"(ss) HelenOLoy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Del Rey Lester)

Of course, there was only one thing to do, though I could have wrung fat Mrs. Van StylerТs neck cheerfully. It wouldnТt have happened if sheТd used robots like everyone elseЧbut she had to be different.
Consequently, while Dave was back home puttering with Helen, I was racking my brain to trick Archy Van Styler into getting the counterhormones, and giving the servant girl the same. Oh, I wasnТt supposed to, but the poor kid was crazy about Archy. Dave might have written, I thought, but never a word did I get.
It was three weeks later instead of two when I reported that Archy was Уcured,Ф and collected on the line. With that money in my pocket, I hired a personal rocket and was back in Messina in half an hour. I didnТt waste time in reaching the house.
As I stepped into the alcove, I heard a light patter of feet, and an eager voice called out, УDave, dear?Ф For a minute I couldnТt answer, and the voice came again, pleading, УDave?Ф
I donТt know what I expected, but I didnТt expect Helen to meet me that way, stopping and staring at me, obvious disappointment on her face, little hands fluttering up against her breast.
УOh,Ф she cried. УI thought it was Dave. He hardly comes home to eat now, but IТve had supper waiting hours.Ф She dropped her hands and managed a smile. УYouТre Phil, arenТt you? Dave told me about you when . . . at first. IТm so glad to see you home, Phil.Ф
УGlad to see you doing so well, Helen.Ф Now, what does one say for light conversation with a robot? УYou said something about supper?Ф
УOh, yes. I guess Dave ate downtown again, so we might as well go in. ItТll be nice having someone to talk to around the house, Phil. You donТt mind if I call you Phil, do you? You know, youТre sort of a godfather to me.Ф
We ate. I hadnТt counted on such behavior, but apparently she considered eating as normal as walking. She didnТt do much eating, at that; most of the time she spent staring at the front door.
Dave came in as we were finishing, a frown a yard wide on his face. Helen started to rise, but he ducked toward the stairs, throwing words over his shoulder.
УHi, Phil. See you up here later.Ф
There was something radically wrong with him. For a moment IТd thought his eyes were haunted, and as I turned to Helen hers were filling with tears. She gulped, choked them back, and fell to viciously on her food.
УWhatТs the matter with him . . . and you?Ф I asked.
УHeТs sick of me.Ф She pushed her plate away and got up hastily. УYouТd better see him while I clean up. And thereТs nothing wrong with me. And itТs not my fault, anyway.Ф She grabbed the dishes and ducked into the kitchen; I could have sworn she was crying.
Maybe all thought is a series of conditioned reflexesЧbut she certainly had picked up a lot of conditioning while I was gone. Lena in her heyday had been nothing like this. I went up to see if Dave could make any sense out of the hodgepodge.
He was squirting soda into a large glass of apple brandy, and I saw that the bottle was nearly empty. УJoin me?Ф he asked.
It seemed like a good idea. The roaring blast of an ion rocket overhead was the only familiar thing left in the house. From the look around DaveТs eyes, it wasnТt the first bottle heТd emptied while I was gone, and there were more left. He dug out a new bottle for his own drink.
УOf course, itТs none of my business, Dave, but that stuff wonТt steady your nerves any. WhatТs gotten into you and Helen? Been seeing ghosts?Ф
Helen was wrong; he hadnТt been eating downtownЧnor anywhere else. His muscles collapsed into a chain in a way that spoke of fatigue and nerves, but mostly of hunger. УYou noticed it, eh?Ф
УNoticed it? The two of you jammed it down my throat.Ф
СUhmmm.Ф He swatted at a nonexistent fly and slumped farther down in the pneumatic. УGuess maybe I should have waited with Helen until you got back. But if that stereo cast hadnТt changed
Anyway, it did. And those mushy books of yours finished the job.Ф
УThanks. That makes it all clear.Ф
УYou know, Phil, IТve got a place up in the countryЧfruit ranch. My dad left it to me. Think IТll look it over.Ф
And thatТs the way it went. But finally, by much liquor and more perspiration, I got some of the story out of him before I gave him an amytal and put him to bed. Then I hunted up Helen and dug the rest of the story from her, until it made sense.
Apparently as soon as I was gone Dave had turned her on and made preliminary tests, which were entirely satisfactory. She had reacted beautifullyЧso well that he decided to leave her and go down to work as usual.
Naturally, with all her untried emotions, she was filled with curiosity and wanted him to stay. Then he had an inspiration. After showing her what her duties about the house would be, he set her down in front of the stereovisor, tuned in a travelogue, and left her to occupy her time with that.
The travelogue held her attention until it was finished, and the station switched over to a current serial with Larry Ainslee, the same cute emoter whoТd given us all the trouble with the twins. Incidentally, he looked something like Dave.
Helen took to the serial like a seal to water. This play-acting was a perfect outlet for her newly excited emotions. When that particular episode finished, she found a love story on another station and added still more to her education. The afternoon programs were mostly news and music, but by then sheТd found my books; and I do have rather adolescent taste in literature.
Dave came home in the best of spirits. The front alcove was neatly swept, and there was the odor of food in the air that heТd missed around the house for weeks. He had visions of Helen as the superefilcient housekeeper.
So it was a shock to him to feel two strong arms around his neck from behind and hear a voice all aquiver coo into his ears, УOh, Dave, darling, IТve missed you so, and IТm so thrilled that youТre back.Ф HelenТs technique may have lacked polish, but it had enthusiasm, as he found when he tried to stop her from kissing him. She had learned fast and furiously-_also, Helen was powered by an atomotor.
Dave wasnТt a prude, but he remembered that she was only a robot, after all. The fact that she felt, acted, and looked like a young goddess in his arms didnТt mean much. With some effort, he untangled her and dragged her off to supper, where he made her eat with him to divert her attention.
After her evening work, he called her into the study and gave her a thorough lecture on the folly of her ways. It must have been good, for it lasted three solid hours and covered her station in life, the idiocy of stereos, and various other miscellanies. When he had finished, Helen looked up with dewy eyes and said wistfully, УI know, Dave, but I still love you.Ф
ThatТs when Dave started drinking.
It grew worse each day. If he stayed downtown, she was crying when he came home. If he returned on time, she fussed over him and threw herself at him. In his room, with door locked, he could hear her downstairs pacing up and down and muttering; and when he went down, she stared at him reproachfully until he had to go back up.
I sent Helen out on a fake errand in the morning and got Dave up. With her gone, I made him eat a decent breakfast and gave him a tonic for his nerves. He was still listless and moody.
УLook here, Dave,Ф I broke in on his brooding. УHelen isnТt
human, after all. Why not cut off her power and change a few memory coils? Then we can convince her that she never was in love and couldnТt get that way.Ф
УYou try it. I had that idea, but she put up a wail that would wake Homer. She says it would be murderЧand the hell of it is that I canТt help feeling the same about it. Maybe she isnТt human, but you wouldnТt guess it when she puts on that martyred look and tells you to go ahead and kill her.Ф
УWe never put in substitutes for some of the secretions present in man during the love period.Ф
УI donТt know what we put in. Maybe the heterones backfired or something. Anyway, sheТs made this idea so much a part of her thoughts that weТd have to put in a whole new set of coils.Ф
УWell, why not?Ф
УGo ahead. YouТre the surgeon of this family. IТm not used to fussing with emotions. Matter of fact, since sheТs been acting this way IТm beginning to hate work on any robot. My business is going to blazes.Ф
He saw Helen coming up the walk and ducked out the back door for the monorail express. IТd intended to put him back in bed, but let him go. Maybe heТd be better off at his shop than at home.
УDaveТs gone?Ф Helen did have that martyred look now.
УYeah. I got him to eat, and heТs gone to work.Ф
УIТm glad he ate.Ф She slumped down in a chair as if she were worn out, though how a mech could be tired beat me. УPhil?Ф
УWTell, what is it?Ф
УDo you think IТm bad for him? I mean, do you think heТd be happier if I werenТt here?Ф
УHeТll go crazy if you keep acting this way around him.Ф