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especially the reaction of Katherine to hearing Euler say the man s
name David.
What could it mean? He had literally stumbled upon Katherine, yet
she seemed an indispensable part of the puzzle. What role did she
play? Again, destiny seemed to rule the day a place for everything,
everything in its place. He was a blind man with a jigsaw puzzle,
feeling his way through, groping sightlessly for the connections. He
liked the girl, couldn t help it, and felt a strong physical attraction for
her that he wouldn t even try to wish away; yet he couldn t shake the
feeling that she was deeply involved in covering up his real identity
and purpose. And again, his eternal question why?
He continued moving down the street. Though the buildings were
beautiful, they were nondescript, without markings of any kind. He
recognized warehouses because parts were being moved in and out of
them, but everything else seemed devoid of purpose. If he could find
an official building, he could try to hook up to a terminal and make
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r r
his own inquiries. The pyramid where he and Katherine had
materialized, the place the robots called the Compass Tower, had
seemed solid to him. Even though it appeared to be the point upon
which all else hinged, he wasn t ready to go back to it yet.
The robots on the street ignored him as he moved through their
midst. There seemed to be a sense of urgency to them that he couldn t
understand. He stopped a utility robot like the one he had snuck past
at the apartment, except this one had huge scoops for hands.
 Can you talk? he asked.
 Yes, most assuredly, the robot answered.
 I need to find the administration building.
 I don t believe we have one here.
 Where would I find the closest computer terminal?
 I regret that I cannot say.
Derec sighed. The runaround. Again.  Why can t you say?
 If I told you that, you d know everything.
 Know everything about what?
 About the thing that I cannot talk about. If you d like, you can stay
here and I ll report to a supervisor and have him come out and find
you.
 No, thanks, Derec replied, and the robot turned to walk away.
 Hey, what s your hurry?
 The rain, the utility said, pointing toward the sky.  The rain is
coming. You had better get to shelter. The robot turned and hurried
off, his box-like body weaving from side to side as he rolled along.
 What about the rain!? Derec yelled, but his words were lost in a
sudden gust of wind.
He watched the figure of the robot for a moment, realizing that the
street he had come down looked different than it had a moment
before. The whole block, street and all, had seemed to shift positions,
bowing out to curve what had once been straight. A tall, tetrahedral
structure, which he had used as a reference point, had disappeared
completely. Ten minutes on the street and he was totally lost.
He pressed on, the wind colder now, more intense. If this was such a
perfect world for humans, then why did the weather seem so bad?
He reached an unmarked corner and found himself on the street he
had ridden down earlier, during the parade. It was extra wide, a large
aqueduct bisecting it.
He moved to the edge of the aqueduct and stared down at the dark,
rushing waters that filled it no more than a quarter full. Where had
the waters come from? Where were they going? Had Robot City been
built here for the water, or was the water somehow a consequence of
the building?
The water rushed past, dark and inscrutable, much like the problem
of Derec s past and, perhaps, his future. Yet he could know about the
water. He could trace it to its source; he could follow it to its
destination. He could know. The thought heartened him, for he could
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r r
do the same with his life. Accepting that destiny and not chance had
brought him to this impossible place, it then followed that the sources
of that destiny could be traced through the city itself.
If he pursued it properly, he could trace the origins of the city and,
hence, find his own origins. It seemed eminently logical, for he
couldn t escape the concept that he and Robot City were inextricably
linked, physically, emotionally, and, perhaps, metaphysically. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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