Unwise Child

at high speed. Mike left the car at Stage Twelve and headed up the stai

the Antarctic blast only by a curtain of hot air. Outside that curtain, the light seemed to lose itself in the darkness of

to himself. "I wonder if the sig

rom the door when

el

ll. Just t

me to a dead halt

s doing its best to shield the room from the sixty-below-zero blizzard outside. Opposite the air curtain was a huge sliding door, closed at the moment, which probably led to

el

This time there was no doubt. Someone was out

t of the time by the driving whiteness. Whoever it

to see the foyer lights. He wouldn't get lost. Snapping down the faceplate of his parka hood, he ran thro

itself against his faceplate, and the wind kept trying to take him off his feet. He wiped a glove

ke fine sand than anything else. Mike the Angel figured he had about thirty feet to go, but

ad thrown a handful of razor blades into his face. He winced and yelle

ear, contralto voice th

'm coming!" he bellowed,

He couldn't see

up his face

ans

he call

there was

swirling, blinding snow, the screaming, tearing

g the toe of his right foot to the rear of the heel of his lef

ed a sigh

half suspected that someone was trying to trap him

a sign of anyone. There was nothing he could do but head back and r

hot-air curtain and f

izzard?" said a clear, contra

und angrily. "

sto

y was n

om the waist down. It had a pair of black sockets in its head, which Mike took to be TV cameras of some kind. It had grillwork on

ed Mike the Angel of

ums," said

uneasily toward the door. "You're Snookums. I

t up with it if he had to. But, given his choice, he would have much preferred to be afraid of something a little less

nookums," reiterat

nd the accelerator floor-boarded. He'd been lured out onto the W

of the waldo type used to handle radioactive materials in a hot lab-four

Who was saying those inane things over the speaker that ser

t moving toward him, which was some consolation, but not much. The thing could obviously move

out, miss?" asked Mike the Angel. He didn't ex

,'" said the robo

en," said Mike, "woul

ookums, "I wo

ld grasp it, it turned, and the door opened behind him. It hit him full in the

o voice said: "O

ame voice as

ung around to fac

e it was

e was no mistaking the fact that she was both human and feminine. She came on

as just asking me about it. I just wanted to see if he would c

ease tell Snookums why you went out there? Ple

ecause I thought I heard a human being calling f

be said to have a heart. "The reaction was based, then, upon a m

ve done it if he had known it was you, because he would have known that you were not in any danger. You can stand much lower temperatures than a h

ct," said Mike th

. It is dangerous for a human to go out there, even with an e

I'm sorry, Leda!" There was

n't hurt, so don't get upset. Come along now, and we'll go back

elt all the time she was talking-and that her thumb was h

g why, but he didn't

out, obviously in a devil of a hurry. Each one of

e turned to look them over, the brass

thumb at Mike. "This

Mike. "I'm terribly sorry, really I am. But there's no help for it." Then, without ano

t Mike, a tough-looking bozo wearing an ensign's

had no insignia of rank on it, bu

ped the ensign.

d it to the security cop. "It tells right there

e saw the emblem that Lieutenant Nariaki had stamped on it, his e

zed to by a woman, a robot, and a cop. The next thing, a penguin will walk in here, tip his top hat, and ab

were trying ha

those connected with Project Brainchild are supposed to know about Snookums.

"I suppose the gadget at Miss What's-her-name's be

those around. Also, Miss Crannon carries a detector for fol

know. But I intend to find out. I'm l

at each other, then

and that several new men have come in today, but I don

ity," said Mike the Angel. "Whe

own in the cafeteria now, sir. It's coffee time, an

told him. "I've had enough dealings with m

to pass through another inner door guarded by another pair of SP men who checked his ID card again, then he h

Fitzhugh. The passer-by was obliging; he indicated a smallish

es that were milling about, and finally ended up

ommander Gabriel. Minister Wallingford appoin

apparent pleasure. "Oh yes. Sit down

said: "Mind if I grab a cup of coffee, Doctor? I've just come from topside, and I thin

his watch. "I have time

the cups, he had recalled where he

said as he sat down. "You m

kled than his fifty years of age would normally have accounted for. Mike was privately of the opinion t

," Mike explained, "but I didn't connect the name u

merely served to wrin

t, then he went on to explain what had happened with Snookums ou

conducting an experiment. There are many areas

ontrol tool, but I finally saw that he was a real, honest-to-goodne

Fitzhugh. "He's built to m

ed the wrinkled one of Dr. Fitzhugh.

gesturing for attention and

d, "is no ordinary

is black coffee. "That machine I saw is actually a remote-control tool, isn'

e extracted a tobacco pouch, a briar pipe, and a jet-flame lighter. Then he began sp

d action mechanisms analogous to those of a human being." He pushed more tobacco into the bowl of his

hey're making at Boston Med?"

's a true robot, in the old original sense of the word; an artificial entity that displays almost every function of a li

lighter and directed the jet of flame into the bowl and

er the other people in the cafeteria. He was wondering how mu

he saw th

vely" or almost any other adjective that can be applied to the noun "girl." But "beautiful" is a cultural concept, at least as far as females are concerned, a

uropean subclass of the human race as of anno Domini 2087. The elements and proportions and symmetry fit almost perfectly into

blue eyes and was wea

the table where Mike and

, "that it was possible-and necessary-to introduce a certain random

hugh rose fro

ng Officer of the Brainchild," said Fitzhugh. "

her ankles, her hair, and all vital points of interest between. Bu

n her name if the SP ensign hadn't mentioned it. Obviously, she didn't

led smile. "Haven't

That's supposed to b

es widened ever so slightly. "Your voice!

inished Mike agreeably. "But please don't

ntly liked what she saw. "How

erchief," said Mike the Angel, "but Space Serv

puzzled look

d Mike. "Sit do

Research Board has been called, and afterward we have to gi

n the Br

in. "You call it what you wan

cuse us, Commander? We'll be se

etter get on my way

Fitzhugh walked away. The girl looked jus