"Fontana,.D.C.-.Questor.Tapes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fontana D C)

Darro glanced back to Jerry. The young engineer was upset. To Darro, he seemed more concerned than a technician should be over the proposed programming.
"How can you be that sure?" Robinson demanded. "All we've done is assemble the parts and material Vaslovik provided, and no one here even understands them or-"
Darro interrupted him again, the hard edge still in his voice. "No more than I understand this change in the normally cooperative Mr. Robinson. Is it possible, when you worked for Dr. Vaslovik, that you learned something you haven't told us about?"
"I didn't even know what he was training me for. He never so much as mentioned an android."
"Then you have no valid argument against the step proposed by the scientists, have you?" Darro looked around at them again and nodded. "Enough debate, gentlemen. Please proceed."
Gorlov and Audret moved away to the computer controls and activated them. The reels of programmed information began to spin . . . first one, then another, until four of the dozen began to register, status lights flashing on the consoles. A flicker of colored-light pinpoints reflected from the information-input dome down onto the android's smooth, bald skull.
Jerry nervously bit his lip, his eyes darting from computers to android and back. Darro watched Robinson. But, like the others, even the implacable project chief
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ultimately was drawn to the unmoving figure on the assembly slab.
Phyllis Bradley bent over the EEG oscilloscope, hoping to see something but afraid she would not. There were so many unknowns . . . Suddenly the straight line on the scope fluttered and then began to pick up a muted pattern. She kept her voice impassive, fighting the surge of excitement she felt. "Getting brain-wave readings."
Jerry stepped forward slightly, unaware of Darrp's scrutiny. He had seen a movement in the android. The thumb of the right hand twitched. There ... it jumped again! There was a moment of nonmovement. Jerry had a fleeting impression that the only creature in the lab that had moved was the android. Everyone else was suspended in mid-breath, waiting. Then there was a slight, convulsive twitch of the right leg ... again . . . and again.
Gorlov, practical and pragmatic as always, turned to Darro. "This run includes mathematics, engineering, various sciences. Although we cannot expect the android to understand or use such information, it will begin setting orderly patterns."
"The greater the number of these molecular patterns, the more likely it is that it will be capable of simple thought processes," Audret said.
The computer data tapes spun to a halt, and the soft accompanying hum ceased. Everyone's eyes went to the android. But the man-shaped thing lay still and unmoving again.
Dr. Bradley's voice whispered across the silence. "Brainwave production, zero."
"Well," Michaels said briskly, "only a first try. We have a good deal more programming to feed in." He motioned to Gorlov and Audret, who busied themselves with the other computers.
Again, the reels began to spin, the hum growing louder as the full ensemble of twelve gradually engaged. The flickering pinpoints of light bombarded the android's skull in a dazzling dance of color. The exact method of information absorption was not understood-another of
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Vaslovik's inventions. The android's limbs quivered slightly, much less than before.
Darro had not missed the difference in response. "Dr. Gorlov?"
Gorlov tried to sound hopeful. "The limited results of the first run indicate that many more patterns will be necessary." He glanced pointedly at Robinson. "We are using Dr. Vaslovik's specified input procedures."
"This run is longer," Audret said, "giving far more patterns, far more complex than the initial ones. University tapes on logic, literature, medicine ..."
"Let's hope you haven't burned it out," Jerry said.
He nodded toward the android. It lay immobile, with the single exception of the breathing motion of the chest. The tapes on the twelve computers spun to a stop, and Phyllis Bradley consulted the EEG oscilloscope.
"Cerebral activation, zero. No brain waves at all this time."
Jerry examined the toes of his clean suit with intense interest. Darro almost wished the engineer would say "I told you so" just to get it out of the way. Jerry chose to let it hang there, implied, in the disappointed silence that clogged the atmosphere of the lab.
Audret finally spoke. "We have no option but to try the Vaslovik tape."
Darro flicked a look at the small computer, which stood apart from the others. Its size and shape differentiated it from the prim, square mechanisms that crowded together in the computer section. The tape loaded on its reels was also a sharp departure from the norm in color and width; and when Gorlov activated the machine, the tape whirled at a different rate of speed. The polka of varicolored light pinpoints began to play over the android's head.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, abruptly, the android's body went into convulsions. Jerry jumped back as the torso and limbs strained against the heavy metal straps. The thing's arms and legs flailed at the restraints with superhuman strength; but the face remained expressionless, the eyes still closed. The voices of the scienceteam members bubbled up, drowning out the hiss of the
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turning tape and the clatter of the android's limbs against the assembly pallet.
The tape ended, and the android's body fell back on the slab, limp. Jerry Robinson had held more hope for Vaslovik's programming than he cared to admit. The failure of the android assured a failure of Jerry's faith.
2
The Cal Tech lab was littered with all the data that had been applied to Project Questor from the beginning, three years before, to the moment of failure on the assembly slab. The scientists conducted a postmortem that went on for six hours. Jerry Robinson sat with them but did not contribute. He was rummaging around in his own thoughts, trying to avoid the shards of shattered hopes. Darro stood slightly away from the group, watching and listening, weighing the arguments and reactions.
Gorlov's voice rose stridently over the others. "It is impossible to overload its brain case. Dr. Vaslovik's own notes indicate a billion billion potential configurations."
The android lay on the assembly slab, all but forgotten in the debate over its construction and programming. The basic activation devices still functioned, also forgotten.
"It should work!" Bradley said. "Every stage of assembly tested out perfectly."
The android's eyes snapped open, a bright, pleasant blue, clearly conscious and menacing without brows or lashes to soften them. It turned its head toward the conference table where the science-team members sat. The overhead lights in the assembly area had been turned off, and the android's slight, noiseless move went unnoticed.
"Perhaps some basic error made by Vaslovik?" Chen suggested. "On a project such as this, one might become so subjective that some slight miscalculation would be easy to overlook."
"Not likely," Jerry said. "Not Vaslovik."
Michaels nodded and pushed a pad around on the
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table. "I agree. Every unit Dr. Vaslovik provided worked as predicted."
"Unless he built in some factor his notes do not mention. I agree with Dr. Bradley ... it should work!"
Darro finally stepped forward. He moved deliberately, assuring their attention before he spoke. "I think we're all quite naturally disappointed. May I suggest a fresh start tomorrow?" He held up a hand to wave off the rumble of protests that began immediately. "We've all had a long day, and you've pored over the project notes for hours. You need some time off to gain a fresh perspective."
"I expect Monsieur Darro is correct." Audret stood and gathered up some of the papers. "But I intend to study these further in my quarters."
As the other scientists rose, the android snapped its head back to its original position and its eyes closed. Jerry walked to the banks of still-glowing equipment and began to turn off various controls.
Darro watched him without appearing to be studying his every movement. Was the engineer just doing his job, or was he dallying behind in the hope of being left alone with the android? Jerry completed shutdown of the computer complex. He was turning to the EEG oscilloscope when Darro's tap on his shoulder stopped him.
"Leaving, Mr. Robinson?"