driftfleet | one fish, two fish, red fish, (blue fish)!!

[Robb comes from a very medieval time. He lives inside a castle and he rides a horse to war. Robots, or even synthetic ones are a completely foreign concept to him. That men wish to recreate men from iron sounds utterly...ridiculous.

Carefully he takes a step closer and dips his head lower, looking curiously at the other.]

Why would a man make a man out of iron?

[It could be loneliness. But then again, the man could have taken a dog or a wife instead.]

[Daneel stays where he is, attempting to look as non-threatening and friendly as possible.]

Robots are typically made to perform labour, particularly tasks that are seen as dangerous. Most robots, where I am from, do not resemble humanity so closely. I was an experiment.

[Robb does not feel threatened by him. He looks way more friendly than the robots inside the large ship, the Marsiva.]

I see... [There is the slightest cock of his head when he says that.] Robots are...things like these black boxes, not? Made of iron and wires.

Is it their wish to make a robot of flesh and blood?

[He cannot entirely wrap his head around this.]

They wished for me to go where they could not and still be presumed human, and they wished to study how I developed, so as to learn more about the human mind.

[Daneel tilts his head a little, and extends his hand.]

But I am not flesh and blood, as you put it. My skin seems very real, I know. You can touch it, if you wish. It is only a clever fake, though. I do not bleed. If you feel, you will find I have no pulse. Underneath, I am metal and wires. I can show you, in fact.

But you are not human. Do you think you are? Or are you well aware that... [Robb’s eyes narrow slightly and finally he slumps a little against the wall, unable to comprehend the existence of robots made like human.

He sounds human enough.] Do you want to be?

[He is careful when he touches Daneel’s hand. He expects to touch something cold and lifeless but it feels quite normal instead.]

Very well. [A careful nod.] You may show it. [Robb has seen torn up bodies before, he is sure he can handle this.]

I know I am not human, nor will I ever be. I have always known this. It does not trouble me, nor do I wish to be other than what I am, though there is much about humans I admire.

[Daneel rolls up his sleeve, then presses his fingers into a hidden seam of his forearm. His skin peels back, revealing a metal skeleton, with wires and cables instead of muscles and veins. He holds out his arm for Robb to see.]

[There is a hint of interest in his eyes. Robb is not one who likes to stray away from that he knows of. Because he knows that men are made of flesh and blood. And armors are worn on the outside.]

Not all humans are good, ser. [He does not consider himself a good human either. There is a big difference between being as good as you think you can be and being actually good.] But what is it that you admire so?

[His eyes flash from Daneel's exposed metal arm to his face as he speaks.]

You are capable of both great goodness and great harm, though not all choose the good. You have in you the potential for creativity, intuition, and kindness. I think that is something worth encouraging.

[Calmly, he closes up his wrist again.]

[This is the strangest thing he has ever seen and it boggles his mind a little. A robot shaped after a human who admires human for doing things he cannot do?

Robb watches closely as Daneel pulls his skin back over the metal of his arm.]

You cannot do such things? [A pause.] ...Ser?

It isn't necessary to refer to me so formally. 'Daneel' is fine.

[He pauses, thinking his answer through.]

I am... different from humans, let us say. My behaviour is governed by the Laws of Robotics, and it is a strictly rational process. Humans are compelled to act by emotional processes, not rational ones. Sometimes this is not beneficial, of course, as when one acts out of greed or hatred. Other times, it can lead to flashes of insight, or works of art, or acts of compassion that are chosen amongst many other actions. I believe I have emotional responses, which are analogous to human emotions if not identical, but I rarely act simply because of them.

Dr. Crusher maintains that art is not beyond me. This remains to be seen.

Daneel. [Robb nods deeply, still looking at the man with a curious look on his face. A man made of metal.]

Ah robotics! [That is what the lady Beverly said to him.] My brother has an interest in that. [Would that mean that Bran wants to build a robot as well? That would be rather interesting. His brother was no blacksmith, he could not ever work with iron.]

But do you feel them as well? [The oddest images appear inside Robb’s head, not entirely able to place this.] Or is it that you know how you must feel when others feel like that?

[He hesitates. He could go right out and explain he has telepathic powers, but that's... weird. And not everyone likes that. And feelings things second-hand isn't the same as feeling it yourself. So he'll be quiet on that.]

Let me put it this way. When I am in the company of a friend, for example, I experience a number of stimuli. The positronic circuits of my brain flow faster and with less resistance, my responses come swifter and easier, I am less aware of the pull of gravity upon my body. There are other symptoms, but these are the chief ones. I would term this 'pleasure,' as it seems analogous to how humans use the word, and it is indeed a sensation I am always glad to repeat. I do know this is likely not how you would experience pleasure, but it is how I experience it.

[Daneel, you lost Robb there.

He figures steel cannot feel and what are positronic circuits anyway? Can they feel instead?]

I am afraid I do not understand any of that. [Robb shakes his head.] I know of warfare, swords and horses. [And a bunch of other things that lie close to that.] Pleasure is a different thing to me, aye. [He thinks it is not fitting to refer to bedding his lady wife and spilling his seed inside of her.]

I think it is not a true...thing then? [Well, if he has been made out of steel someone has to make these positronic things as well. And humans are made in a way and...gods be good, no that is all a little bit too deep for Robb.] Never mind, ser. Daneel, ser. I think I got carried away a little.

Suffice to say, then, that while in many ways I am very different from you, in others I am made very similarly. There are things you can do that I cannot, and things that I can do that would not be possible for you. I am a machine, but I think, and I feel.

[His voice is gentle.]

I have had more to do with the prevention of warfare than of the making it, in any event.

You are a...fake sort of human. But are you still a robot then? I mean...the ones I have seen at the other ship are nothing but...odd metal...human shapes. You are not.

[Some part of him just want to run off and leave it here. He is not as inquisitive as Bran can be. But it would be rather rude and it is obvious that this robot-man means well.]

You are made for defense?

Not precisely, though I have acted as a bodyguard in the past.

[He's multi-purpose!]

Aurorans have very weak immune systems, and a minor illness that would be insignificant for the people of Earth would be fatal for them. Part of their reasoning was that I would be able to enter Earth Cities, in order to observe or carry out business.

So you are a fake human being, shaped after a human being so you cannot catch a disease? [Robb, that is exactly what Daneel is telling you.] But what if the disease clings to you anyway?

Or do you enter the diseased cities naked? Or without your human skin? You do not have brains either, I take? [Ah, no...] I do not mean it in such a way...

It is true that while I cannot become ill myself, I could carry a pathogen to someone who could. Fortunately, there are decontamination processes, a very thorough cleaning, to ensure that does not occur. There would be no need for me to be naked. In extreme situations, it might be necessary to dispose of my clothing, though that's never been necessary.

[Fortunately, he is not capable of being offended, and he just shakes his head slightly.]

I do have a brain, in fact. It, too, is artificial. It's made of a special alloy of rare metals. In some ways it isn't dissimilar from your own.

I take it you do not feel heat. Or sweat. Iron cannot sweat. [It can melt but that is not the heat Robb refers to. Still, he corrects himself a little.] I mean the sun.

[That is a good thing, Daneel, because Robb realizes that that has been a rather rude thing to say.]

Ah... [He tries to think of what to say to that. How can metal form a brain? The robots at the Marsiva have proved that metal can move once powered by something called electricity. And of course, there is this robot-man in front of him.] ...how exactly?

To an extent I can feel heat, at least extreme heat that might be a danger, though I cannot feel pain from it. It is true, too, that I do not sweat.

[He pauses, considering how to explain things.]

Perhaps it is best to say that I am aware of the ambient temperature around me, but without actually feeling hot or cold in the sense, I believe, you would. As far as my brain goes, that is complex, and harder for me to explain. If I am to try... well. An organic brain such as your own functions because of signals that travel along certain paths in order to react or remember. My own brain is similar, though the pathways are artificial. That is all.

[And, well, positrons are involved, but Daneel judges that this might not be the best time to bring up antimatter particles. Just maybe.]

I admit I'm not the best individual to explain it. The making of positronic brains is something that scientists of my world have perfected over well over a millennium of work.

You do burn, then? If someone would set you ablaze you will burn? But will you also stop...moving? Living?

[Robb is trying his very best to understand this.]

It is a fake brain then? [But how does a man make a fake brain? Finally Robb starts to laugh softly, almost embarrassed.] My apologies, I should not bother you with so many questions. Mayhap there will be a day I understand more of you. Of what you are made of.

[Despite the fact his armor is at the wrong side of his body, Robb does not dislike him.]

If I were damaged enough, I would certainly cease functioning, or living, if you prefer. If I were taken apart, it might be possible to put me physically back together again, but it's very likely I would cease to be.

[He's been told that he's alive. He's also been told he isn't. Really, he doesn't know. He's conscious, whether or not that counts as living.]

You don't need to apologise. Curiosity is only natural, and I don't mind answering.

You are immortal? [Well, that is the only conclusion he can make. Putting back together, functioning. This man...person...creature probably had no heart either. He would not bleed either.

But he behaved as if he...is a person.] You cannot die.

Are you curious after...beings like...well humans? Or do you feel as if you are one since you are...created after one?

[The questions keep on coming and Robb cannot help it.]

I can be destroyed. I may not always be repairable. It's true that I don't age physically.

[Is that immortal? Is this life to begin with?]

I have been functioning for twenty decades at this point. Much of me has needed repairs or even replacement in that time, as a human being might need medication or an artificial limb. There may come to be a time when I can no longer be repaired, or an essential part may break down in a way that there is no time to replace it. If my brain were damaged, for example, and then replaced, the replacement would not be... me. He would not have my memories and my thoughts. He would be a new robot with my body.

[A curious thought, actually. He doesn't know how he feels like that.]

I am very interested in humans. I enjoy human company and am fascinated by human ways of thinking. Friend Giskard observed that I was becoming more human with time. I am not human, however, nor will I ever be. I am more like them than many robots, but I am not the same.

But how...? How do you know you are you when someone else created you? Aren't you shaped after someone else's idea then? [He believes he gets it. Maybe a little. If robots were man-made robots could not be a person. They would always be someone else's person.

Isn't that it?]

Can you have memories then? Is it that...? [What a difficult subject on an evening like this.] When someone faces hardship the memories can go and change that person's thoughts. When a man falls in love, he would do everything for that...for that love. Is it not?

one fish, two fish, red fish, (blue fish)!!

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