Susan Calvin waited as the thick slabs of celluform went down, then held out one hand. ‘Come, Easy.’

The robot looked in her direction and held out its large metal arm. It towered over her by two feet but followed meekly, like a child in the clasp of its mother. Someone giggled nervously and choked it off at a hard glare from Dr Calvin.

Easy seated itself carefully in a large chair brought by the bailiff, which creaked but held.

Defense said, ‘When it becomes necessary, Your Honor, we will prove that this is actually Robot EZ-27, the specific robot in the employ of Northeastern University during the period of time with which we are concerned.’

‘Good,’ His Honor said. ‘That will be necessary. I, for one, have no idea how you can tell one robot from another.’

‘And now,’ said Defense, ‘I would like to call my first witness to the stand. Professor Simon Ninheimer, please.’

The clerk hesitated, looked at the judge. Justice Shane asked, with visible surprise, ‘You are calling the plaintiff as your witness?’

‘Yes, Your Honor.’

‘I hope that you’re aware that as long as he’s your witness, you will be allowed none of the latitude you might exercise if you were cross-examining an opposing witness.’

Defense said smoothly, ‘My only purpose in all this is to arrive at the truth. It will not be necessary to do more than ask a few polite questions.’

‘Well,’ said the judge dubiously, ‘you’re the one handling the case. Call the witness.’

Ninheimer took the stand and was informed that he was still under oath. He looked more nervous than he had the day before, almost apprehensive.

But Defense looked at him benignly.

‘Now, Professor Ninheimer, you are suing my clients in the amount of $750,000.’

‘That is the – uh – sum. Yes.’

‘That is a great deal of money.’

‘I have suffered a great deal of harm.’

‘Surely not that much. The material in question involves only a few passages in a book. Perhaps these were unfortunate passages, but after all, books sometimes appear with curious mistakes in them.’

Ninheimer’s nostrils flared. ‘Sir, this book was to have been the climax of my professional career! Instead, it makes me look like n incompetent scholar, a perverter of the views held by my honored friends and associates and a believer of ridiculous and – uh – outmoded v1ewpomts. My reput tion is irretrievably shattered! I can never hold up my head in any – uh – assemblage of scholars, regardless of the outcome of this trial. I certainly cannot continue in my career, which has been the whole of my life. The very purpose of my life has been – uh – aborted and destroyed.’

Defense made no attempt to interrupt the speech, but stared abstractedly at his fingernails as it went on.

He said very soothingly, ‘But surely, Professor Ninheimer, at your present age, you could not hope to earn more than – let us be g nerous – $150,000 during the remainder of your life. Yet you are asking the court to award you five times as much.’

Ninheimer said, with an even greater burst of emotion, ‘It is not in my lifetime alone that I am ruined. I do not know for how many gen rations I shall be pointed at by sociologists as a-uh-a fool or mamac. My real achievements will be buried and ignored. I am ruined not on!y until the day of my death, but for all time to come, because ther will always be people who will not believe that a robot made those msertions—’

It was at this point that Robot EZ-27 rose to his feet. Susan Calvin made no move to stop him. She sat motionless, staring straight ahead. Defense sighed softly.

Easy’s melodious voice carried clearly. It said, ‘I would like to explain to everyone that I did insert certain passages in the galley proofs that seemed directly opposed to what had been there at first—’

Even the Prosecuting Attorney was too startled at the spectacle of a seven-foot robot rising to address the court to be able to demand the stopping of what was obviously a most irregular procedure.

When he could collect his wits, it was too late. For Ninheimer rose in the witness chair, his face working.

He shouted wildly, ‘Damn you, you were instructed to keep your mouth shut about—’

He ground to a choking halt, and Easy was silent, too.

Prosecution was on his feet now, demanding that a mistrial be declared.

Justice Shane banged his gavel desperately. ‘Silence! Silence! Certainly there is every reason here to declare a mistrial, except that in the interests of justice I would like to have Professor Ninheimer complete his statement. I distinctly heard him say to the robot that the robot had been instructed to keep its mouth shut about something. There was no mention in your testimony, Professor Ninheimer, as to any instructions to the robot to keep silent about anything!’

Ninheimer stared wordlessly at the judge.

Justice Shane said, ‘Did you instruct Robot EZ-27 to keep silent about something? And if so, about what?’

‘Your Honor—’ began Ninheimer hoarsely, and couldn’t continue.

The judge’s voice grew sharp. ‘Did you in fact, order the inserts in question to be made in the galleys and then order the robot to keep quiet about your part in this?’

Prosecution objected vigorously, but Ninheimer shouted, ‘Oh, what’s the use? Yes! Yes!’ And he ran from the witness stand. He was stopped at the door by the bailiff and sank hopelessly into one of the last rows of seats, head buried in both hands.

Justice Shane said, ‘It is evident to me that Robot EZ-27 was brought here as a trick. Except for the fact that the trick served to prevent a serious miscarriage of justice, I would certainly hold attorney for the Defense in contempt. It is clear now, beyond any doubt, that the plaintiff has committed what is to me a completely inexplicable fraud since, apparently, he was knowingly ruining his career in the process—’

Judgment, of course, was for the defendant.

Dr Susan Calvin had herself announced at Dr Ninheimer’s bachelor quarters in University Hall. The young engineer who had driven the car offered to go up with her, but she looked at him scornfully.

‘Do you think he’ll assault me? Wait down here.’

Ninheimer was in no mood to assault anyone. He was packing, wasting no time, anxious to be away before the adverse conclusion of the trial became general knowledge.

He looked at Calvin with a queerly defiant air and said, ‘Are you coming to warn me of a countersuit? If so, it will get you nothing. I have no money, no job, no future. I can’t even meet the costs of the trial.’

‘If you’re looking for sympathy,’ said Calvin coldly, ‘don’t look for it here. This was your doing. However, there will be no countersuit, neither of you nor of the university. We will even do what we can to keep you from going to prison for perjury. We aren’t vindictive.’

‘Oh, is that why I’m not already in custody for forswearing myself? I had wondered. But then,’ he added bitterly, ‘why should you be vindictive? You have what you want now.’

‘Some of what we want, yes,’ said Calvin. ‘The university will keep Easy in its employ at a considerably higher rental fee. Furthermore, certain underground publicity concerning the trial will make it possible to place a few more of the EZ models in other institutions without danger of a repetition of this trouble.’

‘Then why have you come to see me?’

‘Because I don’t have all of what I want yet. I want to know why you hate robots as you do. Even if you had won the case, your reputation would have been ruined. The money you might have obtained could not have compensated for that. Would the satisfaction of your hatred for robots have done so?’

‘Are you interested in human minds, Dr Calvin?’ asked Ninheimer, with acid mockery.

‘Insofar as their reactions concern the welfare of robots, yes. For that reason, I have learned a little of human psychology.’

‘Enough of it to be able to trick me!’

‘That wasn’t hard,’ said Calvin, without pomposity. ‘The difficult thing was doing it in such a way as not to damage Easy.’