 WRVR presents X-1. This is an experimental program on WRVR, and we'd like to hear your comments. Please drop us a note. To X-1, WRVR, New York, New York, 1-0027. And now, tonight's adventure on X-1. Countdown for Blastoff. X-5, 4, 3, 2, X-1, fire. From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future. Adventures in which you'll live in a million could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. Renaissance radio network in cooperation with Galaxy and World's of if science fiction magazines presents X-1. I'm Roy Farns. As a broadcaster, I've seen fads come and go, but few have stayed with us. One of those few was the Beatles. The Beatles created a whole new world of music, fashion and ideas and they're no longer together. radio stations around the world still play their music. Now RRP has gathered 60 of their finest songs onto four LP records, cassettes, and eight track tapes for only $13.98. You get such fetal greats as I want to hold your hand part day's night, Bangladesh, Hey Jude, Michelle, the ballad of John and Yoko, Sargent Pepper, and I Love Her. Yellow Submarine and 50 other great hits. You get your choice of stereo records, eight tracks, or cassettes for only $13.98. This is an album that you will want to keep and it will surely grow more and more valuable in years to come. Here's your announcer to tell you how to order. Send $13.98 to Beatles. Box 377, Seymour Connecticut. That's Beatles. Box 377, Seymour Connecticut. Specify cartridges, cassettes, or records. Money back guaranteed by Electrosound Dupin Incorporated. Robert Silverberg starring Leon Janney and Evie Juster. I like many other modern families. The four of us could all stand to shed quite a few pounds. So when I saw in Miracle Mile Robot Shop, a 40% discount on the 2061 robot model with adjustable caloric intake monitors, I figured it merited an inquiry. I thought first of my bank balance, then of Ethel's figure. Besides, our old robo cook makes a poor showing when I bring other company executives home for dinner. On my way home from work, I stopped in. Can I help you, sir? I see you're admiring our 2061. Yes, it's real beauty. How much? Only $2.995, sir. That includes free service contract for the first five years, only $200 credits down, and up to 40 months to pay. Okay, I'll take it. Well, good. You care to trade it your present robo cook, sir? I have a 43 Madison. 43 Madison, yes. Well, I guess we could allow 50 credits on a 43. Oh. A 75 maybe if the recipe bank is still in good condition. Excellent condition. Well, I can deliver the new model by this evening if you'll just type out your address. That's in the Westrow subdivision for the very fashionable suburb. Do you have one of those totally detached self powered houses? Yes, indeed. It affords us infinite privacy. Ah, yes. A Robinson's robot to deliver. A surprise, my dear. What in the world is Myra showing in, please? We all got him all right. All seven feet of a Mr. Carmichael. Lots of delicate circuitry in that job. You ought to be very proud of him. Joey, help Mr. Robinson unpack the new robo cook. No, no, no. That's okay. I can manage it. And it's not a robo cook, by the way. It's called a robo servitor. Sam, it must be a fortune. It's very reasonable, Ethel. Now, don't worry so much. This is the instruction manual. Now, don't fret about the thickness of the booklet. It's just part of the trimmings. This robot's no trouble to handle. Now, here's the recipe bank. Biggest and best ever design. And what about the special features? The reducing monitors. Well, they're right over here. See, you just program in the names of the members of the family and their present and desired weights. And the robo servitor takes care of the rest. Computes, caloric intake, adjusts menus, and everything else. I told you I was going to do something about our weight, Ethel. No more dieting. The robot does all the work. Oh, my. I don't think there'll be any trouble. But if there is, just give me a buzz. Right. I felt a momentary twinge of nostalgia when Robinson took our obsolete robo cook. After all, see, I mean, it was with us 16 years. That night, the four of us spent the evening discovering things about our new robot. Joey prided himself on his knowledge of practical robotics. So I let him integrate our weights and desires. You wish this schedule to take effect immediately? Oh, well, tomorrow morning at breakfast. We might as well start right away. Good morning, one and all. Good morning. Your toast and coffee, sir. Well, I, uh, like cream and sugar in my coffee. You must learn to drink your coffee without such things if you wish to lose weight. Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Now, this regimen is more spartan than I anticipated. Joey, why don't you pour that glass of milk into the cereal? Won't it taste better that way? Sure it will, but Bismarck says I will get another glass if I do, so I'm eating this way. Bismarck? It's the name of a famous 19th century German dictator. They call him the Iron Chancellor. Pretty good name for him, huh? No, it's silly. Well, it has a certain reign of truth, though. Here is your luncheon menu. You are the only member of this family group who will not be eating three meals a day under my personal supervision. Please, adhere. Well, I did, even though I had to avoid my colleagues and eat at a robo-catheteria so as not to be ribbed or questioned. Needless to say, I wasn't full. Dinner loomed in my mind. My hand shook. When I arrived home that night, I handed the robo-servitor my hat and cloak and as always reached out for my cocktail. Yes, sir, how may I assist you? Are we out of gin? No, sir. How come no drink, then? Because, sir, a martini's caloric content is inordinately high. But did you... Gin is rated at 100 calories per ounce. Okay, okay, enough. It is almost dinner time, sir. Did you have a good day, sir? No, I'm hungry. First days of diet are the most difficult. Excuse me now while I prepare the meal. The name Bismarck was beginning to fit in more and more after dinner, if you can call it that. Bismarck was in the basement. He gave us a chance to speak privately. Lord Sam, I... I don't object to losing weight, but we're being tyrannized in our own home. Mom's right. It doesn't seem right for that thing to feed us whatever it pleases. I'm not happy about it either, but we have to give it a try. We can always make readjustments in the programming if it turns out to be necessary. I had three meals in the house and I'm starved. Hey, too, Bismarck's downstairs. I'm going to get a slice of lemon pie while the coast is clear. No. No. There is no sense in my spending 3,000 credits on a dietary robot if you're going to cheat, Joey. I forbid you to have any pie. But, Dad, I'm hungry. I'm a growing boy. Dad, don't give me that pie. I was saying we can't starve Joey if he wants pie. Let him have it. You're carrying this reducing fetish too far. Well, all right. I guess a bit of pie won't wreck the plan. In fact, I suppose I'll have some myself, Joey. Begging your pardon, it would be most unfortunate if you were to have pie now, Mr. Carmichael. My calculations are very precise. Let's forget the lemon pie, Joey. Bismarck, yes, Bismarck, had in the next few days you served Ethel's job of marketing. So now the coverage was stocked with measure amounts of wheat germ, irrigated salmon, and other unfamiliar foods. The kids were brooding, so... Yes, Mr. Carmichael. Bismarck, go down to the basement until I summon you. I must advise you, sir, that I will detect indulgence in any forbidden foods during my absence and adjust for it in the next meal. Joey, get the instruction manual. What are you going to do, Sam? I'm going to take a can opener to that creature and adjust his programming. Joey, have you found the instructions on how to reprogram? Page 167, I'll get the toolkit, Dad. Right, right, I'll buzz Bismarck. Bismarck, I'm afraid it's necessary for us to change your program. We've overestimated our capacity for losing weight. I beg you to reconsider, sir, extra weight is harmful to every vital organ in the body. I plead with you to maintain my schedule unaltered. I'd rather cut my throat than Joey inactivate him and do your stuff. Lever F2 with the yellow indicators to be advanced. One notch? Hmm, not twist dial B9 to the left, thereby opening the taping compartment. Oops. We will be back with a second half of the iron chancellor after this message of importance. Oh, I'm Roy Farnes. As a broadcaster, I've seen dads come and go, but few have stayed with us. One of those few is the Beatles. The Beatles created a whole new world of music, fashion and ideas, and though they're no longer together, radio stations around the world still play their music. Now, RRP has gathered 60 of their finest songs out of four LP records, cassettes and eight track tapes for only $13.98. You get such Beatles greats as I Want to Hold Your Hand, Hard Day's Night, Bangladesh, Hey Jude, Michelle, Help, The Ballad of John and Yoko, Sergeant Pepper, and I Love Her. Yellow Submarine and 50 other great hits. You get your choice of stereo records, eight tracks or cassettes for only $13.98. This is an album that you will want to keep and it will surely grow more and more valuable in years to come. Here's your announcer to tell you how to order. Send $13.98 to Beatles, Box 377, Seymour, Connecticut. That's Beatles, Box 377, Seymour, Connecticut. Specify cartridges, cassettes, or records. Money Back Guarantee by Electrosound Dupin Incorporated. We return to X minus one and the Iron Chancellor by Robert Silverberg. What happened? Drop the damn wrench. I guess I shorted out something in there. We better call Mr. Robinson, Sam. A short circuited robot is likely to explode or worse. We should have called Robinson in the first place. It's my fault for letting Joey Tinker with an expensive and delicate mechanism like that. Myra, get me the card Mr. Robinson left. Gee, Dad, this is the first time I've ever had anything go wrong. Here, Daddy. Thank you, Myra. I hope we can reach him at this hour if we can. I'll take that card. There will be no further meddling with my program. Sam, what are we doing? Now, Bismarck, I order you to shut yourself off at once. My apologies, sir. I cannot serve you if I am shut off. I don't want you to serve me. You're out of order. I want you to remain still until I can phone the repairman and get him to serve as you. Oh, how you destroyed Robinson's card. You are violating the first law. According to the first law, further alterations of my circuits would be detrimental to the Carmichael family. I cannot permit you to summon the repairman. Don't get him angry, Dad. I'll call the police. You will remain within this house. I have now reversed the polarity of the house privacy field. Since you are obviously not to be trusted to keep the diet I prescribe, I cannot allow you to leave the premises. You will remain within and continue to obey my beneficial advice. Breakfast will be served at the usual time. Good night. Late, well past nine, Bismarck had neatly cancelled out the impulse from the house that woke me at seven each morning. After black coffee and toast, I tried the front door until I was in a sweat. I beg your pardon, sir, the door will not open. I explained last night the force field is around the entire detached dwelling. Now in theory, the field could be penetrated from the outside, but nobody comes calling without an invitation in Westrow. It is not one of those neighborly subdivisions where everyone knows everyone. That was why we picked it. Dad, a phone connection severed. Damn him. He can't hold us prisoners here. Bismarck's short circuit has resulted in exaggerating his sense of functioning. He's determined to make us lose weight even if it kills us. He's got the kitchen wall up with some kind of electronic base force web. He must have built it during the night. I tried to sneak in and scrounge some food and got a flat nose. Who will be skeletons any day? It isn't that bad, Mom. Yes, it is, Dad. I've lost five pounds in four days. Quiet. Bismarck's coming. Lunch will be served in eight minutes. Probably down at the office. They're wondering where I am. Oh, they won't care. An executive isn't required to account for every day he takes off, you know. I haven't missed a day's work in years. I know. Who put their worry after three or four days, won't they? Maybe they'll try to phone her or even send a rescue mission. There will be no danger of that. While you slept this morning, I notified your place of employment that you were resigning. Well, you're lying. The phone is cut off. I communicated with them via microwave generator. If only we had an oilman the way we used to. He'd know how to shut the field off. But no, we've got a shiny chromium-plated cryostat. Dishing out liquid helium. A neat, self-contained island in the middle of civilization with nobody bothering us. Careful, please. Lunchtime is served. You've got to do something about this, then. I'll have to, eh? And just what am I supposed to do? Daddy, don't get angry. No, don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do. Maybe you could distract him and I could open him up again. No, no. That thing's seven feet tall and weighs 3,000 pounds. I'm not gonna wrestle with him. The haggard face in the mirror was mine. Six days of starvation. I stepped on the stale. 12 pounds off in less than two weeks. And it came to me in a flash. Ethel, Myra, Joey, come here. Where's that robot? In the kitchen. Bismarck? Bismarck, come out here. How may I serve you, sir? Damn you. Scan me with your super power receptors and tell me how much I weigh. 179 pounds, 11 ounces, Mr. Carmichael. Yes, yes. And the original program I taped into you was supposed to reduce me. From 192 to 180. So I'm finished with you as long as I don't gain weight. And so are all of us, I'll bet. Ethel, Myra, Joey, upstairs and then weigh yourselves. Sir, I find no record within me of any limitations on your reduction of weight. What? I have checked my tapes fully. I have a record of an order causing weight reduction. But the tape does not specify a termination of the program. But I thought, I'm sure we did. I know we instructed probably that part of his tape was erased when he short-circuited. Oh, dear, what's so funny? The fact that I'm thin, trim, fit as a fiddle. We're all magazine ad beauties, the enviable few who, in our age of technology, when normal exercise is extinct, we'll all shrivel up, Bismarck will starve us. Don't worry, Dad, we're going to get out of this. Oh, we won't. We'll never get out. We're going to be reduced ad infinitum. Listen, Dad, I have an idea that I think will work. There's an article on multi-phase generators in last month's popular electromagnetic upstairs in my room. Well, go on, tell me more. Didn't you hear that, Dad? Hear what? The front door. I thought I heard it open just now. Oh, we're all cracking up. I hope I'm not intruding, Mr. Carmichael. Oh, Robinson. Yes. How did you get in? Well, through the front door. I could see a light on inside, but nobody answered the doorbell when I rang, so I just stepped right in. Your doorbell's out of order, I thought I'd tell you. No, it's rude. Don't apologize, we're delighted to see you. Well, I was in the neighborhood, you see, and I figured I'd drop in and see how things were working out with your new robot. Well, as a matter of fact, your robot has held us prisoner here for six days and is gradually starving us to death. Held you prisoner? Oh, no, no. Well, I thought you all looked a bit peaking, but, oh dear, now there'll be an investigation in all kinds of trouble. I think I short-circuited him. I see. Well, well, at least I can end your imprisonment. Now, let me see. I have a false field damper in my toolbox. There you are. That's a great little gadget that neutralizes the blockade. Quick, here he comes. There, that should immobilize him. Oh, now let's have a look in that chassis. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, free, free at last. And I'm going to eat. I'll eat myself right into oblivion. Warm, buttered rolls, martini steak. You know, this really is fascinating. The obedience filters are completely shorted out, and the purpose nodes are somehow sorted together by the momentary high voltage arc. You know, I've never seen anything like this before. Neither have we. Really, though, this isn't utterly a new breakthrough in robotic science. You see, if we can reproduce this effect, it means we can build self-willed robots. Think of what that means to science. We already know. Oh, I'd love to watch what happens when the power source is operating. For instance, is that feedback loop really negative, or...? No, no, no, no, no, no. My circuit, Chancellor, is destroyed. Bismarck has reactivated. This attempt at interfering with the well-being of the Carmichael family was ill-advised. He moved so fast. He did indeed. Luckily, we have an unoccupied guest bedroom for you, Mr. Robinson. Welcome to the home of the Iron Chancellor. Fox, as a broadcaster, I've seen fads come and go, but few have stayed with us. One of those few is the Beatles. The Beatles created a whole new world of music, fashion, and ideas, and though they're no longer together, radio stations around the world still play their music. Now, RRP has gathered 60 of their finest songs, out to four LP records, cassettes, and eight track tapes for only $13.98. You get such fetal greats as, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Hard Day's Night, Bangladesh, Hey Jude, Michelle, Hell, The Ballad of John and Yoko, Sergeant Pepper, and I Love Her. Yellow Submarine and 50 other great hits. You get your choice of stereo records, eight tracks, or cassettes for only $13.98. This is an album that you will want to keep, and it will surely grow more and more valuable in years to come. Here's your announcer to tell you how to order. Send $13.98 to Beatles. Box 377, Seymour Connecticut. That's Beatles. Box 377, Seymour Connecticut. Specify cartridges, cassettes, or records. Money Back Guaranteed by Electrosound Dupin Incorporated. You have just heard the X-1 presentation of Robert Silverberg's Iron Chancellor. A story from the pages of Galaxy Magazine. Galaxy, Science Fiction Magazine, whose January 1973 issue features an article by astronomer Robert S. Richardson that delves into the existence of the star of Bethlehem. Also, don't forget Galaxy's sister magazine, Worlds of If, which in its February issue will present Construction Shack by Clifford D. Simack. It was the day of the creation, just another one of those days where everything goes wrong. Galaxy and Worlds of If on your newsstands today. You have just heard the Iron Chancellor, a story from the pages of Galaxy written by Robert Silverberg and adapted for radio by Donna Fonpo. Featured in our cast were Leigh-Anne Janney, Evie Jester, Jackson Beck, Donald Buca, and Roy Fox. If you enjoyed tonight's broadcast, please write to X-1, Box 377, Seymour Connecticut. X-1 was directed by Irish Princeton and produced by Sal Trapani and is a Renaissance radio production. Thank you for watching.