"Kuttner, Henry - Piggy Bank UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

PIGGY BANK
by Henry Kuttner



BALLARDТS DIAMONDS were being stolen as fast as he could make new ones. Insurance companies had long since given him up as a bad risk. Detective agencies were glad to offer their services, at a high fee, but, since the diamonds were invariably stolen, anyhow, this was simply more money down the drain. It couldnТt keep up. BallardТs fortune was founded on diamonds, and the value of gems increases in inverse proportion to their quantity and availability. In ten years or so, at the present rate of theft, unfiawed bluewhites would be almost worthless.
УSo what I need is a perfect safe,Ф Ballard said, sipping a liqueur. He stared across the table at Joe Gunther, who only smiled.
УSure,Ф Gunther said. У\Vell?Ф
УYouТre a technician. Figure it out. What do I pay you f9r?Ф
УYou pay me for making diamonds and not telling anybody I can make Сem.Ф
УI hate lazy people,Ф Ballard remarked. УYou graduated top man at the Institute in 1990. What have you done since then?Ф
УPracticed hedonism,Ф Gunther said. УWhy should I work my head off when I can get everything I want just by making diamonds for you? What does any man want? Security, freedom, a chance to indulge his whims. I got that. Just by finding a formula for the PhilosopherТs Stone. Too bad Cain never guessed the potentialities of his patent. Too bad for him; lucky for me.Ф
УShut up,Ф Ballard said with soft intensity.
Gunther grinned and glanced around the gigantic dining hail. УNobody can hear us.Ф He was a little drunk. A lock of lank dark hair fell over his forehead; his thin face looked sharp and mocking. УBesides, I like to talk. It makes me realize IТm as much of a big shot as you are. Swell stuff for my soul.Ф

Copyright 1942 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.
Reprinted from Astounding Science Fiction
by permission of Harold Matson Company.
УThen talk. When youТre quite finished, IТll get on with what IТve got to say.Ф
Gunther drank brandy. УIТm a hedonist, and IТve got a high I.Q. СWhen I graduated, I looked around for the best way of supporting Joe Gunther without working. Building something new from scratch wastes time. The best system is to find a structure already built, and add something more. Ergo, the Patent Office. I spent two years going through the files, looking for pay dirt. I found it in CainТs formula. He didnТt know what it was. A theory about thermodynamicsЧhe thought. Never realized he could make diamonds simply by developing the idea a bit. So,Ф Gunther finished, Уfor twenty years that formula has been buried in the Patent Office, and I found it. And sold it to you, on condition that I keep my mouth shut and let the world believe your diamonds were real.Ф
УFinished?Ф Ballard asked.
УSure.Ф
УWhy do you recapitulate the obvious on an average of once a month?Ф
УTo keep you reminded,Ф Gunther said. УYouТd kill me if you dared. Then your secret would be quite safe. The way I figure it, ever so often you work out a method of getting rid of me, and it biases your judgment. YouТre apt to go off half-cocked, get me killed, and then realize your mistake. When IТm dead, the formula will be made public, and everybody can make diamonds. WhereТll you be, then?Ф

Ballard shifted his bulky body, half closing his eyes and clasping large, well-shaped hands behind his neck. He regarded Gunther coolly.
УSymbiosis,Ф he said. УYouТll keep your mouth shut, because diamonds are your security, too. Credits, currency, bondsЧtheyТre all apt to become worthless under current economic conditions. But diamonds are rare. I want to keep Сem that way. IТve got to stop these thefts.Ф
УIf one man builds a safe, another man can crack it. You know the history of that. In the old days, somebody invented a combination lock. Right away, somebody else figured out the answerЧlistening to the fall of the tumblers. Tumblers were made noiseless; then a crook used a stethoscope. The answer to that was a time lock. Nitroglycerin canceled that. Stronger metals were used, and precision jointures. O.K.Чthermite. One guy used to take off the dial, slip a piece of carbon paper under it, replace itЧand come back a day later, after the combination had been scratched on the carbon. Today itТs X rays, and so forth.Ф
УA perfect safe can be made,Ф Ballard said.
УHow?Ф
УThere are two methods. One, lock the diamonds in an absolutely uncrackable safe.Ф
УNo such thing.Ф
УTwo, leave the diamonds in plain sight, guarded by men who never take their eyes from them.Ф
УYou tried that, too. It didnТt work. The men were gassed once. The second time, a ringer got in, disguised as one of the detectives.Ф
Ballard ate an olive. УWhen 1 was a kid, I had a piggy bank made of glass. I could see the coins, but I couldnТt get Сem out without breaking the pig. ThatТs what I want. OnlyЧI want a pig who can run.Ф
Gunther looked up, his eyes suddenly sharp. УEh?Ф
УA pig whoТs conditioned to flightЧself-preservation. One who specializes in the art of running away. Animals do itЧherbivores chiefly. ThereТs an African deer that reacts to movement before itТs made. Better than splitsecond reaction. A fox is another example. Can a man catch a fox?Ф
УHeТd use dogs and horses.Ф
УUh-huh. So foxes run through herds of sheep, and cross water, to spoil the scent. My pig must do that, too.Ф
УYouТre talking about a robot,Ф Gunther said.
УThe Metalman people will make us one to order, with the raclioatomic type of brain. A seven-foot robot, studded with diamonds, conditioned to running away. An intelligent robot.Ф
Gunther rubbed his jaw. УLovely. Except for one thing. The intelligence must be limited. Metalman have made robots of human mind-power, but each one covers a city block. MobilityТs lost as intelligence increases. They havenТt yet found a substitute for the colloid brain. HoweverЧФ He stared at his fingernails. УYeah. It could be done. The robot must be conditioned in one line only, self-preservation. It must be able to build logically from that motiyation, and thatТs all it needs.Ф
УWould that be enough?Ф
УYes, because a robotТs logical. You can drive a seal or a deer into a trap. Or a tiger. The tiger hears the beaters behind him, and runs from them. To him, thatТs the only danger he knows, till he falls in the pit thatТs been dug for him. A fox might be smarter. He might think of both the menace behind him and the one in front. A robotЧhe wouldnТt stam~pede blindly. If he was driven toward a cul-de-sac, heТd use logic and wonder what was up that blind alley.Ф
УAnd escape?Ф
УHeТd have split-secondЧin fact, instantaneous reaction. Radioatomic brains think fast. YouТve set me a beautiful problem, Bruce, but I think it can be done. A diamond-studded robot, parading around hereЧpsychologically, itТs right up your alley.Ф

Ballard shrugged. УI like ostentation. As a kid I had a hell of an inferiority complex. IТm compensating for that now. Why do you suppose I built the castle? ItТs a showplace. I need an army of servants to keep it going. The worst thing I can imagine is being a nonentity.Ф
УWhich in your mind is synonymous with poverty,Ф Gunther murmured. УYouТre essentially imitative, Bruce. You built your economic empire through imitation. I donТt think youТve ever had an original thought in your life.Ф
УWhat about this robot?Ф