"Henry Kuttner (as Lewis Padgett) - The Twonky UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

УNo, youТre not. But you say the robot was in the front room. How could it tell what you were reading?Ф
УShort of X-ray vision and superfast scanning and assimilative powers, I canТt imagine. Perhaps it doesnТt want me to read anything.Ф
УYouТve said something,Ф Fitzgerald grunted. УKnow much about theoreticalЧmachines-Ч-of that type?Ф
УRobots?Ф
УPurely theoretical. Your brainТs a colloid, you know. Compact, complicatedЧbut slow. Suppose you work out a gadget with a multimillion radioatom iinit embedded in an insulating materialЧthe result is a brain, Kerry. A brain with a tremendous number of units interacting at light-velocity speeds. A radio tube adjusts current flow when itТs operating at forty million separate signals a second. AndЧ theoreticallyЧa radloatomic brain of the type IТve mentioned could include perception, recognition, consideration, reaction and adjustment in a .hundred-thousandth of a second.Ф
УTheory.Ф
УIТve thought so. But IТd like to find out where your radio came from.Ф
A page came over. УTelephone call for Mr. Westerfield.Ф
Kerry excused himself and left. When he returned, there was a puzzled frown knitting his dark brows. Fitzgerald looked at him inquiringly.
УGuy named Lloyd, at the Mideastern plant. I was talking to him about the radio.Ф
УAny luck?Ф
Kerry shook his head. УNo. Well, not much. He didnТt know who had built the thing.Ф
УBut it was built in the plant?Ф
УYes. About two weeks agoЧbut thereТs no record of who worked on it. Lloyd seemed to think that was very, very funny. If a radioТs built in the plant, they know who put it together.Ф
УSo?Ф
УSo nothing. I asked him how to open the cabinet, and he said it was easy. Just unscrew the panel in back.Ф
УThere arenТt any screws,Ф Fitzgerald said.
УI know.Ф
They looked at one another.
Fitzgerald said, УIТd give fifty bucks to find out whether that robot was really built only two weeks ago.Ф
УWhy?Ф
УBecause a radioatomic brain would need training. Even in such matters as the lighting of a cigarette.Ф
УIt saw me light one.Ф
УAnd followed the example. The dish-washingЧhm-m-m. Induc
tion, I suppose. If that gadget has been trained, itТs a robot. If it hasnТtЧФ Fitzgerald stopped.
Kerry blinked. УYes?Ф
УI donТt know what the devil it is. It bears the same relation to a robot that we bear to eohippus. One thing I do know, Kerry; itТs very probable that no scientist today has the knowledge it would take to make a . . . a thing like that.Ф
УYouТre arguing in circles,Ф Kerry said. УIt was made.Ф
УUh-huh. But howЧwhenЧand by whom? ThatТs whatТs got me worried.Ф
УWell, IТve a class in five minutes. Why not come over tonight?Ф
УCanТt. IТm lecturing at the Hall. IТll phone you after, though.Ф
With a nod Keny went out, trying to dismiss the matter from his mind. He succeeded pretty well. But dining alone in a restaurant that night, he began to feel a general unwillingness to go home. A hobgoblin was waiting for him.
УBrandy,Ф he told the waiter. УMake it double.Ф

Two hours later a taxi let Kerry out at his door. He was remarkably drunk. Things swam before his eyes. He walked unsteadily toward the porch, mounted the steps with exaggerated care, and let himself into the house.
He switched on a lamp.
The radio came forward to meet him. Tentacles, thin, but strong as metal, coiled gently around his body, holding him motionless. A pang of violent fear struck through Kerry. He struggled desperately and tried to yell, but his throat was dry.
From the radio panel a beam of yellow light shot out, blinding the man. It swung down, aimed at his chest. Abruptly a queer taste was perceptible under KerryТs tongue.
After a minute or so, the ray clicked out, the tentacles flashed back out of sight, and the console returned to its corner. Kerry staggered weakly to a chair and relaxed, gulping.
He was sober. Which was quite impossible. Fourteen brandies infiltrate a definite amount of alcohol into the system. One canТt wave a magic wand and instantly reach a state of sobriety. Yet that was exactly what had happened.
TheЧrobotЧwas trying to be helpful. Only Kerry would have preferred to remain drunk.
He got up gingerly and sidled past the radio to the bookshelf. One eye on the combination, he took down the detective novel he had
tried to read on the preceding night. As he had expected, the radio took it from his hand and replaced it on the shelf. Kerry, remembering FitzgeraldТs words, glanced at his watch. Reaction time, four seconds.
He took down a Chaucer and waited, but the radio didnТt stir. However, when Kerry found a history volume, it was gently removed from his fingers. Reaction time, six seconds.
Kerry located a history twice as thick.
Reaction time, ten seconds.
Uh-huh. So the robot did read the books. That meant X-ray vision and superswift reactions. Jumping Jehoshaphat!
Keny tested more books, wondering what the criterion was. УAlice in WonderlandФ was snatched from his hand; MillayТs poems .were not. He made a list, with two columns, for future reference.
The robot, then, wa9s not merely a ,servant. It was a censor. But what was the standard of comparison?
After a while he remembered his lecture tomorrow, and thumbed through his notes. Several points needed verification. Rather hesitantly he located the necessary reference bookЧand the robot took it away from him.