The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg Page A

he was-he had the look about him of an angry old emperor plagued by unruly subordinates. He ignored Andrew's presence completely.
    Little Miss said, "All right, Father. We can discuss this quietly and rationally, can't we?"
    Sir shrugged. "I try to discuss everything quietly and rationally. I always have."
    "Yes, you have, Father."
    "But this, Mandy-this total absurdity-this monstrous nonsense that Andrew has thrown at me-!"
    "Father!"
    "I'm sorry. I can't stay calm when I'm confronted with absolute craziness."
    "You know that Andrew is inherently incapable of craziness. Craziness just isn't included in his specifications."
    "When he talks about getting his freedom-his freedom, by God!-what else can it be but craziness?" And Sir began to sputter and turn red again.
    Andrew had never seen Sir in such a state-never. Once more he began to feel uneasy about being present in the room, and thus setting up such a threat to the old man's constitution. Sir seemed almost on the verge of an apoplectic fit. And if something should happen to him-something that would be a direct result of Andrew's having begun all this- Little Miss said, "Stop it, Father! Just stop it! You have no right to throw a tantrum over this!"
    Andrew was astonished to hear Little Miss speaking to her father so harshly, so defiantly. She sounded like a mother scolding a cranky child. Suddenly it struck him that among human beings time must eventually reverse all the normal generational roles: that Sir, once so dynamic and autocratic and all-knowing, was now as weak and vulnerable as a child, and it was Little Miss's responsibility to guide and direct him as he struggled to understand the bewildering nature of the world.
    It seemed a little strange to Andrew, too, that they would be enacting this highly charged scene in front of him. But of course no one in the Martin family had hesitated to talk in front of Andrew for thirty years-not even about the most intimate matters. Why should they feel any inhibitions in his presence? He was only a robot.
    "Freedom-" Sir said. His voice was thick in his throat. "For a robot!"
    "It's an unusual concept, yes. I admit that, Father. But why are you taking it as such a personal affront?"
    "Am I? I'm taking it as an affront against logic! An affront against common sense! Look, Mandy, what would you say if your front porch came to you and said, 'I want my freedom. I want to move to Chicago and be a front porch there. I think being a front porch in Chicago would be personally more fulfilling than remaining in this place.' "
    Andrew saw a muscle flicker in Little Miss's cheek. He understood abruptly that Sir's vehement reaction to his request must have some connection with Ma'am's decision, years ago, to end her marriage to Sir and leave, to seek her freedom as a single woman far away.
    Human beings were so complicated!
    Little Miss said, " A front porch can't say anything. Or decide to move itself anywhere else. Front porches aren't intelligent. Andrew is."
    "Artificial intelligence."
    "Father, you sound like the worst sort of Society-for-Humanity Fundamentalist bigot! Andrew has lived with you for decades. You know him as well as you know any member of your own family. -What am I saying? He is a member of your own family. Now, suddenly, you begin talking about him as though he's nothing but some ingenious kind of carpet sweeper! Andrew is a person and you know that very well."
    "An artificial person," Sir said. But some of the conviction and force had left his tone.
    "Artificial, yes. That's beside the point. This is the Twenty-Second Century, Father-and pretty far along in the Twenty-Second Century at that. Surely we're capable by now of recognizing that robots are intricate and sensitive organisms that have distinctive personalities, that have feelings, that have-well, that have souls. "
    "I'd hate to have to defend that point in court," Sir said. He said it quietly, with a touch of amusement in his voice where the rancor had been