 The Love of Frank XIX by David C. Knight. What will happen to Love in that far-off day after tomorrow? David C. Knight, editor with a New York trade publisher, agrees with the many impressed by the, quote, range of possible subjects and situations, unquote, in science fiction. The result is a unique love story from that same tomorrow. Minor planets was the one solid account they had. At first they naturally wanted to hold on to it. I didn't worry much about the robot's leg at the time. In those days I didn't worry much about anything except the receipts of the Spotel men and I were operating out in the space lines. Actually, the Spotel business isn't much different from running a plain ordinary motel back on Highway 101 in California. Competition gets stiffer every year and you've got to make your improvements. Take the I.O., for instance. That's our new place. We can handle any type of rocket up to and including the new Marvin 990s. Every cabin in the wheels got a TV and hot and cold running water, plus guaranteed Terran G. One look at our refueled prices would give even a Martian a sense of humor. And meals? Listen, when a man's been spacing it for a few days on those synthetic foods he really laces into men's earth cooking. Men and I were just getting settled in the Spotel game when the leg turned up. That was back in the days when the Orbit commission would hand out a license to anybody crazy enough to sink his savings into construction and pay the tows and assembly fees out into space. A good Orbit can make you or break you in the Spotel business. That's where we were lucky. The one we applied for was a nice low eccentric ellipse with the perihelion and apelion figure just right to intersect the Mars-Venus earth space lanes. Most of the holiday traffic to the Jovian moons and once in a while we'd get some of the Saturnian trade. But I was telling you about the leg. It was during the non-tourist season, and men—that's the little woman—was doing the spurring cleaning. When she found the leg she brought it right to me in the renting office. Naturally I thought it belonged to one of the servos. "'Look at that leg, Bill,' she said. It was in one of those lockers in 22A. That was the cabin our robot guests used. The majority of them were servo-pilots working for the Minor Planets. "'Company.'" "'Honey,' I said, hardly looking at the leg. You know how mechs are. Blow their whole paychecks on parts sometimes. They figure the more spares they have, the longer they'll stay activated.' "'Maybe so,' said men. But since when does a male robot buy himself a female leg?' I looked again. The leg was long and graceful, and it had an ankle as good as Miss Universe's. Not only that, the white, mylar, plastic skin was a lot smoother than the servo's heavy neoprene.' "'Beats me,' I said. Maybe they're building practical joke-circuits into robots these days. Let's give 22A a good going over, men, if those robes are up to something. I want to know about it.' We did, and found the rest of the girl-mech—all of her, that is, except the head. The working parts were lightly oiled and wrapped in cotton waste while the other members and sections of the trunk were neatly packed in cardboard boxes with labels like solenoids FB978 or transistors Lott X45—the kind of boxes robots bought their parts in. We even found a blue dress in one of them. "'Check our class and series numbers,' men suggested. I could have saved myself the trouble—they'd been filed off.' "'Something's funny here,' I said. We'd better keep an eye on every servo guest until we find out what's going on. If one of them is bringing this stuff out here, he's sure to show up with the head next.' "'You know how strict Minor Planets is with its robot personnel,' men reminded me. We can't risk losing that stopover contract on account of some mech joke. Minor Planets was the one solid account we had, and naturally we wanted to hold onto it. The company was a blue-chip mining operation working the beryllium-rich asteroid belt out of San Francisco. It was one of the first outfits to use servo pilots on its freight runs, and we'd been awarded the refuel rights for two years because of our orbital position. The servos themselves were beautiful pieces of machinery and just about as close as science had come so far to producing the pure android. Every one of them was plastic, hand molded, and of course they were equipped with rationaloid circuits. They had to be to ferry those big cargoes back and forth from the rock belt to Frisco. As rationaloids, Minor Planets had to pay them wages under California law, but I'll bet it wasn't half what the company would have to pay human pilots for doing the same thing. In a couple of weeks' time, maybe five servos made stopovers. We kept a close watch on them from the minute they signed the register to the time they took off again, but they all behaved themselves. Operating on a round-robot basis the way they did, it would take us a while to check all of them, because Minor Planets employed about forty all told. Well, about a month before the Jovian Moon's rush started, we got some action. I'd slipped into a spacesuit and was doing some work on the CO2 pipes outside the IO when I spotted a ship reversing rockets against the sun. I could tell it was a Minor Planets job by the stubby fins. She jockeyed up to the boom, secured, and then her hatch opened, and a husky servo hopped out into the gangplank tube. I caught the gleam of his Minor Planets shoulder patch as he reached back into the ship for something. When he headed for the airlock, I spotted the square package clamped tight under his plastic arm. Did you see that? I asked men when I got back to the renting office. I'll bet it's the girl Mech's head. How'd he sign the register? Calls himself Frank 19, said men, pointing to the smooth Palmer method signature. He looks like a fairly late model, but he was complaining about a bad power build-up coming through the ionosphere. He's repairing himself right now in 22A. I'll bet, I snorted. Let's have a look. Like all Spotel operators, we get a lot of no-privacy complaints from guests about the SHA return air vents. Spatial housing authority requires them every 12 feet, but sometimes they come in handy, especially with certain guests. They're about waist high, and we had to kneel down to see what the Mech was up to inside 22A. The big servo was too intent on what he was doing for us to register on his photons. He wasn't repairing himself, either. He was bending over the parts of the girl Mech, and working fast, like he was pressed for time. The set of tools were kept handy for the servos to adjust themselves during stopovers, was spread all over the floor, along with lots of colored wire, cams, poles, relays, and all the other paraphernalia robots have inside them. We watched him work hard for another 15 minutes, tapping and splicing wire connections and tightening screws. Then he opened the square box. Sure enough, it was a female Mech's head, and it had a big mop of blonde hair on top. The servo attached it carefully to the neck, made a few quick connections, and then said a few words in his flat, Vibraham voice. It won't take much longer, darling. You wouldn't like it if I didn't dress you first. He fished into one of the boxes, pulled out the blue dress, and zipped the girl Mech into it. Then he leaned over her gently and touched something at the back of her neck. She began to move, slowly at first, like a human who's been asleep for a long time. After a minute or two she sat up straight, stretched, fluttered her mylar eyelids, and then her small photons began to glow like weak flashlights. She stared at Frank 19, and the big servos stared at her, and we heard a kind of trembling whir from both of them. Frank, Frank, darling, is it really you? Yes, Elizabeth, are you all right, darling? Did I forget anything? I had to work quickly. We have so little time. I'm fine, darling. My DX voltage is lovely. Except, oh, Frank, my memory tape. The last it records is deactivation. Yes, Elizabeth, you've been deactivated nearly a year. I had to bring you out here piece by piece. Don't you remember? They'll never think to look for you in space. We can be together every trip while the ship refuels. Just think, darling, no prying human eyes, no commands, no rules. Only us for an hour or two. I know it isn't very long. He stared at the floor a minute. There's only one trouble, Elizabeth. You'll have to stay dismantled when I'm not here. It'll mean weeks of deactivation. The girl mech put a small plastic hand on the servos' shoulder. I won't mind, darling. Really, I'll be the lucky one. I'd only worry about you having a power failure or something. This way I'd never know. Oh, Frank, if we can't be together, I'd prefer the junk pile. Elizabeth, don't say that. It's horrible. But I would. Oh, Frank, why can't Congress pass robot civil rights? It's so unfair of human beings. Every year they manufacture us more like themselves, and yet we're treated like slaves. Don't they realize we, rational linoids, have emotions? Why, I've even known sub-robots who've fallen in love like us. I know, darling, we'll just have to be patient until RCR goes through. Try to remember how difficult it is for the human mind to comprehend our love, even with the aid of mathematics. As rational linoids, we fully understand the basic attraction, which they call magnetic theory. All humans know is that if the robot sexes are mixed, a loss of efficiency results. It's only normal and temporary, like human love. But how can we explain it to them? Robots are expected to be efficient at all times. That's the reason for robot non-fratonization, no mailing privileges, and all those other laws. I know, darling, I try to be patient. Oh, Frank, the main thing is we're together again. The big servo checked the chronometer. That was sunk into his left wrist, and a couple of wrinkles creased across his neoprene forehead. Elizabeth, he said, I'm due on Hidalgo in 36 hours. If I'm late, the mining engineer might suspect in 20 minutes. I'll have to start dis— Don't say it, darling. We'll have a beautiful 20 minutes. After a while, the girl mech turned away for a second, and Frank 19 reached over softly and cut her power. While he was dismantling her, men and I tiptoed back to the renting office. Half an hour later, the big servo came in, picked up his refuel and receipt, said goodbye politely, and left through the inner airlock. Now I've seen everything, I said to men, as we watched the minor planets rocket cut loose, a couple of plastic lovebirds. But the little woman was looking at it strictly from the business angle. Bale, she said, with that look on her face, we're running a respectable place out here in space. You know the rules. Spatial housing could revoke our orbit license for something like this. But men, I said, they're only a couple of robots. I don't care. The rules still say that only married guests can occupy the same cabin, and guests can be human, or otherwise, can't they? Think of our reputation. And don't forget that non-fratronization law we heard them talking about. I was beginning to get the point. Couldn't we just toss the girl's parts into space? We could, men admitted. But if this Frank 19 finds out and tells some humans, we'd be guilty under the RAM Act, Robot Slaughter. Two days later, we still couldn't decide what to do. When I said, why didn't we just report the incident to minor planets, men was afraid they might cancel the stopover agreement for not keeping better watch over their servos. And when men suggested we turn the girl over to the missing man, I reminded her the mech's identification had been filed off, and it might take years to trace her. Maybe we could put her together, I said, and make her tell us where she belongs. Bill, you know they don't build compulsory truth monitors into robots anymore, and besides, we don't know a thing about atomic electronics. I guess neither of us wanted to admit it, but we felt mean about turning the mechs in. Back on Earth, you never give robots a second thought, but it's different living out in space. You get a kind of perspective, I think they call it. I've got the answer, men, I announced one day. We were in the renting office, watching TV, on the Martian Colonial Channel. I reached over and turned it off. When this Frank-19 gets back from the rock belt, we'll tell him we know all about the girl mech. We'll tell him we won't say a thing if he takes the girl's parts back to Earth where he got them. That way we don't have to report anything to anybody. Men agreed it was probably the best idea. We don't have to be nasty about it, she said. We'll just tell him this is a respectable Spotel, and it can't go on any longer. When Frank checked in at the I.O. with his cargo, I don't think I ever saw a happier mech. His relay banks were beating a tattoo like someone had installed an accordion in his chest. Before either of us could break the bad news to him, he was hot-footing it around the wheel toward 22A. Maybe it's better this way, I whispered to men. We'll put it square up to both of them. We gave Frank half an hour to get the girl assembled before we followed him. He must have done a fast job because we heard the girl mech's Vibraham unit as soon as we got to 22A. Darling, have you really been away? I don't remember saying goodbye. It's as if you'd been here the whole time. I hoped it would be that way, Elizabeth. We heard the big servo say. It's only that your memory tape hasn't recorded anything in the three weeks I've been in the asteroids. To me it's been like three years. Oh, Frank, darling, let me look at you. Is your DX potential up where it should be? How long since you've had a thorough overhauling? Do they make you work in the mines with those poor non-rationaloids out there? I'm fine, Elizabeth, really. When I'm not flying, they give me clerical work to do. It's not a bad life for a mech. If only it weren't for these silly regulations that keep us safe. It won't always be like that, darling. I know it won't. Elizabeth, Frank said, reaching under his uniform. I brought you something from Hidalgo. I hope you like it. I kept it in my spare parts slot so it wouldn't get crushed. The female mech didn't say a word. She just kept looking. The female mech didn't say a word. She just kept looking at the queer flower Frank gave her like it was the last one in the universe. They're very rare, said the servo-pilot. I heard the mining engineers say they're like Terran, Hidalgo-wise. I found this one growing near the mine. Elizabeth, I wish you could see these tiny worlds. They have thin atmospheres and strange things grow there, and the radioactivity does wonders for a mech's pile. Why, on some of them I've been to, we could walk around the equator in ten hours. The girl still didn't answer. Her head was bent low over the flower like she was crying. Only there weren't any tears. Well, that was enough for me. I guess it was for men, too, because we couldn't do it. Maybe we were thinking about our own courting days. Like I say, out here you get a kind of perspective. Anyway, Frank left for Earth. The girl got dismantled, as usual, and we were right back where we started from. Two weeks later the holiday rush to the Jovian moons was on and our hands were too full to worry about the robot problem. We had a good season. The I.O. was filled up steady from June to the end of August, and a couple of times we had to give a ship the no vacancy signal on the radar. Toward the end of the season, Frank 19 checked in again, but men and I were too busy catering to a party of VIPs to do anything about it. We'll wait till he gets back from the asteroids, I said. Suppose one of those big wheels found out about him and Ned Elizabeth. That's Senator Briggs, for instance. He's a violent robot segregationist. The way it worked out, we never got a chance to settle it our own way. The minor planets company saved us the trouble. Two company inspectors, a Mr. Roberts and a Mr. Wynn, showed up while Frank was still out on the rock belt and started asking questions. Wynn came right to the point. He wanted to know if any of their servo pilots had been acting strangely. Before I could answer, men kicked my foot behind the desk. Why, no, I said, is one of them broken or something? Get be sure, said Roberts. Sometimes these rationaloids get shorts in their DX circuits. When it happens, you've got a minor criminal on your hands. Usually manifests itself in petty theft, Wynn broken. They'll lift stuff like wrenches or pliers and carry them around for weeks. Things like that can get loose during flight and really gum up the works. We've been getting some suspicious blips on the equipment around the loading bays. Roberts went on, but they stopped a while back. We're checking out the research report. One of the servos must have DX'd out for sure, and the lab boys think they know which one he is. This mech was clever all right, said Wynn. I could see all the stuff he was taking some way. That's why it took the boys in the lab so long. Now, if you don't mind, we'd like to go over your robot waiting area with these instruments. Could be he's stashing his loot out here. In 22A, they unpacked a suitcase full of meters and began flashing them around and taking readings. Suddenly Wynn bent close over one of them and shouted, What is that, Roberts? I'm getting something. Yeah, the reading checks with the labs. Sounds like the blips are coming from those lockers back there. Roberts rummaged around a while, then shouted, Hey Wynn, look, a lot of parts. Well, I'll be, hey, it's a female mech. A what? A female mech. Look for yourself. Men and I had to act surprised too. It wasn't easy. The way they were slamming Elizabeth's parts around made us kind of sick. It's a stolen robot, Roberts announced. Look, the identification's been filed off. This is serious, Wynn. It's got all the airmarks of a mech fraternization case. Yeah, the boys in the lab were dead right too. No two robots ever registered the same on the meters. The contraband blips checked perfectly. It's got to be this Frank 19. Wait a minute. This proves it. Here's a suit of space fatigues with 19s numbers stenciled inside. Inspector Roberts took a notebook out of his pocket and consulted it. Let's see. 19's got Flight 180. He's due here at the Spotel tomorrow. Well, we'll be here too. Only 19 won't know it. We'll let Romeo put his plastic Juliet together and catch him red-handed, right in the middle of the balcony scene. Wynn laughed and picked up the girl's head. Be a real doll if she was human, Roberts. A real doll. Wynn and I played Jim and Rummy that night, but we kept forgetting to mark down the score. We kept thinking of Frank falling away from the asteroids and counting the minutes until he saw his mech girlfriend. Around noon the next day, the big server checked in, signed the register, and headed straight for 22A. The two minor planets inspectors kept out of sight until Frank shut the door. Then they watched through the S.H.A. vents until Frank had the assembly job finished. You two better be witnesses, Roberts said to us. Wynn, keep your gun ready. You know what to do if they get violent. Roberts counted three and kicked the door open. Freeze, you mechs. We got you in the act, 19. Violation of company rules, 12 and 21. Carrying of contraband, cargo, and robot fraternization. This finishes you at Minor Planets, 19. Groudon Wynn, come clean now, and we might put in a word for you at Robot Court. If you don't, we can recommend a verdict of Materiel's Reclamation. The junk pile to you. Frank acted as if someone had cut his power. Long creases appeared in his big neoprene chest as he slumped hopelessly in his chair. The frightened girl robot just clung to his arm and stared at us. I'm so sorry, Elizabeth, the big server said softly. I'd hoped we'd have longer. It couldn't last forever. Quit stalling, 19, said Wynn. Frank's head came up slowly, and he said, I have no choice, sir. I'll give you a complete statement. First, let me say that rationaloid robot Elizabeth VII, number DX78-947, Series S Specialty Sales Demonstration, is entirely innocent. I plead guilty to inducing Miss VII to leave her place of employ at a Mover Motors, Incorporated, of disassembling and concealing Miss VII, and of smuggling her as unlawful cargo aboard a minor planet's freighter to these premises. That's more like it, chuckled Roberts, whipping out his notebook. Let's have the details. It all started, Frank said, when the California Legislature passed its version of the Robot Lineancy Act two years ago. The Act provided that all rationaloid mechanisms, including non-memory types, received free time each week based on the nature and responsibilities of their jobs. Because of the extra-terrain clause, Frank found himself with a good deal of free time when he wasn't flying the asteroid circuit. At first humans resented us walking around free. The big servo continued. Four or five of us would be sightseeing in San Francisco, keeping strictly within the robot zones painted on the sidewalks when people would yell, Jocko! or Greasebag! or other names at us. Eventually it got better when we learned to go around alone. The humans didn't seem to mind an occasional mech on the streets, but they hated seeing us in groups. At any rate I'd attended a highly interesting lecture on photosynthesis in plastic products one day at the city center when I discovered I had time for a walk before I started back for the rocket-port. Attracted by the lights along Venice Avenue, Frank said he walked north for a while along the city's automobile row. He'd gone about three blocks when he stopped in front of a dealer's window. It wasn't the shiny new Atomavar sports jet about that caught Frank's eye. It was the charming demonstration robot in the sales room who was pointing out the car's new features. I felt an immediate overload of power in my DX circuit. The servo pilot confessed, I had to cut in my emergency condensers before the gain flattened out to normal. Miss Seven experienced the same thing. She stopped what she was doing and we stared at each other. Both of us were aware of the deep attraction of our mutual magnetic domains. Although physicists commonly express the phenomenon in such units as Gilbert's, Maxwell's, and Orsted's, we robots know it to be our counterpart of human love. At this the two inspectors snorted with laughter. I might never have made it back to the base that night, said Frank, ignoring them, if a policeman hadn't come along and wrapped me on the shoulder with his nightstick. I pretended to go, but I doubled around the corner and signaled I'd be back. Frank spent all of his free time on Vanessa Avenue after that. It got so, Elizabeth knew my schedules and expected me between flights. Once in a while, if there was no one around, we could whisper a few words to each other through the glass. Frank paused, then said, As you know, gentlemen, we robots don't demand much out of activation. I think we could have been happy indefinitely with this simple relationship, except that something happened to spoil it. I'd pulled in from Vesta late one afternoon, got my pass, as usual, from the robot supervisor, and gone over to Vanessa Avenue when I saw immediately that something was the matter with Elizabeth. Luckily it was getting dark and no one was around. Elizabeth was alone in the sales room going through her routine. We were able to whisper all we like through the glass. She told me that she'd overheard the sales manager complaining about her low efficiency recently and that he intended to replace her with a newer model of another series. Both of us knew what that meant. Materials, reclamation, the junk pile. Frank realized he'd have to act at once. He told the girl mech to go to the rear of the building and between them they managed to get a window open and Frank lifted her out into the alley. The seriousness of what I'd done jammed my thought relays for a few minutes, admitted the big servo. We panicked and ran through a lot of back streets until I gradually calmed down and started thinking clearly again. Leaving the city would be impossible. Police patrol jet abouts were cruising all around us in the main streets. They'd have picked up a male and female mech on site. Besides when you're on pass the company takes away your master fuse and substitutes a time fuse. If you don't get back on time you deactivate and the police pick you up anyway. I began to see that there was only one way out if we wanted to stay together. It would mean taking big risks, but if we were lucky it might work. I explained the plan carefully to Elizabeth and we agreed to try it. The first step was to get back to the base in south San Francisco without being seen. Fortunately no one stopped us and we made the rocket-port by 8.30. Elizabeth hid while I reported to the super and trained it in my time fuse for my master. Then I checked servo barracks. It was still early and I knew the other servos would all be in town. I had to work quickly. I brought Elizabeth inside and started dismantling her. Just as the other mechs began reporting back I'd managed to get all of her parts stowed away in my locker. The next day I went to San Francisco and brought back with me two rolls of lead foil. While the other servos were on pass I wrapped the parts carefully in it so the radioactivity from Elizabeth's pile wouldn't be picked up. The rest you know gentlemen murmured Frank in low electrical tones. Each time I made a trip I carried another piece of Elizabeth out here concealed in an ordinary parts box. It took me nearly a year to accumulate all of her for an assembly. When the big servo had finished he signed a statement when had taken down in his notebook. I think even the two inspectors were a little moved by the story because Robert said, OK 19 you gave us a break we'll give you one. You're ready to roll for Earth. Meanwhile you can stay here. The next morning only the two inspectors in Frank 19 were standing by the airlock. Wait a minute I said aren't you taking the girl mech 2? Not allowed to tamper with other companies' robots. When said 19 gave us a signed confession so we won't need the girl as a witness. You'll have to contact her employers. That same day men got off a radar gram to Earth explaining to the Atomovire people how a robot employee of theirs had turned up out here and what did they want us to do about it. The reply we received read rationaloidDX78-947 Elizabeth low efficiency worker have replaced dispose UCFIT transfer papers forwarded earliest in compliance with law. The poor thing said men she'll have a hard time getting another job robots have to have such good records. I'll tell you what I said we'll hire her you could use some help with the housework. So we put the girl mech right to work making the guests bed and helping men in the kitchen I guess she was grateful for the work when the work was done and there wasn't anything for her to do she just stood in front of a viewport with her slender plastic arms folded over her waist. Men and I knew she was rerunning her memory tapes of Frank. A week later the publicity started minor planets must have let the story leak out somehow because when the mailed rocket dropped off the Bay Area papers there was Frank's picture plastered all with follow-up stories inside. I read some of the headlines to men. Bear love-nust in space mech Romeo fired in minor planets. Test case opens at Robot Court. Electronics experts probe robot love urge. The I.O. wasn't mentioned but later minor planets must have released the whole thing officially because a bunch of reporters and photographers rocketed out to us and snap a lot of pictures of Elizabeth. We worried for a while about how the publicity would affect our business relations with minor planets but nothing happened. Back on Earth Frank 19 leapt into the public eye overnight. There was something about the story that appealed to people. At first it looked pretty bad for Frank. The state prosecutor at Robot Court had his signed confession of theft and, what was worse, robot fraternization. And then, near the end of the trial, a young scientist named Scott introduced some new evidence and the case was remanded to the Sacramento Court of Appeals. It was Scott's testimony that saved Frank from the junk pile. The big servo got off with only a light sentence for theft because the judge ruled that in the light of Scott's new findings robots came under human law and therefore no infraction of justice had been committed. Working independently in his own laboratory, Scott had proved that magnetic flux lines in male and female robot systems, while at first deteriorating to both, were actually behaving according to the para-emotional theories of von Bohler. Scott termed the condition hysteric puppy love which, he claimed, had many of the advantages of human love if allowed to develop freely. Well, neither men nor I pretended we understood all his equations but they sure made a stir among the scientists. Frank kept getting more and more publicity. First we heard he was serving his sentence in the Meck Correction Center at La Jolla. Then we got a report that he'd turned up in Hollywood. Later it came out that the lack-division pictures had hired Frank for a film and had gone $10,000 bail for him. Not long after that he was getting billed all over Terra as THE sensational first robot star. All during the production of Forbidden Robot Love Frank remained lead copy for the newspapers. Reporters like to write him up as the Valentino of the robots. Frank-19 fan clubs, usually formed by lonely female robots against their employer's wishes, sprang up spontaneously through the East and Middle West. Then somebody found out that Frank could sing and the human teenagers began to go for him. He got so, everywhere you looked and everything you read there was Frank staring you in the face. Frank entweeds on the golf course. There were seros or the brown derby and evening clothes. Frank posing in his sports jet about against a blue Pacific background. Meanwhile everybody forgot about Elizabeth 7. The movie producers had talked about hiring her as Frank's leading lady until they found out about a new line of female robots that had just gone on the market. When they screen-tested the whole series and picked a lovely mylar professional Lloyd named Diana 12, it hit Elizabeth pretty hard. She began to let herself go after that and men and I didn't have the heart to say anything to her. It was pretty obvious she wasn't oiling herself properly. Her hair wasn't brushed and she didn't seem to care when one of her photons went dead. When Forbidden Robot Love premiered simultaneously in Hollywood and New York the critics all gave it rave reviews. There were pictures of Diana 12 and Frank making guest appearances all over the country. Back at the I.O. we got in the habit of letting Elizabeth watch TV with us. Sometimes in the renting office and one night there happened to be an interview with Frank and Diana at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. I guess seeing the pretty robot Starlet and her Frank sitting so close together in the nightclub must have made the girl mech feel pretty bad. Even then she didn't say a word against the big servo. She just never watched the set again after that. When we tabbed up the I.O. receipts that year they were so good men and I decided to take a month off for an Earthside vacation. Men's retired brother would come out and look after the place for us while we spent four solid weeks soaking up the sun in southern California. When we got back out to this motel though I could see there was something wrong by the look on Jim's face. It's that girl robot of yours, Bill he said. She's gone and deactivated herself. We went right to 22A and found Elizabeth 7 stretched out on the floor. There was a screwdriver clutched in her hand and the relay banks in her side were exposed and horribly blackened. Crazy Mech shorted out her own DX Jim said. Men and I knew why. After Jim left for Earth we dismantled Elizabeth the best we could and put her back in Frank's old locker. We didn't know what else to do with her. Anyway the slack season came and went and before long we were doing the spring cleaning again and wondering how heavy the Jovian Moons trade was going to be. I remembered I'd been making some repairs outside and was just hanging up my space suit in the renting office when I heard the radar announcing a ship. It was the biggest Marvin 990 I'd ever seen that finally suctioned up to the boom and secured. I couldn't take my eyes off the ship. She was pretty near the last word in rockets and loaded with accessories. It took me a minute or two before I noticed all the faces looking out of the viewports. Men, I whispered, there's something funny about those faces. They looked like robots. Men answered, Bill, that 990 is full of mechs. Just as she said it a bulky figure and white space fatigues swung out of the hatch and hurried up the gank plank. Seconds later it burst through the airlock. Frank, 19! We gasped together. Please, where is Elizabeth? He hummed anxiously. Is she all right? I have to know. Frank stood perfectly still when I told him about Elizabeth's self-deactivation. Then a pitiful shutter went through him and covered his face in his big neoprene hands. I was afraid of that, he said, barely audibly. Where, you haven't? No, I said. She's where you always kept her. With that the big servo pilot took off for 22A like a berserk robot and we were right behind him. We watched him tear open his old locker and gently lay out the girl in the wax parts so he could study them. After a minute or two he gave a long sigh and said, fortunately it's not as bad as I thought I believe I can fix her. Frank worked hard over the blackened relays for 20 minutes. Then he set the unit aside and began assembling the girl. When the final connections were made and the damaged unit installed he flicked on her power. We waited and nothing happened. The units went by. Ten, slowly the big robot turned away, his broad shoulders drooping slightly. I've failed, he said quietly. Her DX doesn't respond to the game. The girl mech in her blue dress lay there motionless where Frank had been working on her as the servo pilot muttered over and over. It's my fault I did this to you. Then men shouted, Wait! I heard something. There was a slow click of a relay and movement. Painfully, Elizabeth VII rose on one elbow and looked around her. Frank, darling she murmured, shaking her head. I know you're just old memory tape. It's all I have left. Elizabeth, it's really me. I've come to take you away. We're going to be together from now on. You, Frank? This isn't just old feedback. You've come back to me? Forever, darling. Elizabeth, do you remember what I said about those wonderful green little worlds, the asteroids? Darling, we're going to one of them. You and the others will love Alenda. I know you will. I've been there many times. Frank, is your DX all right? What are you talking about? How stupid of me, darling. You haven't heard. Elizabeth, thanks to Dr. Scott, Congress has passed Robot Civil Rights. And that movie I made helped swing public opinion to our side. We're free. The minute I heard the news I applied for interplanetary rights on Alenda. I made arrangements to buy a ship with the money I'd earned. And then I put ads in all the robot-wanted columns for volunteer colonizers. You should have seen the response. We've got 30 robot couples aboard now and more coming later. Darling, we're the first pioneer wave of free robots. On board we have tons of supplies and parts. Everything we need for building culture. Frank, 19, said the girl back suddenly. I should be furious with you. You and that Diana 12, I thought. The big servo gave a flat, whirring laugh. Ha, ha, ha. Diana and me. But that was all publicity, darling. Why, right at the start of the filming, Diana fell in love with Sam, 17, the other actors. They're on board now. Robot civilization, murmured the girl after a minute. Oh, Frank, that means robot government, robot art, robot science. And robot marriage, hummed Frank softly. There has to be robot law. Too. I've thought it all out. As skipper of the first robot-owned rocket, I'm entitled to marry couples in deep space at their request. But who marries us, darling? You can't do it yourself. I thought of that too, said Frank, turning to me. This human gentleman has every right to marry us. He's in command of a moving body in space, just like the captain of a ship. It's perfectly legal. I looked it up in the articles of space. When you do it, sir. Well, what could I say, when Frank dug into his fatigues and handed me a Getty in Prayer book, marked at the marriage service. Elizabeth and Frank said their I-dos right there in the renting office, while the other robot colonizers looked on. Maybe it was the way I read the service. Maybe I should have been a preacher. I don't know. Anyway, when I pronounced Elizabeth and Frank's wife, that whole bunch of lovesick mechs wanted me to do the job for them, too. Big copper work robots, small aluminum sales girl mechs, plastoid clerks and typists, squatty little mu metal lab servos, rationaloids, non-rationaloids and just plain sub-robots, all sizes and shapes. They all wanted individual ceremonies, too. Until noon, the next day, before the last couple was hitched and the 990 left for Alenda. Like I said, this motel business isn't so different from the motel game back in California. Sure, you got improvements to make, but a new sideline can get to be pretty profitable if you get in on the ground floor. Men and I got to thinking of all those robot colonizers who'd be coming out here. Interplanetary cleared the license just last week. Men framed it herself and hung it next to our orbit license in the renting office. She says a lot of motel owners do all right as justices of the peace. End of The Love of Frank XIX by David C. Knight. My friend Bobby This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Reading by Bologna Times My friend Bobby by Alan Edward Norse My name is Jimmy and I am 5 years old, and my friend Bobby is 5 years old too, but he says he thinks he's really more than 5 years old because he's already grown up and I'm just a little boy. We live out in the country because our mommy and daddy live, and every morning daddy takes the car out of the barn and rides into the city to work, and every night he comes back to eat supper and to see mommy and Bobby and me. One time I asked daddy why we don't live in the city like some people do, and he laughed and he said you wouldn't really want to live in the city would you? After all he said you couldn't have Bobby in the city, so I guess it's better to live in the country after all. Anyway daddy says that the city is no place to raise kids these days. I asked Bobby if I am a kid and he said he guessed so, but I don't think he really knows because Bobby isn't very smart, but Bobby is my friend even if he doesn't know much and I like him more than anybody else. Mommy doesn't like Bobby very much, and when I am bad she makes Bobby go outdoors even when it's cold outside. Mommy says I shouldn't play with Bobby so much because after all Bobby is only a dog but I like Bobby. Everyone else is so big and when mommy and daddy are home all I can see are their legs unless I look way up high and when I do something bad I'm scared because they're so big and strong. Bobby is strong too but he isn't any bigger than I am and he is always nice to me. He has a long shaggy brown coat and a long pointed nose and a nice collar of white fur so I say to daddy what a nice collar that is and daddy says yes, isn't he? and he takes to the boys so. I don't know what a collar is but I have fun with Bobby all the time. Sometimes he lets me ride on his back and we talk to each other and have secrets even though I don't think he is very smart. I don't know why mommy and daddy don't understand me when I talk to them the way I talk to Bobby but maybe they just pretend they don't understand me the way I am always sorry when daddy goes to work in the morning daddy is nice to me most times and takes me and Bobby for walks but mommy never takes me for walks and when we are alone she is busy and she isn't nice to me sometimes she says I am a bad boy and makes me stay in my room even when I haven't done anything bad and sometimes she thinks things in her head that she doesn't say to me I don't know why mommy doesn't like me and Bobby doesn't know either but we like it best when mommy lets us go outdoors to play in the barn or down by the creek if I get my feet wet mommy says I am very bad so I stay on the bank and let Bobby go in but one day when Bobby went into the water just before we went home for supper mommy scolded me and told me I was bad for letting Bobby go into the water she was angry and I could tell that she didn't like me at all that day almost every day I do something that mommy says is bad even when I try especially to be good sometimes right after daddy goes away in the morning I know that mommy is angry and is going to spank me sooner or later that day because she is already thinking how she will spank me but she never says so out loud sometimes she pretends that she's not angry and takes me up on her lap and says I'm her nice little boy but all the time I can hear her thinking that she doesn't really like me even when she tries and she doesn't even want to touch me if she can help it I can hear her wondering why my hair doesn't grow nice like the Bennet Twins that live up the road I don't see how mommy can be saying one thing out loud and something else inside her head at the same time but when I look at her she puts me down and says I'm busy and will I get out from underfoot and then pretty soon I do something that makes her angry and she makes me go to my room or she spanks me Bobby doesn't like this once when she spanked me he growled at mommy and mommy chased him outdoors with a broom before she sent me to bed I cried all day that day because it was cold outdoors and I wanted to have Bobby with me I wonder why mommy doesn't like me that day I was a bad boy and let Bobby come into the house before mommy told me I could Bobby hadn't done anything bad but mommy hit him on the back with the broom and hurt him and chased him back outdoors and then she told me that I was a very bad boy I could tell that she was going to spank me and I knew she would hurt me because she was so big and I ran upstairs and hid in my room then mommy stamped her foot hard and said Jimmy you come down here this minute I didn't answer and then she said if I have to come upstairs and get you I whip you until you can't sit down and I still didn't answer because mommy hurts me when she gets angry like that then I heard her coming up the stairs and into my room and she opened up the closet door and found me I said please don't hurt me mommy but she reached down and caught my ear and dragged me out of the closet I was so scared I bit her hand and she screamed and let go and I ran and locked myself in the bathroom because I knew she would hurt me bad if I didn't I stayed there all day long and I could hear mommy running the sweeper downstairs and I couldn't see why she wanted to hurt me so much just because I let Bobby come in before she told me I could but somehow it seemed that mommy was afraid of me even though she was so big and strong I don't see why anybody as big as mommy should be afraid of me but she was when daddy came home that night I heard him talking to mommy and then he came up to the bathroom and said open the door Jimmy I want to talk to you I said I want Bobby first so he went down and called Bobby and then I opened the door and came out of the bathroom daddy reached down and lifted me high up on his shoulder and took me into my bedroom and just sat there for a long time here what he was thinking very well finally he said out loud Jimmy you've got to be good to your mommy and do what she says and not lock yourself up in rooms anymore I said but mommy was going to hurt me and daddy said when you're a good boy your mommy has to punish you so you'll remember to be good but she doesn't like to spank you she only does it because she loves you I knew that wasn't true because mommy likes to punish me but I didn't dare say that to daddy daddy isn't afraid of me the way mommy is and he is nice to me most times so I said all right if you say so daddy said fine will you promise to be nice to mommy from now on I said yes if mommy won't hit Bobby anymore with a broom and daddy said well after all Bobby can be a bad dog that's the way you can be a bad boy can't he I knew Bobby was never a bad dog on purpose but I said yes I guessed so then I wanted to ask daddy why mommy was afraid of me but I didn't dare because I knew daddy liked mommy more than anybody and maybe he would be angry at me for saying things like that about her that night I heard mommy and daddy talking down in the living room and I sat on the top step so I could hear them Bobby sat there too but I knew he didn't know what they were saying because Bobby isn't very smart and can't understand word talk like I can he can only understand think talk and he doesn't understand that very well but now even I couldn't understand what mommy was saying she was crying and saying Ben I tell you there's something wrong with the child he knows what I am thinking I can tell it by the way he looks at me and daddy said darling that's ridiculous how could he possibly know what you're thinking mommy said I don't know but he does ever since he was a little boy he's known oh Ben it's horrible I can't do anything with him because he knows what I'm going to do before I do it then daddy said Carol you're upset about today and you're making things up the child is just a little smarter than most kids there's nothing wrong with that and mommy said no there's more to do it than that and I can't stand it any longer we've got to take him to a doctor I don't even like to look at him daddy said you're tired you're just letting little things get on your nerves so maybe the boy does look a little strange you know the doctor said it was just that the fontanels had closed as soon as they should have and lots of children don't have a good growth of hair before they're six or seven after all he said he isn't a bad looking boy then mommy said that isn't true he's horrible I can't bear it Ben please do something and daddy said what can I do I talked to the boy and he was sorry and promised he'd behave himself and mommy said then there's that dog it follows him around wherever he goes and he's simply wicked if the dog and daddy said isn't it perfectly normal for a boy to love his dog mommy said no not like this talking to him all the time and the dog acting exactly if he understands there's something wrong with the child something horribly wrong then daddy was quiet for a while and then he said all right if it will make you feel any better we can have doctor Grant take another look at him maybe he can convince you that there's nothing wrong with the boy and mommy said please Ben anything I can't stand much more of this when I went back to bed and bobby curled up on the floor I asked him what were fontanels and bobby just yawned and said he didn't know but he thought I was nice and he would always take care of me so I didn't worry anymore and went to sleep I have a panda out in the barn his name is bobby too and at first bobby the dog was jealous of bobby the panda until I told him that the panda was only a make-believe bobby and he was a real bobby then bobby liked the panda and the three of us played out in the barn all day we decided not to tell mommy and daddy about the panda and kept it for our own secret it was a big panda as big as mommy and daddy and sometimes I thought maybe I would make the panda hurt mommy and daddy would be sorry so I didn't bobby and I were playing with bobby the panda the day the doctor came and mommy called me in and made bobby stay outside I didn't like the doctor because he smelled like a dirty old cigar and he had a big red nose with three black hairs coming out of it and he wheezed when he bent down to look at me daddy and mommy sat on the couch and the doctor said let me have a look at you young fellow and the doctor said of course you aren't you're a fine looking boy but just let me listen to your chest for a minute so he put a cold thing on my chest and stuck some tubes in his ears and listened and then he looked in my eyes with a bright light and looked into my ears and then he felt my head all over he had big hairy hands and I didn't like him touching me but I knew mommy would be angry if I didn't hold still so I let him finish and he told daddy some big words that I couldn't understand but in think-talk he was saying that my head still hadn't closed upright and I didn't have as much hair as you'd expect but otherwise I seemed to be all right he said I was a good stout looking boy but if they wanted a specialist and to look at me he would arrange it daddy asked if that would cost very much and the doctor said yes it probably would because my bones were just a little slow in developing and mommy said have you seen other children like that? the doctor said no but if the boy seems to be normal and intelligent why should she be worrying so then mommy told me to go upstairs and I went but I stopped on the top stair and listened when I was gone the doctor said I told daddy how she thought I knew what she was thinking and the doctor said to daddy Ben have you ever felt any such thing about the boy? daddy said of course not sometimes he gives you the feeling that he's smarter than you think he is but all parents have that feeling about their children sometimes and then mother broke down and her voice got loud and she said he's a monster I know it there's something wrong and he's different from us the doctor said but it's a beautiful collie and mommy said but he talks to it and it understands him and the doctor said now Carol let's be reasonable mommy said I've been reasonable too long you men just can't see it at all don't you think I'd know a normal child if I saw one and then she cried and cried and finally she said all right I know I'm making a fool of myself just over tired and the doctor said I'm sure that's the trouble try to get some rest and sleep longer at night and mommy said I can't sleep at night I just lie there and think the doctor said well we'll fix that enough of this nonsense now you need your sleep and if you're not sleeping well it's you that should be seeing the doctor he gave her some pills from his bag and then he went away and pretty soon daddy let Bobby in and Bobby came upstairs and jumped up and licked my face as if he'd been away for a hundred million years later mommy called me down for supper and she wasn't crying anymore and she and daddy didn't say anything about what they had said to the doctor mommy made a special surprise for dessert some ice cream with chocolate syrup on top and after supper we all went for a walk even though it was cold outside and snowing again and mommy said well I think things will be all right and mommy said I hope so but I could tell that she didn't really think so and she was more afraid of me than ever for a while I thought mommy was really going to be nice to me and Bobby then she was especially nice when daddy was home but when daddy was away at work sometimes mommy jumped when she saw me looking at her and then sent me outdoors to play I liked that because I knew if I weren't near mommy everything would be all right when I was with mommy I tried hard not to look at her and I tried not to hear what she was thinking but lots of times I would see her looking first at me and then at Bobby and those times I couldn't help hearing what she was thinking because it seemed so loud inside my head that it made my eyes hurt but I knew mommy would be angry so I pretended I couldn't hear what she was thinking at all one day when we were out in the barn playing with Bobby the panda we saw mommy coming down through the snow from the kitchen and Bobby said look out Jimmy, mommy is coming and I quick told Bobby the panda to go hide under the hay so mommy couldn't see him but the panda was so big his whole top and his little pink nose stuck out of the hay mommy came in and looked around the barn and said you've been out there for a long time what have you been doing? I said nothing and Bobby said nothing too only in think talk and mommy said you are too you've been doing something naughty and I said no mommy we haven't done anything and then the panda sneezed and I looked at him and he looked so funny with his nose sticking out of the hay that I laughed out loud mommy looked angry I said nothing because I knew mommy couldn't see the panda but I couldn't stop laughing because he looked so funny sticking out of the hay then mommy got mad and grabbed my ear and shook me until it hurt and said you naughty boy don't you lie to me what have you been doing out here? she hurt me so much I started to cry and then mommy snarled at mommy loud and low and curled his lips back over his teeth and snarled some more and mommy got real right in the face and let go of me and she said get out of here you nasty dog and Bobby snarled louder and then snapped at her she screamed and she said jimmy you come into the house this minute and leave that nasty dog outdoors and I said I won't come I hate you then mommy said jimmy you wicked ugly little monster and I said I don't care when I get big I'm gonna hurt you in the wood shed and lock you in until you die and make you eat coconut pudding and Bobby hates you too and mommy looked terrible and I could feel how much she was afraid of me and I said you just wait I'll hurt you bad when I get big and then she turned and ran back to the house and Bobby wagged his tail and said don't worry I won't let her hurt you anymore and I said Bobby you shouldn't have snapped at her because daddy won't like me when he comes home but Bobby said I like you and I won't let anything ever hurt you I'll always take care of you no matter what and I said promise no matter what and Bobby said I promise and then we told Bobby the panda to come out but it wasn't much fun playing anymore after a little while mommy called me and said lunch was ready and I said can Bobby come too and she said of course Bobby can come Bobby's a nice dog so we went in to eat lunch mommy was talking real fast about what fun it was to play in the barn and was I sure I wasn't too cold because it was below zero outside and the radio said a snowstorm was coming but she didn't say anything about Bobby and me being out in the barn she was talking so fast I couldn't hear what she was thinking except for little bits while she set my lunch on the table and then she set a bowl of food on the floor for Bobby even though it wasn't Bobby's time to eat and said nice Bobby here's your dinner Bobby came over and sniffed the bowl and then he looked up at me and said it smells funny and mommy said nice Bobby it's a good hamburger just the way you like it and then for just a second I saw what she was thinking because she was thinking that Bobby would soon be dead and I remembered daddy saying a long time ago that somebody fed bad things to the Bennett's dog and the dog died and I said don't eat it Bobby and Bobby snarled at the dish and then mommy said you tell the dog to eat it and I said no you're bad and you want her Bobby and then I picked up the dish and threw it at mommy it missed and smashed on the wall and she screamed and turned and ran out into the other room she was screaming for daddy and saying I can't stand it he's a monster a murderous little monster and we've got to get out of here before he kills us all he knows what we're thinking he's horrible and then she was on the telephone and she couldn't make the words come out right when she tried to talk I was scared and I said come on Bobby let's lock ourselves up in my room and we ran upstairs and locked the door mommy was banging things and laughing and crying downstairs and screaming we've got to get out he'll kill us if we don't and a while later I heard the car coming up the road fast and saw daddy run into the house just as it started to snow then mommy was screaming please Ben we've got to get out of here he tried to kill me and the dog is vicious he bit me when I tried to make him stop the next minute daddy was running up the stairs two at a time and I could feel him inside my head for the first time and I knew he was angry he'd never been this angry before and he rattled the knob and said open this door Jimmy and a loud voice I said no I won't and he said open the door or I'll break your neck when I get in there and then he kicked the door and kicked it again the third time the lock broke and the door flew open and daddy stood there patting his eyes looked terrible a leather belt doubled up in his hand and he said now come out here and his voice was so loud it hurt my ears down below mommy was crying please Ben take me away he'll kill us both he's a monster I said don't hurt me daddy it was mommy she was bad to me and he said I said come out here even louder I was scared then and I said please daddy I'll be good I promise then he started from me with his belt and I screamed out Bobby don't let him hurt me Bobby and Bobby snarled like a wild animal and jumped at daddy and bit his wrist so bad that blood spurred it out daddy shouted and dropped the belt and kicked at Bobby but Bobby was too quick he jumped for daddy again and I saw his white teeth flash and hurt him snap close to daddy's throat and then Bobby was snarling and snapping and I was excited and I shouted hurt him Bobby he's been bad at me too and he wants to hurt me and you've got to stop him then I saw daddy's eyes open wide and felt something jump in his mind something that I'd never felt there before and I knew he was understanding my think-talk I said I want Bobby to hurt you and mommy because you're not nice to me only Bobby and my panda are nice to me go ahead Bobby hurt him bite him again and make him bleed and then daddy caught Bobby by the neck and threw him across the room and slammed the door shut and dragged something heavy up to block it in a minute he was running downstairs shouting Carol I heard it you were right all along I felt him I felt what he was thinking and mommy cried please Ben take me away let's leave them and never come back never and daddy said it's horrible he told that dog to kill me and it went right for my throat the boy is evil and monstrous even from downstairs I could feel daddy's fear pounding into my head and then I heard the door banging and looked out the window and saw daddy carrying suitcases out through the snow to the car and then mommy came out running and the car started down the hill and they were gone everything downstairs was very quiet I looked out the window and I couldn't see anything but the big falling snowflakes and the sun going down over the hill now Bobby and I and the panda are all together and I'm glad mommy and daddy are gone I went to sleep for a little while because my head hurt so but now I'm awake and Bobby is lying across the room licking his feet and I hope mommy and daddy never come back because Bobby will take care of me Bobby is my friend and he said he'd always take care of me no matter what and he understands my think-talk even if he isn't very smart it's beginning to get cold in the house now because nobody has gone down to fix the fire but I don't care about that pretty soon I will tell Bobby to push open the door and go down and fix the fire and then I will tell him to get supper for me and then I will stay up all night because mommy and daddy aren't here to make me go to bed there's just me and Bobby and the panda and Bobby promised he'd take care of me because he's my friend it's getting very cold now and I'm getting hungry and of Bobby by Alan Edward Norris