 All the time that I was alone, I thought I thought I would do, if only I did, and then I saw the robots. 2000 plus science fiction adventures in the world of tomorrow, the years beyond 2000 AD. 2000 plus presents the robot killer. You are Mr. Samuel Donaldson. Yes, sir. Happy Sam, they call me. Yes, I know, I have friends who think your television program is very funny. I do not. Ah, it's a living Professor Strager. Now, may I see the Mechanical Man? I'm giving away as the jackpot prize on my show next week. It is not a Mechanical Man, Mr. Donaldson. The correct word is Robot. R-O-B-O-T. I know, I know. This Robot is the supreme achievement of our electronics division. You worked on it for six years to do whatever it is instructed to do. I simply do not understand how the management of this corporation can think of giving it away to this public. It is a magnificent mechanism. Oh look, Professor, those corporation sponsors my TV show. We're on 1246 stations. We're telecast in three-dimensional color, and the Happy Sam show is the number two favorite in the country. The sponsor thinks it would be a good advertising gimmick to offer a super jackpot prize. A Mechanical Man, a Robot. And I never argue with a sponsor. Now, please, may I see what I've come to see? All right, young man, I have no choice. Come on. What there? He's really something, Professor. Six feet tall. Shiny metal. Flexible fingers. Say, how does he work? Very simply, his electronic controls respond to ultra-high frequency waves which emanate from this microphone box. Speak into the microphone, or Robert will do whatever you order him to. Anything? Virtually. Robert 23 has an electronic brain. You can try it for yourself here. Okay. Sing, sweetheart, a line. Really, Mr. Donaldson, what a ridiculous request. You think the best scientific brains in the country work for six years? It really tried to sing. Hey, he's very clever, Professor. Hey, he watched this. Pick up that broom in the corner and sweep the floor. Oh, boy, the housewives who watch my program will love this. Oh, be darned. Look at there. What are you doing here? Oh, boy, the housewives who watch my program will love this. Oh, be darned. Look at there. He's doing it. He's doing it. Okay, okay, stop sweeping. What a gadget. What a giveaway. Now, I see something for the kitties, and I... Hey, what is that? That kitten is the pet of Dr. Broderick of the physics laboratory. And I assure you, you cannot give that away. I don't want to give the kitten away. I just want a little heartthrob on the show for the youngsters. Here, kitty. Come here, kitty. Come here, kitty. Now, now, now, kitty. Now, down the floor, you go. Now, down the floor, go ahead. And we'll show how gentle and friendly our jackpot prize robot is with pets. Now, give me the mic. Mr. Donaldson, what are you going to do now? Okay, robot 23, go over to the kitten. Pick it up and pet the kitty. Nice kitty. Hey, hey, what's he doing? Robot 23, drop the kitten. Drop the kitten. Drop the kitten. Oh, poor tabby. Why, he... He killed the kitten. Brok, it's Mac. He tried to pet it, and he killed it. Have you see what comes when... when fools play with science? No good will come of giving this robot away to the public. I warn you, no good will come of it. This is Happy Sam the Happy Man, welcoming you to another half-hour of mirth and melody. Boys, how about a fanfare? Now, you know that every week, for the past four weeks, our grand super jackpot has been growing and growing. At this moment, these are the sensational prizes in that jackpot. Our free rocket plane trip for two to Paris, flying in the new 150-passenger luxury rocket cruiser at 60,000 feet, only three hours and 10 minutes from New York to Paris. A caddy, atomic-powered sports roadster. The automobile that never needs gas or oil, it runs almost forever. A Krylon man's suit tailored to your measure. Krylon is the wonder fabric guaranteed to last 100 years, and with this suit, a special set of 14 different Krylon chemical colors. Dip that suit in the color you prefer, where it then changes the color with another rinse. The suit is always pressed, always perfect. 14 suits in one, a complete wardrobe on your back. And the one thing money cannot buy, more money. Yes, $10,000 cash. Now those are our jackpot prizes. Now tonight, we add one more prize. A prize so fantastic and wonderful, nothing like it has ever been offered to a lucky winner before. This prize is a supreme achievement of modern science. It is an entire revenue observance in one amazing machine. It is a slave to your every command. And here it is, Michael the Mechanical Man. And now, now to determine who wins this giant jackpot and who wins this mechanical marvel. Michael the Mechanical Man, a thousand slaves in one amazing machine. Now, as you know, ladies and gentlemen, each and every one of you, millions of people watching this program on your visit screen are receiving this program via microwaves. And now, our computers are in action. They are channeling every microwave reception on this program. When the spinner disk stops, if your television set is on, if you're the lucky person, you win the jackpot. Wait now, wait. The computer has finished. The engineer signals that the spinner disk is slowing down. And we have a winner tonight. He picked up a set who had us tuned in. Our pretty model is walking across the stage with a name. Thank you, honey. And now, here it is, the name you've all been waiting to hear. Four, two, three, North Glencole Boulevard in Martin Hills, New York. Apartment 5B. Mr. John Hanold. Mr. John Hanold. My practice medical eye, judging from the smile on your face, tells me that you're pretty happy that Mrs. Hanold is being released from the hospital today. Oh, it's not only that, doctor. Don't tell me you haven't heard of my other good piece of luck. Everyone in town's been calling me for hours before I left for the hospital. Another good piece of luck? No, I haven't heard. Why, I went on fabulous prizes and a giveaway show, including $10,000. Oh, that means your bill's going to be paid. But I also got a trip to Paris in a mechanical man, and Lord knows why. That's wonderful. I congratulate you. However, I think I would forget that trip to Paris for a while. But in fact, wait a few hours before telling Mrs. Hanold about your good fortune. Why, doctor? Mr. Hanold, after your wife's illness, she suffered a nervous breakdown. She became mentally unstable, but she's pretty good now thanks to what the hospital has done. However, when you take her home, she must feel she's returning to her normal life. And winning $10,000 prizes isn't very normal. Oh, I see. The main thing we want to avoid is her elapsed. She should have a few neighbors who can drop in and see hand-armed men. Well, there's Miss Barton, Virginia Barton. She lives in the apartment next to us on our floor. Oh, yes. Your wife mentioned her occasionally. Do they get along all right? I think so. Why? There's nothing. I just wondered. Well, Mrs. Hanold's waiting for you. I know you're very anxious to get her home. Nurse, have Mrs. Hanold come in, please? I think in another month or so she'll be fine. Oh, you see us now. Hello, Mrs. Hanold. Mary, darling, am I glad to see you. Hello, John. Hello, doctor. What did I tell you? Doesn't she look fine? No, she certainly does. John, how good it is to be going home. I'm as excited as the school goes. Well, I don't get too excited. You've got to take it easy for a while. Is that what the doctor says? He's such a worry bird. You do what your husband says, Mrs. Hanold, and you'll just be fine. See, doctor's orders. I promise. Thank you, doctor. You've been very kind. I'll drop you from time to time to see you. Well, goodbye, Mrs. Hanold. Goodbye, doctor. All right, here, let's go. Let's go. John, I can hardly believe it. Well, the doctor told me to wait until you got home before telling you. Ten thousand dollars. And the trip to Paris. Think of it. Oh, I hope we can take it in the summer during my vacation. And a mechanical slave, John. Where will we put it? Now, wait, honey, you're not supposed to get excited. Oh, my boy, who can help it? Easy things. They give away. Oh, I'll see who it is. Hello, John. Oh, hello, Virginia. Who is it, darling? Why, it's Virginia. Mary, I just had to come and tell you how wonderful it is. You're being back. And all those wonderful prizes. It was very nice of you to come in, Virginia. And thank you for the supper you prepared for my homecoming. Now, we're delighted to, darling. When John asked me... Well, yes, he was so happy you were coming back. But John, doesn't Mary's being home called for a celebration? Can't we have a drink? Well, I don't know, Virginia. Mary's supposed to get rest. Still, while I suppose one ship won't hurt. But I'll have to go out and get something, though. I'll be right back. Darling, when you get your prizes, I'll have cause to be jealous of you. Cigarette? No, thanks. Jealous? Pride. Well, you'll have two men. John and the robot. Poor little me, a bachelor gal all alone. You know, I really think you ought to give me one of them. Which one would you like to have? Oh, darling, what a silly question. The mechanical man, of course. He doesn't drop ashes on the rods. He'll wash the dishes and put out the cat. You'll never argue. You're lying to me. When Mary was serious. What did you expect me to be? I don't understand. I began to understand a lot of things. I know the doctors thought something happened to my mind. But all that happened was that it became very clear. Very sharp. And for the first time, I began to think clearly. Darling, I... I think there's excitement in too much for you. I shouldn't have come in. Because I was here. Is that why you shouldn't have come in? Come on, Mary. Everything you're thinking is wrong. John would come to the hospital only once a day. But he would work... Sundays, he wouldn't come at all. Mary, you know we have to go out of town on business once in a while. I know many things. I would lie in my hospital bed and the shadows would whisper to me. They would take Mary's job now while you lie in an antiseptic bed in the hospital room that is as cold as a surgeon's knife cutting your memories to pieces. You frightened me. Don't go. John will be back in a moment. I have a headache. I've got to go. So what will John say when you are not here? You... poor darling. You poor, spitty Mary. Yes, look out on me today. Leave me alone. But I'm not alone as I was in the hospital. I'm home now, my home. And I'm with you. Very nice to kill you. If only I could think of how to do it. He looks something like the Tim Woodman of ours. I used to read about. Well, I do. But he can do any of the things they said on that program. Well, my guess is we'll have to sell them for junk or give them away to some kids. Well, let's see. Turn on the racket switch for power and then just talk into the microphone. Use simple phrases and precise instructions. Well, what's that tell him to do? He's your boyfriend. Tell him to move the green chair about two feet back in the corner. Okay. Move green chair back two feet into corner. John, he's walking. That's the hardest thing I ever saw. He did it. John, does he have a name? A name? Don't be silly. He must have a name. He's almost like a person. What did he talk to? What is your name? Your name? Do you have a name? I see. He can't talk. Don't ask him a question. Tell him to tell you. Do it the direction. Tell me your name. Experimental robot 23. Robot 23. You're going to give me the creeps. Oh, he's wonderful. Well, all I do. You can't stand there staring at us. There's nothing for him to do around here. The poker, that steel poker in the fireplace. What about it? He looks so strong. Tell him to bend it. Bend it? Well, Mary, that's solid steel. He's just a tin toilet with electronic nerves. Please, John, tell him. Well, honey, he'll probably get a short circuit of something straining himself. Then we will have to junk him. Oh, all right, all right. Bend poker there. Bend steel poker. See, he does speak to that. But nothing's happening. Bend it. Bend it. You see, I took... a lot. Are you bending the steel? As if it were taxi. And did you see that? Why, it's almost as if... as if he threw it down this daining of... showing off. Why don't you turn him off? He's dangerous, Mary. Dangerous and frightening. I'm going to dismantle him. No. No, wait. Don't get so excited about it. You know what the doctor says. Don't dismantle him, John. Please. All right, all right, all right. You insist. Remember, Mary, you're not to give him any orders except when I'm home. Darling, I wouldn't do anything that wouldn't be right for me. Almost four hours until John comes home. Lock the door. And now to make him come to life again. Speak to me. Say to me, hello, Mary. Hello, Mary. Hello, Robert, 23. How nice of you to visit me. Every day you visit me. Why do you do that? Tell me. Because I love you. Because I love you. Because you love me. Oh, Robert, 23, how handsome and strong you are. And you are mine. You do what I want you to do. You are my slave. Say to me, I am your slave. I am your slave. That vase, that vase that Virginia gave me last year, there. The blue one. Destroy that vase. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Robert, 23, very much. Of all the things in the world I have, you are the most wonderful. Because you love me and obey me and would do anything for me. Anything. Oh, the door, someone there, it can't be John. It's much too early for John. I'll see who it is and you'll wait for me. As you always do. You. Hello, Mary. I'm sorry to disturb you. What do you want? This package was delivered to my door. Something you probably ordered by phone. It's marked 5D, but your name's on it. Should have said 5D. Yes, yes, from the grocery. Oh, is that the mechanical man standing in the living room? That is Robert, 23. Does he really work? He's awfully big and clumsy looking. He's come to visit me. It's fine. He doesn't love you. Doesn't love... Of course not, Mary, of course not. I'm sorry to disturb you. Is there anything I can do for you? No, no, nothing. Go away. You saw her, didn't you? Say, yes, I saw her. Yes, I saw her. She's the one, the one I hate and John. John is the one I love and you, you love me. Say, I love you. I love you. You must destroy her. The way we destroyed the base. Now that you've seen her, you know my secret. And you will kill her for me because you are my slave. Say, I will kill her. I will kill her. What is the pleasant surprise? It's about Mary. Something happened? What is it? Her packages have been delivered to me by mistake. She came to the door. She acted very strangely. Particularly when I asked about the mechanical man, the robot. What do you mean, Virginia, strangely? She wouldn't let me come in and look at him. She said he was all right. Virginia, listen, the robot wasn't moving or doing anything, was it? I knew I shouldn't have accepted that tin monster. I'll get home as soon as I can, Virginia. Thanks for calling. Mr. Rosenblatt, this is John Hanold. Oh, yes, Mr. Hanold. A neighbor just called me. Mary is acting strangely. I'm worried. I don't understand, Mr. Hanold. We won some prizes on a TV show a few days ago and one of them was a mechanical man, a robot. Oh, yes, you told me about it. Well, the robot in my opinion is a dangerous gadget. Anyway, one of the neighbors reported that Mary is talking strangely about it. I wonder if you could meet me at the apartment. It'll take me about half an hour to get there. Mr. Hanold, I hope you'll forgive me, but you've got to expect that neighbors with all the good will in the world tend to exaggerate the exactions of the people whom they've known to have been mentally ill. I'm sure there's nothing to be alarmed about. Yes, but Doctor, this neighbor is a good friend and an intelligent woman. Well, I have to drop over sometime this evening or in the morning. We'll have a talk about it. If you say so. Thanks very much. I just spoke to the doctor. He thinks there's nothing to worry about, but, well, I wonder if you'd do me a great favor. Of course, John. What is it? I've got a few things here to clean up the desk, so I can't get home right away. I wonder if you'd go in and stay with Mary until I get there. But, John, I... That's silly, Virginia. After all, what can happen? The door, wait over 23, and I'll come back to you. I will wait for you. Thank you, darling. Mary, I wonder if I could visit with you for a while. Why? Why do you want to visit with me? We're dining on your neighbor. And I thought it would be very nice if we had tea. Don't you want me to come in, Mary? Yes. Yes, I do want you to come in, come in and meet Rose 23. Mary, he moved since I saw him last. He was standing by the fireplace when I visited the door before. And now he's by the sofa. Lovely days I gave you and Johnny. It's broken. Broken in a million pieces. I had him do it. He did it. He did it. What do you mean? You know what I mean. You and your lies and your deceit. Mary, what are you doing? Why are you picking up that microphone? Rose 23 loves me and I love John. And he won't destroy my love. You won't. Rose 23, don't you ever kill her. What happened? What happened? Excuse me, Mr. Hanover, but I think I can tell you what happened. I'm Dr. Strager, one of the men who built that robot. I came to your apartment hoping to persuade you to return the robot. There's a dreadful commotion inside. We call this Potomor in the corner and it was moving toward this young lady here. I tried to get away. Whoever I wanted came after me. I shut off the control box and stopped the robot. Mary wanted to kill me, John. Kill me. Doctor, how's Mary? She alright. I've given her a sedative to Mr. Hanover. I'll take her back to the hospital in a few hours. It ought to be excitement. However, I'm sure she'll be alright in another month or two. But she tried to kill me. She tried to kill me. For some reason, she was jealous of you. But now that we know about it, shouldn't we can treat it psychiatrically? She'll be alright, doctor. She won't try to kill again. I don't think what might have happened to Virginia. Mr. Hanover, nothing would have happened. You see, your wife told the robot to kill. But that was not an instruction the robot could carry out. What do you mean, professor? You said yourself the robot was going toward Virginia. Yes, of course, because your wife said go to her. The simple physical action the robot is capable of performing due to its directional mechanism. However, the command kill is not sufficiently explicit. The robot cannot kill in general. It must have step-by-step instructions as to how the command is to be carried out. You see, Mr. Hanover, I might put it this way. To strike out blindly, to kill, to kill, to strike out blindly, to kill without thinking requires an emotional drive the capacity to hate. And that the robot cannot do. It is, after all, a machine not a human being.