong sounded, sixty three seventeen b watched the Shining Ones shuffle away from
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  their benches and make their way down the corridor toward the cafeteria, which would
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  serve them an unimaginative but well balanced evening meal. But two humans remained behind,
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  talking avidly over the gleaming bodies of two stripped down robots. Strange thought
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  sixty three seventeen Bee, who was now confronted with the first even mildly unusual
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  event since taking over the dull routine of his new job, that they should
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  continue working. After the closing gong had sounded. He could summon Hartness,
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  the scarred human supervisor, and have him talk with the two, or Hartness
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  his metal jointed foot. He would do no such thing. If perhaps the
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  humans were up to some mischief, and if it did not endanger sixty three
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  seventeen bees own position still further, then let them play. If it gave
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  a few robots and even Central Intelligence a hard time for a while, it
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  served them right. Of course, nothing really serious could come from the tampering
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  of two helpless humans. What about that guy up there, Johnny raised an
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  eyebrow in the direction of the supervising robot, motionless on his stone perch.
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  Is he watching us? It appears that he is. Unfortunately, we can't
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  do a thing about it, at least not until we find out if these
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  gadgets will work with us inside them. Here, Johnny, you see these
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  tiny items. These are transistors using germanium instead of a vacuum grid to activate
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  electrons, smaller, more compact, more powerful, of longer life. Without
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  them, the whole science of cybernetics, which ultimately made the robots possible,
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  would never have advanced beyond the rudimentary stage. For with transistors replacing vacuum tubes,
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  you still need the entire un building to house central intelligence. Under the
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  older system, all New York City would not have been enough. Tell me
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  later, Johnny pleaded, I want to get started. The longer we delay
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  here, the longer it will take until we're finished. And I still have
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  that appointment with Diane Tonite. I couldn't contact her during the day because she
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  said she works with Starbuck. We've got to hurry. Wesler's hands guiding the
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  complex. Tools moved with swift efficiency, as if indeed he had worked with
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  the robots all his life. Wires were crossed, insulated, rearranged, gaps
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  and relays were tested and retested. Gears changed, long, unused parts oiled,
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  cleaned, checked for defects. Surface plates were clamped into place over layers
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  of insulation. At last, the two robots lay there, supine, but
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  Wessler hoped ready for human use. He's still watching, said Johnny. Let
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  him we couldn't prevent him. Only hope he suddenly doesn't decide to come down
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  here for a closer look or send for help. It seems amazing he's done
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  neither so far. Maybe he's asleep. Robots do not sleep. I assure
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  you well, it's ready. Wessler reached into the robot's interior before clamping on
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  the final headplate. Each robot stood up in ponderous silence. You first,
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  Johnny, I can clamp my plate from the inside. Are you sure my
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  explanations on how to work this were satisfactory? Once inside, we'll have to
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  contact each other by signals only. What about the radio sets inside? I
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  don't know much about radio, but you said they worked. They do,
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  but the wavelength might be too close to a robot wavelength, and we give
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  ourselves away. Remember we are to be nothing more or less than two robots.
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  Once we climb inside. That way, there shouldn't be any trouble.
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  Already, up you go. Johnny was boosted up, pulled himself within the
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  cramped interior of the robot. There was barely room for him to stand upright,
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  his shoulders hunched, arms tight in front of him, A dizzying mass
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  of dials and levers confronted him suddenly, and although Wessler had explained them and
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  diagrammed them and made Johnny memorize them, he was still bewildered by direct contact.
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  He was almost afraid to try his first movement lest the robot remain immobile.
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  The face plate slammed home. Johnny could see through the one way plastic
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  of the robot's eyes as Westerer climbed into his own machine. Johnny pulled the
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  starting lever and felt his robot lurch forward. Must learn to control the motion,
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  so he was now aware of a lumbering gait of a steady advance toward
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  the farther wall. Something made him whirl and peer through the rear eyes.
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  The robot's supervisor was coming toward them at a rate of speed they couldn't match.
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  You see, said Starbuck proudly. I am no longer a servant.
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  I guess you would call me a junior executive now. But I'm on the
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  way up, definitely on the way up. In a while. There is
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  no telling how far I can go. I am sure of it. Diane
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  nodded agreement. She didn't want to be bothered by Starbuck to day, not
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  when her thoughts were all on the night and Johnny. She was so nervous
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  she couldn't keep from looking anxious. If only Starbuck, all wrapped up in
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  himself the way he was, would fail to see it for a few hours
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  longer. I suppose you wonder how I can advance so rapidly. It's quite
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  simple, Diane. I look around me, I make contacts. I miss
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  nothing. As an example, I even know of your meeting with Johnny Hope
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  last night. What I wouldn't really mind it, except that my informant said,
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  you are considering escape from the Citadel. That, of course is out
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  of the question. In his short time at the Citadel, Diane realized Starbuck
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  had affected a way of speaking which hardly fit his booming voice or boyish face.
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  It was as if he had deed to ape the shining ones who stood
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  highest in the Robot's confidence. To Diane, it was contemptuous. Although now
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  her mind was a whorld with the thought that she and Johnny had been discovered.
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  What are you going to do, she asked in a small, helpless
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  voice. Hope will be arrested naturally, he will never be permitted to see
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  you again. Diane, stared at Starbuck in horror. Johnny must be found
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  and warned. There was still time they could alter their plans, this time
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  in secrecy, without any women around who could spy on them for Starbuck,
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  but she had to find Johnny before it was too late. In sudden despair,
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  she realized she didn't even know where to look. End of Chapter seven