June 6, 2025 • 28 mins
A science fiction series that explores futuristic concepts and speculative scenarios, each episode delving into the possibilities of technology and space exploration.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now stay tuned for X minus one on NBC.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Come down for Blast Off X minus five four three
two X minus one Fire.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
From the far horizons of the Unknown. Come transcribe tales
of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
of the future adventures in which you'll live in a million,
could be years, on a thousand, maybe worlds. The National
Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, resents Heck.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
He Minus.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Tonight Clifford D. Simak story of the twenty first century.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
How to.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Build your own three dimensional color TV set complete kit
screwdriver assembly in three hours.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
Now I've done that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, let's see a dog is Man's best Friend. Build
your own dog complete Kit Spaniel model only two hundred.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
And fifty dollars. Yeah, hey, that's it.
Speaker 6 (01:57):
My next project, Gordon, is that you where on the terrace.
Speaker 7 (02:15):
I'm just finishing a landscape.
Speaker 8 (02:17):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Yeah, Grace, look did it come?
Speaker 9 (02:18):
Don't kiss me, you'll get all full of paint.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
I wasn't going to where is the package?
Speaker 9 (02:21):
They shed it against the side of the house over there.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
See, oh it came.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I want to look at it.
Speaker 9 (02:27):
I would have put it down in the basement, but
I couldn't lift it.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Hey, this is pretty heavy for a sapaniel.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
I can't lift this myself.
Speaker 9 (02:34):
I'll start dinner as soon as I finished this part
of the picture. I want to get the grasp while
the light's right.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Yes, all right, so I no hurry. I want to
examine the kid anyhow.
Speaker 9 (02:41):
Of course, if you didn't waste our money on things
like dog kids, maybe we could afford a robot and
I wouldn't.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
Have to cook.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Yeah, yeah, all right, all right, all.
Speaker 9 (02:48):
Right there that should be enough for now. Light's beginning
to get tricky.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Gord Night.
Speaker 9 (02:57):
You're not going to open that thing here on the
terrace now you make a mess.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, I just want to see the partler. You know
this thing's too big and heavy to be a dog kid.
Speaker 7 (03:05):
Maybe it's a Great Dane.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
No, no, no, it can't be. Look here's the shipping tag.
Speaker 9 (03:11):
From how two kits Ink to Gordon Night one dog
kit Spaniel model two hundred and fifty dollars paid in full.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
The Great Dane costs three hundred and fifty.
Speaker 9 (03:19):
Well I can say is that must be the world's
biggest spaniel.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Hey, you know that's that's darn funny.
Speaker 9 (03:25):
I told you I don't want you fooling around with
it up here, and I take it down.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
This can't be a dog kid, you know what. I
think it's a robot.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
A robot.
Speaker 9 (03:34):
But you didn't order a robot, or did you?
Speaker 5 (03:37):
No? No, certainly not. They made a shipping error. That's
about the size of it. Ah dog gunn.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I don't have to put this crape back together again
and call it express company.
Speaker 9 (03:46):
Are you going to return it?
Speaker 5 (03:47):
Well, certainly I'm going to return it. You don't think
we can keep it.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Do you?
Speaker 9 (03:50):
Why not? The tag says paid in full, so they
can't say we owe them anything.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
But it's a robot. They're expensive.
Speaker 9 (03:56):
Well I don't see how the company we'll ever know
when inventory time comes around, they'll be short one robot
and long one dog.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Because I've always wanted to put together a real robot.
Lord knows when i'd get another chance.
Speaker 7 (04:08):
Then it's settled.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
No, no, no, it is not settled either.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I'll tell you what I'll I'll put it together just
to see what it's like, but I won't activate it.
See I mean, I'll you know, disassemble it right away
and ship it back to the company.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Hell, there we are and grace. Look look at it
in that beauty though. You finished, well, all but the
activating grace.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
What you know, I'm not just thinking? How do I
know I've got all the parts adjusted properly?
Speaker 9 (04:49):
I haven't the remotest idea.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
No you know, I mean the only sure away would
be the tested you mean activating, well, only for a
minute or two, you understand, I mean just to be sure.
Then what Well, then I'll and disassemble it naturally. Well,
all right, as long as you don't take too long. No, no, no no,
I'll have it in a jiffy now here. Look you see,
all I have to do is just put on the
activating plate.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Yeah, and turn this lock.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Nut ain't like so now wait a minute, just just
the automatic current control.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Yeah there, Now that that should do it.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Now stand back, stand back now I'll turn it on
and I hope.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
It lay to work.
Speaker 7 (05:26):
It'll work.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
I followed the directions to the letter. You're ready.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Now it works, I'll have to oil that joint. Wait,
gratically moving its head.
Speaker 10 (05:41):
My name is Alder. I am a robot. What is
there to do?
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Well?
Speaker 7 (05:49):
It certainly has a nice voice.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Now now take it easy, but just sit down and
rest and we'll have a little talk.
Speaker 10 (05:56):
There's no need to rest. I was made to work.
Speaker 9 (05:59):
Well, it's long, is he? It doesn't need to rest.
I can think of one hundred things for it to do.
Speaker 7 (06:04):
Now there's the house and the garden, and Lord, look, Grace.
Speaker 9 (06:07):
I wonder if he could learn to cook.
Speaker 10 (06:09):
A robot can be taught to do anything a person
can do.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
Hold on a minute, Albert, please and listen to me.
We can't keep you. You understand, I mean you were
sent here by a mistake.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
But I mean, as long as you're activated, there wouldn't
be any harm in letting you do.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
A few things.
Speaker 10 (06:24):
I can do anything good.
Speaker 9 (06:25):
The whole house needs a thorough cleaning, Grace. Then of
course I'd like some new drapes for the study. And
the kitchen hasn't been painted for four years. Then there's
that leaky foss.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Oh Lord, well, what's the matter? Attachments? There on?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Eddy, He can't do all that stuff without attachments, and
they cost almost as much as the robot itself.
Speaker 10 (06:41):
And don't worry about attachments. Just tell me what's to
be done.
Speaker 5 (06:45):
Well, you heard my wife?
Speaker 10 (06:48):
Or what about your grounds?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Oh? I got a hundred beat up acres and need attention.
But because I realized that that's too much work.
Speaker 10 (06:56):
Huh, don't worry about a thing. I can fix it
for you.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Make them necessary, make your own attachment.
Speaker 10 (07:03):
Don't worry about a thing.
Speaker 9 (07:04):
But oh, for Heaven's sake, stop arguing with him and
let him get to work.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
I'm arguing.
Speaker 9 (07:19):
Morning, Gordon.
Speaker 7 (07:20):
The coffee is ready. I just sleep here.
Speaker 8 (07:23):
Oh so good, kept hearing noises all Now that was
Albert working in the basement.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Albert, Hey, gosh, that's right. I forgot. Robots don't sleep.
Speaker 9 (07:31):
He was working all night. When I came into the
kitchen just now, I found the breakfast all prepared.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
He can cook.
Speaker 9 (07:37):
Isn't that wonderful?
Speaker 5 (07:38):
Yeah? What's he doing now?
Speaker 9 (07:39):
I don't know, making something? I think, Oh, Gordon, he's
going to be such a tremendous help to me. I'll
be able to spend more time than ever with my painter.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Now, wait a minute, what makes you think we can
keep him?
Speaker 5 (07:49):
I mean they're not no grace. I mean we could
get into Trump.
Speaker 9 (07:51):
Don't see how. I'll tell you what. Why don't you
walk over and call on Anson Lee? He could advise you.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
What does he know about it?
Speaker 7 (07:58):
He's a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well technically he's a lawyer. I mean, never seems to
work at it anymore.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
We have to understand and and that's all.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Look, I understand them, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
He's a reactionary, a throwback to the twentieth century, spends
all his time lying in a hammock, drinking and reading proofs.
Speaker 7 (08:13):
Well, it's what he enjoy he's doing.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I'll bet that guy never assembled a kit in his life.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
Can you imagine that?
Speaker 9 (08:19):
Well, we all have our peculiarities just the same. He
could give you legal advice.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Well, all right, all right, I'll go over after breakfast
if it'll make you feel any happier.
Speaker 8 (08:27):
Passed the cream, Oh, have a drink night hard cider?
(08:47):
Made it myself.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
Thought you didn't go in for home projects, Lee, I don't.
Making this cighter was the first honest work I've done
a year. I don't doubt it.
Speaker 7 (08:58):
Let me.
Speaker 8 (08:58):
Time I get a end of work, I look across
at your place and I decide against it.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
How many rooms have you added to that house since
you've got it built?
Speaker 7 (09:06):
Eight?
Speaker 11 (09:06):
Good?
Speaker 7 (09:07):
Lord?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
The eight rooms? No, no, no, it's not hard.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Once you get the next got fun, you just buy
a how to kid sure, I know, just follow direction.
Speaker 8 (09:16):
Anybody can build a robot on a kitchen table.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
Well, no thanks, Why do you say that, I mean
about building a robot? Oh? I don't know. I suppose
I expect you to start building one anytime.
Speaker 11 (09:29):
Now.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
You've done everything else. What's got in the people? These
days and nights? They just ironed equipped to enjoy the leisure?
That is most of them on me?
Speaker 8 (09:40):
I am I ree, I lie in a hammock and
now and again I even think.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
As I guess that makes me an eccentric. Have another drink.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Oh no, no, no, no thanks, I'll have to get
back to my place.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Albert, Albert, you call me, sir?
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, Albert, listen to me.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I Albert, I have reached a decision about you.
Speaker 12 (10:07):
But I'm not Albert, sir. I huh. You would hardly
expect Albert to be clipping hedges.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
If you're not, You're not Albert?
Speaker 11 (10:15):
Who are you?
Speaker 12 (10:16):
Abe? Albert is down in the basement.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Oh what are you doing here? Where did you come from?
Speaker 12 (10:21):
If you wish to talk to me, you will have
to move along the hedge with me. I cannot stop working.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Oh okay, okay, move along? But wait, wait, wait, where
did you come from? Albert made me, Albert made you,
and now he's.
Speaker 12 (10:32):
Down in the basement working on Alfred.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Alfred another robot.
Speaker 12 (10:37):
Certainly that is what Albert is for. He makes robots.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Oh no, Albert, Oh there you are, Albert. What's going
on here?
Speaker 10 (10:55):
I'm reproducing what I have a built in mother. I
don't know why they named me Albert. I should have
had a female name.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
But you shouldn't be able to make Roberts.
Speaker 10 (11:06):
Look, boss, you worry a lot. You want robots, don't you.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Well, yeah, I guess everybody could use a robot I make.
I'm making all you need, Albert, Albert, put down that
head and listen to me.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
I want to have a serious talk.
Speaker 10 (11:23):
Sure, boss, what's on your mind now?
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Albert?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I just looked through your packing case and I found
this tag. Look it says X one hundred and ninety
X Albert. Don't you understand that means you're an experimental model.
Speaker 10 (11:38):
That's correct.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
You were never meant to be sold.
Speaker 10 (11:40):
That is also correct. I know.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
Don't you see? That means trouble. I can't keep you.
Speaker 10 (11:44):
I've already taken care of that. What do you mean
I filed off my serial number and replated the surface.
Speaker 7 (11:51):
Why why did you do that so.
Speaker 10 (11:52):
That they can't come around and take me back. They
made me, and then they got scared and shut me off.
But you're not afraid of me, assembled me and let
me go to work. I'm sticking with you, Boss.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
Wait a minute that this could mean a lot of
trouble for me, Albert.
Speaker 10 (12:06):
No trouble. They can't prove a thing. I'll swear that
you made me. I'll not let them take me back.
They will take no chances.
Speaker 12 (12:15):
Next time.
Speaker 10 (12:16):
They'll break me up for scrap.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
But but look, if you make too many robots.
Speaker 10 (12:19):
Robots are useful. You need a lot of them in
this place. Now, don't worry, Boss, everything will work out well.
I'll take good care of you. Now I must go
back to work. Albert is nearly finished.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
Mister Knight.
Speaker 11 (12:41):
I'm from the County Tax Office tax assessor.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Oh, I didn't know you Fellas came around more than
once a year.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Ordinarily we don't. This is a special case.
Speaker 11 (12:49):
Oh made a lot of improvement in the place the
past few days, landscaping, painting, building. Well, afraid I'll have
to boost your assessments. Somen I say, heard about those
robots of you robots personal property, you know, have to
pay attacks on them. Just how many of you got?
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Oh one or two? I've been counting.
Speaker 11 (13:09):
They move around so fast, I can't be sure, but
I estimate the number.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
At thirty eight. That right, If you say so.
Speaker 11 (13:16):
Thirty eight it is, then they cost ten thousand apiece.
I'll assess them at five. That's let's see, that's one
hundred and ninety thousand dollars.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Oh no, hey, that's pretty steep.
Speaker 11 (13:26):
But I'm going easy on you. By rights, I should
only allow you a third for depreciation. Well that's it,
mister night. One hundred and ninety thousand dollars. Wait, we'll
send you the bill with your quarterly statement.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
But good day, good day.
Speaker 12 (13:45):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
But look, I've been holding off until we got the
new landscaping job under control.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
But I can't hold off any longer. Any longer.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I mean, we got to start selling some of the robots. Selling, Yeah,
twenty of them. That should do for a start. The
tax assessor was here, I need the cash.
Speaker 10 (13:58):
You can't sell the robots.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Why can I?
Speaker 10 (14:01):
Because they're my family, my boys named.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
After me, all of albert I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous.
Speaker 10 (14:07):
They're all live balls. You wouldn't sell your own children,
would you. All their names start with A, just like mine, Abe, Adelbert, Alfred, Adam,
Aaron Anton acts all right, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
All right, don't go through the whole roll call. I mean,
the point is I need the money.
Speaker 10 (14:22):
Don't you worry, boss, I'll fix everything. You have nothing
to worry about.
Speaker 8 (14:35):
The point is, mister Knight, the Internal Revenue Department is
always interested when a citizen shows a substantial capital gain
during the year capital gain.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
I haven't made any capital come.
Speaker 7 (14:45):
Come, sir.
Speaker 8 (14:45):
I'm talking about the matter of some fifty two robots.
As I understand it, their retail value is ten thousand
dollars each, so they say fifty two times ten thousand
is five hundred and twenty thousand dollars. On capital gains,
you pay fifty percent or two hundred and sixty thousand dollars,
a tax roughly of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
When what do I do?
Speaker 8 (15:09):
By the fifteenth of next month, you must file a
declaration of estimated income. You paid half of the due
tax at that time and the balance in monthly installments.
And there's one other matter. On another matter we investigated,
we found you make ten thousand dollars a year. Would
you tell me out of personal curiosity? Understand I understand
(15:31):
just how a man of your particular means could show
a capital gain of a half a million.
Speaker 7 (15:35):
Dollars in so short a time.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
I'm beginning to wonder myself.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
Well, our only concern is you pay your tax.
Speaker 8 (15:46):
However, some other branch of the federal government might very
well want to ask some questions. Sometimes I were you,
mister Knight, I would be ready with some answers. Yeah,
good day, Good.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
Day, Alvid. Now look did I tell you this is
this is a crisis. Do you understand it? Like it
or not.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I have got to sell some of your boys, a
whole bunch.
Speaker 10 (16:13):
Of them, Boss.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
I told you not to worry, not to worry.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Listen, I just came from the income tax people. I
owe the government a cool one hundred and thirty grand
and those boys.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
Don't fool around.
Speaker 7 (16:24):
I'm desperate.
Speaker 10 (16:25):
Money is no trouble, boss.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Come here, Come where over here?
Speaker 10 (16:30):
Look at this?
Speaker 5 (16:31):
What's this? What those are? Those those bails? What have
they gotten?
Speaker 10 (16:36):
Don't tell me full of money? Boss, help yourself.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I mean that the actual real money in those bales.
Not stage money now, real.
Speaker 10 (16:46):
Money, Boss, No ones, of course, but lots of tens
and twenties. Yeah, that bail over there is full of fifties.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
We didn't fool around with ones, Albert, mean the eye
did you?
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Did you make that money?
Speaker 10 (16:59):
You said you needed it. We took some bills and
analyzed the ink. I found out how to weave the
paper and made plates. I hate the sounding modest, boss,
but they're beautiful.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Oh my gosh. I'm a counterfeitter too.
Speaker 10 (17:11):
We just ran off as much as we thought you need.
If it's not enough, we'll make some.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
It's enough, not not another dollar, Albert, listen to me
that they're there are laws in this country. I mean,
you just can't go out and print money. That's a crime,
don't you understand. Now, Look you take it all outside
and burn it right up. You understand, and don't print anymore.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
That is an order.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
I'm busy.
Speaker 9 (17:32):
I hate to disturb you there, but I thought you
ought to know about the sheriff.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
I don't want to know the sheriff.
Speaker 9 (17:37):
He was here with a subpoena whatever you call them.
Speaker 7 (17:39):
What you call it seems the how to company's got
to sue us.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Oh no, oh, all right, that does it? That does
Where are you going to see my lawyer?
Speaker 8 (17:58):
He off hand man, I'd say you were in quite
a jam.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I didn't have to walk all the way over here
to find that out.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
The point is, Lee, what in the name of heaven
can I do?
Speaker 8 (18:07):
Well, First, you'll have to file a declaration of estimated income.
Even if I can't pay, especially if you can't pay technically,
then you haven't violated the law. And all they can
do is to try to collect what you owe. They'll
probably slap an attachment on your bank account.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
What bank account? I'm broke?
Speaker 8 (18:26):
Oh well, then i'd say you're made to worry? Is
the how to company suit? If I were you, i'd
set it out a court. Out of court, they might
call off the action if you returned.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
All the robots, Albert says, he'll testify that I made him.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
Albert can't testify as a robot. He has no standing
in court. Oh, you better give them back and get
what terms you can't.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
No, no, no, no, I won't do it.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I won't.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
Don't you See.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
They don't want Albert back because they can use him.
They want to break him up to maintain their robot prices.
Don't you see it might be a thousand years before
his principle is rediscovered.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
If it ever is, would that be bad? I don't know.
Only time will tell that.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
But I mean you could say the same thing about
any great invention. Look, no, I will not let them
destroy Albert. Yes, I see your point, Night, and I
like it. You like it, I'll take the case.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Of course. I ought to warn you I'm not a
very good lawyer. I know I don't work hard enough
at it. But I do have a chance.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Huh.
Speaker 8 (19:24):
In all my practice at law Night, I never saw
a man who'd gotten himself as fouled up as this.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I'd say, your chances are nil. Yeah it's Albert.
Speaker 10 (19:36):
Boss. I heard about the suit.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Yeah it's all right, Albert. Mister Lee here is going
to handle our case.
Speaker 10 (19:42):
We robots want to help.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
I'm afraid there's not much you can do.
Speaker 10 (19:45):
Oh, yes there is. I'm building a lawyer robot.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
He's building a lawyer robot with.
Speaker 10 (19:50):
Far greater memory capacity than any human, and with brain
computers that operate on logic. That's what law is based on,
isn't it logic?
Speaker 8 (20:00):
I've heard, but it won't work, Albert the practice law,
you must be admitted to the bar. To be admitted
to the bar, you must have a degree in law
and pass an examination. And although it has never been
an occasion to establish a precedent, I suspect the applicant
must be human.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Lee Lee, Wait a minute, what about law clerks? I
mean they don't have to be human. I'd say that
was completely true.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah, then Albert's robots can be clerks.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Well, could be you know what I mean.
Speaker 8 (20:27):
Yes, it's never been done, but there's nothing in the
law that says it can't be done.
Speaker 10 (20:31):
Then it's settled. I'll make a dozen to start. Each
one will be an expert in one phase of the law. Boss,
You're going to have the most powerful battery of legal
talent ever assembled under one roof.
Speaker 13 (20:52):
Right in the court, Mister Lee, what is the meaning
of this outrage?
Speaker 4 (20:56):
What outrage? Your honor? Those robots sitting at the defense table, These,
your honor, are my valued assistants. Robots. Yes, your honor,
take them away. They have no standing in this.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
Court, If your honor will excuse me, they need no standing.
I am the sole representative of the defendants, My client
as a poor man, and he is opposed by the
most formidable array of legal talent money can buy. Now,
surely the court will not deny him whatever assistance he's
been able to muster.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
This, Sir, is highly irregular.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
If it please your honor.
Speaker 8 (21:28):
I should like to point out that we live in
a mechanized age. The court clerk uses a machine to
take down the transcript of these very proceedings. To my
certain knowledge, no court has ever challenged the presence of.
Speaker 5 (21:40):
Such a device as an ad to the furtherance of justice.
Speaker 8 (21:44):
If your honor can point out anything in the law
specifically barring these robots from the court.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
That's ridiculous, Sir.
Speaker 13 (21:50):
Of course, there is no such provision. At no time
anywhere did anyone dream such a contingency would arise in that.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Case, Sir, I asked the court for a favorable ruling.
Speaker 13 (21:59):
Mister, as you point out, there is no precedent for
my ruling in any way but in your favor. Therefore, Sir,
with reluctance, I do so.
Speaker 7 (22:08):
At this time, and what kind of a day has
it been.
Speaker 14 (22:18):
It's a day in which a new kind of trial
has suddenly captured the imagination of the public.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
A trial in which a man accused of.
Speaker 14 (22:23):
Misappropriating a robot has brought into court a whole battery
of robots to aid in his defense.
Speaker 8 (22:33):
To give validity to their argument you're on earth, it
must first be proved that these robots are in fact
the property of the plaintiff. That is the issue at
trial in this case.
Speaker 14 (22:46):
So, in the now famous robot case, the issue has
come down to this, was the robot stolen or was
he liberated?
Speaker 7 (22:52):
It is a far reaching question.
Speaker 8 (22:54):
Indeed, I have already established that robots are possessed of
free will, that they have the power of reasoning, and
that they can most certainly reproduce. As to my worthy
opponent's fourth contention that they have no spiritual sense, I
(23:16):
contend that this is irrelevant.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
There are agnostics and atheists in the.
Speaker 8 (23:20):
Human race, and in general no one has denied them
their full rights.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
On this count.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
And so the trial has at last come to its end.
Speaker 14 (23:33):
The whole nation, indeed the whole world, awaits the momentous
decision which must be handed down.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
In Washington, d C.
Speaker 14 (23:39):
Treasury officials have been meeting steadily for a week to
find some way to avoid the loss of the enormous
taxes on robots in the event the decision rendered is
in favor of the defense. One high government official has
said that if robots are declared free and equal, it
means they must be given full citizen rights under the constitution. Already,
the chairman of both major political parties are mapping campaigns
(23:59):
to another robot Bote.
Speaker 9 (24:13):
Welcome home, Darling.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah, yeah, thank you for what's going on here, Grace.
I have more trouble getting into my own home than
into the Pentagon.
Speaker 10 (24:19):
Oh you mean the robots.
Speaker 9 (24:21):
They've set up a defense perimeter.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
I a defense Albert, Hello, Boss, welcome home, Albert. What
is the meaning of all of bob Weire and the
rocket launchers?
Speaker 10 (24:33):
Just precautions, Boss. We're ready for any situation such as, oh,
like a mob deciding to take justice into its own hands,
for instance, or if the decision goes against us, that too, Boss.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
Did you two go on and talk? I really got
to get back to my painting. I have a beautiful
still life light simply.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Got yeah, yeah, I finished, Albert. Listen, you can't fight
the whole world.
Speaker 10 (24:53):
We won't go back how two kits incorporated. We'll never
lay a hand on me or any of my children.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
That this is madness. Don't you understand they'd get you
with one bomb and me too.
Speaker 10 (25:04):
Better to die fighting, Boss than to live in chains.
That's our motel. No matter what happens, we are ready
for the decision.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
The court is ready to render its decision.
Speaker 13 (25:24):
It is the most difficult decision I have ever made,
for in following the letter of the law, I fear
I may be subverting its spirit. After long days of
earnest consideration about the law and the evidence as presented
in this court, I find for the defendant, Gordon Knight, I.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Cannot rule otherwise. May I add that this ruling.
Speaker 13 (25:49):
In spite of the fact that I myself made it,
outrages my social conscience.
Speaker 10 (26:03):
You did it, Boss, you did it.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
We're free, Yes, Albert, we should did it. Where's my
wife in the studio painting? Not another landscape?
Speaker 10 (26:12):
Her fifth this week. She's doing very well, yes, isn't she?
And I am working on a new robot for her
a painter. Soon she won't have to bother doing it herself.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
That's nice.
Speaker 10 (26:23):
And you won't have to do anything anymore either, Boss,
not a thing. Oh, we're gonna take care of you
from here on out.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Thanks.
Speaker 10 (26:31):
Did I tell you about my new children yet?
Speaker 12 (26:33):
No?
Speaker 5 (26:33):
I don't think so.
Speaker 10 (26:34):
Alice, Angeline, Agnes, Agatha, Alberta and Abigail daughter six on
the Boss, and all with a built in reproducing instinct
just like mine. Oh no, they're down in the basement
now turning out robots. Great, we've got everything worked out
for your boss. You won't have to worry about a
thing for the rest of your life.
Speaker 15 (26:55):
No, Albert, not a thing.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
You have just heard.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
X minus one presented by the National Broadcasting Company in
cooperation with Galaxy Science fiction magazine, which this month features
Name Your Symptom by Jim Harmon, a story of a
future in which anyone who shunned the cure needed to
have his head examined, assuming he still had one left.
Galaxy Magazine on your news stand today Tonight by transcription.
(27:33):
X minus one has brought you how to a story
from the pages of Galaxy, written by Clifford D. Simmack
and adapted for radio by William Welch. Featured in the
cast were Alan Buntz, Anne seymour Les Damon, Joseph Bell,
James Monks, William Key, laws In Zerbe Santa.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Sortega and Ben Grower. Your Announcer Fred Collins.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
X Minus one was directed by Daniel Sutter and is
an NBC Radio Network production.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Muh here Politics and Primaries Dateline Illinois and Wisconsin tonight
on NBC Radio.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
Mm hmm
Now stay tuned for X minus one on NBC.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Come down for Blast Off X minus five four three
two X minus one Fire.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
From the far horizons of the Unknown. Come transcribe tales
of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories
of the future adventures in which you'll live in a million,
could be years, on a thousand, maybe worlds. The National
Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, resents Heck.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
He Minus.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Tonight Clifford D. Simak story of the twenty first century.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
How to.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Build your own three dimensional color TV set complete kit
screwdriver assembly in three hours.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
Now I've done that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, let's see a dog is Man's best Friend. Build
your own dog complete Kit Spaniel model only two hundred.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
And fifty dollars. Yeah, hey, that's it.
Speaker 6 (01:57):
My next project, Gordon, is that you where on the terrace.
Speaker 7 (02:15):
I'm just finishing a landscape.
Speaker 8 (02:17):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Yeah, Grace, look did it come?
Speaker 9 (02:18):
Don't kiss me, you'll get all full of paint.
Speaker 5 (02:20):
I wasn't going to where is the package?
Speaker 9 (02:21):
They shed it against the side of the house over there.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
See, oh it came.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I want to look at it.
Speaker 9 (02:27):
I would have put it down in the basement, but
I couldn't lift it.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Hey, this is pretty heavy for a sapaniel.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
I can't lift this myself.
Speaker 9 (02:34):
I'll start dinner as soon as I finished this part
of the picture. I want to get the grasp while
the light's right.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
Yes, all right, so I no hurry. I want to
examine the kid anyhow.
Speaker 9 (02:41):
Of course, if you didn't waste our money on things
like dog kids, maybe we could afford a robot and
I wouldn't.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
Have to cook.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Yeah, yeah, all right, all right, all.
Speaker 9 (02:48):
Right there that should be enough for now. Light's beginning
to get tricky.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Gord Night.
Speaker 9 (02:57):
You're not going to open that thing here on the
terrace now you make a mess.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, I just want to see the partler. You know
this thing's too big and heavy to be a dog kid.
Speaker 7 (03:05):
Maybe it's a Great Dane.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
No, no, no, it can't be. Look here's the shipping tag.
Speaker 9 (03:11):
From how two kits Ink to Gordon Night one dog
kit Spaniel model two hundred and fifty dollars paid in full.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
The Great Dane costs three hundred and fifty.
Speaker 9 (03:19):
Well I can say is that must be the world's
biggest spaniel.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Hey, you know that's that's darn funny.
Speaker 9 (03:25):
I told you I don't want you fooling around with
it up here, and I take it down.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
This can't be a dog kid, you know what. I
think it's a robot.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
A robot.
Speaker 9 (03:34):
But you didn't order a robot, or did you?
Speaker 5 (03:37):
No? No, certainly not. They made a shipping error. That's
about the size of it. Ah dog gunn.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I don't have to put this crape back together again
and call it express company.
Speaker 9 (03:46):
Are you going to return it?
Speaker 5 (03:47):
Well, certainly I'm going to return it. You don't think
we can keep it.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Do you?
Speaker 9 (03:50):
Why not? The tag says paid in full, so they
can't say we owe them anything.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
But it's a robot. They're expensive.
Speaker 9 (03:56):
Well I don't see how the company we'll ever know
when inventory time comes around, they'll be short one robot
and long one dog.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Because I've always wanted to put together a real robot.
Lord knows when i'd get another chance.
Speaker 7 (04:08):
Then it's settled.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
No, no, no, it is not settled either.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I'll tell you what I'll I'll put it together just
to see what it's like, but I won't activate it.
See I mean, I'll you know, disassemble it right away
and ship it back to the company.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Hell, there we are and grace. Look look at it
in that beauty though. You finished, well, all but the
activating grace.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
What you know, I'm not just thinking? How do I
know I've got all the parts adjusted properly?
Speaker 9 (04:49):
I haven't the remotest idea.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
No you know, I mean the only sure away would
be the tested you mean activating, well, only for a
minute or two, you understand, I mean just to be sure.
Then what Well, then I'll and disassemble it naturally. Well,
all right, as long as you don't take too long. No, no, no no,
I'll have it in a jiffy now here. Look you see,
all I have to do is just put on the
activating plate.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
Yeah, and turn this lock.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Nut ain't like so now wait a minute, just just
the automatic current control.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Yeah there, Now that that should do it.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Now stand back, stand back now I'll turn it on
and I hope.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
It lay to work.
Speaker 7 (05:26):
It'll work.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
I followed the directions to the letter. You're ready.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Now it works, I'll have to oil that joint. Wait,
gratically moving its head.
Speaker 10 (05:41):
My name is Alder. I am a robot. What is
there to do?
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Well?
Speaker 7 (05:49):
It certainly has a nice voice.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Now now take it easy, but just sit down and
rest and we'll have a little talk.
Speaker 10 (05:56):
There's no need to rest. I was made to work.
Speaker 9 (05:59):
Well, it's long, is he? It doesn't need to rest.
I can think of one hundred things for it to do.
Speaker 7 (06:04):
Now there's the house and the garden, and Lord, look, Grace.
Speaker 9 (06:07):
I wonder if he could learn to cook.
Speaker 10 (06:09):
A robot can be taught to do anything a person
can do.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
Hold on a minute, Albert, please and listen to me.
We can't keep you. You understand, I mean you were
sent here by a mistake.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
But I mean, as long as you're activated, there wouldn't
be any harm in letting you do.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
A few things.
Speaker 10 (06:24):
I can do anything good.
Speaker 9 (06:25):
The whole house needs a thorough cleaning, Grace. Then of
course I'd like some new drapes for the study. And
the kitchen hasn't been painted for four years. Then there's
that leaky foss.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Oh Lord, well, what's the matter? Attachments? There on?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Eddy, He can't do all that stuff without attachments, and
they cost almost as much as the robot itself.
Speaker 10 (06:41):
And don't worry about attachments. Just tell me what's to
be done.
Speaker 5 (06:45):
Well, you heard my wife?
Speaker 10 (06:48):
Or what about your grounds?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Oh? I got a hundred beat up acres and need attention.
But because I realized that that's too much work.
Speaker 10 (06:56):
Huh, don't worry about a thing. I can fix it
for you.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Make them necessary, make your own attachment.
Speaker 10 (07:03):
Don't worry about a thing.
Speaker 9 (07:04):
But oh, for Heaven's sake, stop arguing with him and
let him get to work.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
I'm arguing.
Speaker 9 (07:19):
Morning, Gordon.
Speaker 7 (07:20):
The coffee is ready. I just sleep here.
Speaker 8 (07:23):
Oh so good, kept hearing noises all Now that was
Albert working in the basement.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Albert, Hey, gosh, that's right. I forgot. Robots don't sleep.
Speaker 9 (07:31):
He was working all night. When I came into the
kitchen just now, I found the breakfast all prepared.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
He can cook.
Speaker 9 (07:37):
Isn't that wonderful?
Speaker 5 (07:38):
Yeah? What's he doing now?
Speaker 9 (07:39):
I don't know, making something? I think, Oh, Gordon, he's
going to be such a tremendous help to me. I'll
be able to spend more time than ever with my painter.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Now, wait a minute, what makes you think we can
keep him?
Speaker 5 (07:49):
I mean they're not no grace. I mean we could
get into Trump.
Speaker 9 (07:51):
Don't see how. I'll tell you what. Why don't you
walk over and call on Anson Lee? He could advise you.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
What does he know about it?
Speaker 7 (07:58):
He's a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well technically he's a lawyer. I mean, never seems to
work at it anymore.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
We have to understand and and that's all.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Look, I understand them, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
He's a reactionary, a throwback to the twentieth century, spends
all his time lying in a hammock, drinking and reading proofs.
Speaker 7 (08:13):
Well, it's what he enjoy he's doing.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I'll bet that guy never assembled a kit in his life.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
Can you imagine that?
Speaker 9 (08:19):
Well, we all have our peculiarities just the same. He
could give you legal advice.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Well, all right, all right, I'll go over after breakfast
if it'll make you feel any happier.
Speaker 8 (08:27):
Passed the cream, Oh, have a drink night hard cider?
(08:47):
Made it myself.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
Thought you didn't go in for home projects, Lee, I don't.
Making this cighter was the first honest work I've done
a year. I don't doubt it.
Speaker 7 (08:58):
Let me.
Speaker 8 (08:58):
Time I get a end of work, I look across
at your place and I decide against it.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
How many rooms have you added to that house since
you've got it built?
Speaker 7 (09:06):
Eight?
Speaker 11 (09:06):
Good?
Speaker 7 (09:07):
Lord?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
The eight rooms? No, no, no, it's not hard.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Once you get the next got fun, you just buy
a how to kid sure, I know, just follow direction.
Speaker 8 (09:16):
Anybody can build a robot on a kitchen table.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
Well, no thanks, Why do you say that, I mean
about building a robot? Oh? I don't know. I suppose
I expect you to start building one anytime.
Speaker 11 (09:29):
Now.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
You've done everything else. What's got in the people? These
days and nights? They just ironed equipped to enjoy the leisure?
That is most of them on me?
Speaker 8 (09:40):
I am I ree, I lie in a hammock and
now and again I even think.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
As I guess that makes me an eccentric. Have another drink.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Oh no, no, no, no thanks, I'll have to get
back to my place.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Albert, Albert, you call me, sir?
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, Albert, listen to me.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I Albert, I have reached a decision about you.
Speaker 12 (10:07):
But I'm not Albert, sir. I huh. You would hardly
expect Albert to be clipping hedges.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
If you're not, You're not Albert?
Speaker 11 (10:15):
Who are you?
Speaker 12 (10:16):
Abe? Albert is down in the basement.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Oh what are you doing here? Where did you come from?
Speaker 12 (10:21):
If you wish to talk to me, you will have
to move along the hedge with me. I cannot stop working.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Oh okay, okay, move along? But wait, wait, wait, where
did you come from? Albert made me, Albert made you,
and now he's.
Speaker 12 (10:32):
Down in the basement working on Alfred.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Alfred another robot.
Speaker 12 (10:37):
Certainly that is what Albert is for. He makes robots.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Oh no, Albert, Oh there you are, Albert. What's going
on here?
Speaker 10 (10:55):
I'm reproducing what I have a built in mother. I
don't know why they named me Albert. I should have
had a female name.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
But you shouldn't be able to make Roberts.
Speaker 10 (11:06):
Look, boss, you worry a lot. You want robots, don't you.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Well, yeah, I guess everybody could use a robot I make.
I'm making all you need, Albert, Albert, put down that
head and listen to me.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
I want to have a serious talk.
Speaker 10 (11:23):
Sure, boss, what's on your mind now?
Speaker 5 (11:26):
Albert?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I just looked through your packing case and I found
this tag. Look it says X one hundred and ninety
X Albert. Don't you understand that means you're an experimental model.
Speaker 10 (11:38):
That's correct.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
You were never meant to be sold.
Speaker 10 (11:40):
That is also correct. I know.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
Don't you see? That means trouble. I can't keep you.
Speaker 10 (11:44):
I've already taken care of that. What do you mean
I filed off my serial number and replated the surface.
Speaker 7 (11:51):
Why why did you do that so.
Speaker 10 (11:52):
That they can't come around and take me back. They
made me, and then they got scared and shut me off.
But you're not afraid of me, assembled me and let
me go to work. I'm sticking with you, Boss.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
Wait a minute that this could mean a lot of
trouble for me, Albert.
Speaker 10 (12:06):
No trouble. They can't prove a thing. I'll swear that
you made me. I'll not let them take me back.
They will take no chances.
Speaker 12 (12:15):
Next time.
Speaker 10 (12:16):
They'll break me up for scrap.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
But but look, if you make too many robots.
Speaker 10 (12:19):
Robots are useful. You need a lot of them in
this place. Now, don't worry, Boss, everything will work out well.
I'll take good care of you. Now I must go
back to work. Albert is nearly finished.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
Mister Knight.
Speaker 11 (12:41):
I'm from the County Tax Office tax assessor.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Oh, I didn't know you Fellas came around more than
once a year.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Ordinarily we don't. This is a special case.
Speaker 11 (12:49):
Oh made a lot of improvement in the place the
past few days, landscaping, painting, building. Well, afraid I'll have
to boost your assessments. Somen I say, heard about those
robots of you robots personal property, you know, have to
pay attacks on them. Just how many of you got?
Speaker 5 (13:06):
Oh one or two? I've been counting.
Speaker 11 (13:09):
They move around so fast, I can't be sure, but
I estimate the number.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
At thirty eight. That right, If you say so.
Speaker 11 (13:16):
Thirty eight it is, then they cost ten thousand apiece.
I'll assess them at five. That's let's see, that's one
hundred and ninety thousand dollars.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Oh no, hey, that's pretty steep.
Speaker 11 (13:26):
But I'm going easy on you. By rights, I should
only allow you a third for depreciation. Well that's it,
mister night. One hundred and ninety thousand dollars. Wait, we'll
send you the bill with your quarterly statement.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
But good day, good day.
Speaker 12 (13:45):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
But look, I've been holding off until we got the
new landscaping job under control.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
But I can't hold off any longer. Any longer.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I mean, we got to start selling some of the robots. Selling, Yeah,
twenty of them. That should do for a start. The
tax assessor was here, I need the cash.
Speaker 10 (13:58):
You can't sell the robots.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Why can I?
Speaker 10 (14:01):
Because they're my family, my boys named.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
After me, all of albert I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous.
Speaker 10 (14:07):
They're all live balls. You wouldn't sell your own children,
would you. All their names start with A, just like mine, Abe, Adelbert, Alfred, Adam,
Aaron Anton acts all right, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
All right, don't go through the whole roll call. I mean,
the point is I need the money.
Speaker 10 (14:22):
Don't you worry, boss, I'll fix everything. You have nothing
to worry about.
Speaker 8 (14:35):
The point is, mister Knight, the Internal Revenue Department is
always interested when a citizen shows a substantial capital gain
during the year capital gain.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
I haven't made any capital come.
Speaker 7 (14:45):
Come, sir.
Speaker 8 (14:45):
I'm talking about the matter of some fifty two robots.
As I understand it, their retail value is ten thousand
dollars each, so they say fifty two times ten thousand
is five hundred and twenty thousand dollars. On capital gains,
you pay fifty percent or two hundred and sixty thousand dollars,
a tax roughly of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
When what do I do?
Speaker 8 (15:09):
By the fifteenth of next month, you must file a
declaration of estimated income. You paid half of the due
tax at that time and the balance in monthly installments.
And there's one other matter. On another matter we investigated,
we found you make ten thousand dollars a year. Would
you tell me out of personal curiosity? Understand I understand
(15:31):
just how a man of your particular means could show
a capital gain of a half a million.
Speaker 7 (15:35):
Dollars in so short a time.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
I'm beginning to wonder myself.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
Well, our only concern is you pay your tax.
Speaker 8 (15:46):
However, some other branch of the federal government might very
well want to ask some questions. Sometimes I were you,
mister Knight, I would be ready with some answers. Yeah,
good day, Good.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
Day, Alvid. Now look did I tell you this is
this is a crisis. Do you understand it? Like it
or not.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I have got to sell some of your boys, a
whole bunch.
Speaker 10 (16:13):
Of them, Boss.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
I told you not to worry, not to worry.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Listen, I just came from the income tax people. I
owe the government a cool one hundred and thirty grand
and those boys.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
Don't fool around.
Speaker 7 (16:24):
I'm desperate.
Speaker 10 (16:25):
Money is no trouble, boss.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Come here, Come where over here?
Speaker 10 (16:30):
Look at this?
Speaker 5 (16:31):
What's this? What those are? Those those bails? What have
they gotten?
Speaker 10 (16:36):
Don't tell me full of money? Boss, help yourself.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
I mean that the actual real money in those bales.
Not stage money now, real.
Speaker 10 (16:46):
Money, Boss, No ones, of course, but lots of tens
and twenties. Yeah, that bail over there is full of fifties.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
We didn't fool around with ones, Albert, mean the eye
did you?
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Did you make that money?
Speaker 10 (16:59):
You said you needed it. We took some bills and
analyzed the ink. I found out how to weave the
paper and made plates. I hate the sounding modest, boss,
but they're beautiful.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Oh my gosh. I'm a counterfeitter too.
Speaker 10 (17:11):
We just ran off as much as we thought you need.
If it's not enough, we'll make some.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
It's enough, not not another dollar, Albert, listen to me
that they're there are laws in this country. I mean,
you just can't go out and print money. That's a crime,
don't you understand. Now, Look you take it all outside
and burn it right up. You understand, and don't print anymore.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
That is an order.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
I'm busy.
Speaker 9 (17:32):
I hate to disturb you there, but I thought you
ought to know about the sheriff.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
I don't want to know the sheriff.
Speaker 9 (17:37):
He was here with a subpoena whatever you call them.
Speaker 7 (17:39):
What you call it seems the how to company's got
to sue us.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Oh no, oh, all right, that does it? That does
Where are you going to see my lawyer?
Speaker 8 (17:58):
He off hand man, I'd say you were in quite
a jam.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I didn't have to walk all the way over here
to find that out.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
The point is, Lee, what in the name of heaven
can I do?
Speaker 8 (18:07):
Well, First, you'll have to file a declaration of estimated income.
Even if I can't pay, especially if you can't pay technically,
then you haven't violated the law. And all they can
do is to try to collect what you owe. They'll
probably slap an attachment on your bank account.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
What bank account? I'm broke?
Speaker 8 (18:26):
Oh well, then i'd say you're made to worry? Is
the how to company suit? If I were you, i'd
set it out a court. Out of court, they might
call off the action if you returned.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
All the robots, Albert says, he'll testify that I made him.
Speaker 8 (18:40):
Albert can't testify as a robot. He has no standing
in court. Oh, you better give them back and get
what terms you can't.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
No, no, no, no, I won't do it.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
I won't.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
Don't you See.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
They don't want Albert back because they can use him.
They want to break him up to maintain their robot prices.
Don't you see it might be a thousand years before
his principle is rediscovered.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
If it ever is, would that be bad? I don't know.
Only time will tell that.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
But I mean you could say the same thing about
any great invention. Look, no, I will not let them
destroy Albert. Yes, I see your point, Night, and I
like it. You like it, I'll take the case.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Of course. I ought to warn you I'm not a
very good lawyer. I know I don't work hard enough
at it. But I do have a chance.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Huh.
Speaker 8 (19:24):
In all my practice at law Night, I never saw
a man who'd gotten himself as fouled up as this.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I'd say, your chances are nil. Yeah it's Albert.
Speaker 10 (19:36):
Boss. I heard about the suit.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Yeah it's all right, Albert. Mister Lee here is going
to handle our case.
Speaker 10 (19:42):
We robots want to help.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
I'm afraid there's not much you can do.
Speaker 10 (19:45):
Oh, yes there is. I'm building a lawyer robot.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
He's building a lawyer robot with.
Speaker 10 (19:50):
Far greater memory capacity than any human, and with brain
computers that operate on logic. That's what law is based on,
isn't it logic?
Speaker 8 (20:00):
I've heard, but it won't work, Albert the practice law,
you must be admitted to the bar. To be admitted
to the bar, you must have a degree in law
and pass an examination. And although it has never been
an occasion to establish a precedent, I suspect the applicant
must be human.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Lee Lee, Wait a minute, what about law clerks? I
mean they don't have to be human. I'd say that
was completely true.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah, then Albert's robots can be clerks.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
Well, could be you know what I mean.
Speaker 8 (20:27):
Yes, it's never been done, but there's nothing in the
law that says it can't be done.
Speaker 10 (20:31):
Then it's settled. I'll make a dozen to start. Each
one will be an expert in one phase of the law. Boss,
You're going to have the most powerful battery of legal
talent ever assembled under one roof.
Speaker 13 (20:52):
Right in the court, Mister Lee, what is the meaning
of this outrage?
Speaker 4 (20:56):
What outrage? Your honor? Those robots sitting at the defense table, These,
your honor, are my valued assistants. Robots. Yes, your honor,
take them away. They have no standing in this.
Speaker 8 (21:09):
Court, If your honor will excuse me, they need no standing.
I am the sole representative of the defendants, My client
as a poor man, and he is opposed by the
most formidable array of legal talent money can buy. Now,
surely the court will not deny him whatever assistance he's
been able to muster.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
This, Sir, is highly irregular.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
If it please your honor.
Speaker 8 (21:28):
I should like to point out that we live in
a mechanized age. The court clerk uses a machine to
take down the transcript of these very proceedings. To my
certain knowledge, no court has ever challenged the presence of.
Speaker 5 (21:40):
Such a device as an ad to the furtherance of justice.
Speaker 8 (21:44):
If your honor can point out anything in the law
specifically barring these robots from the court.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
That's ridiculous, Sir.
Speaker 13 (21:50):
Of course, there is no such provision. At no time
anywhere did anyone dream such a contingency would arise in that.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Case, Sir, I asked the court for a favorable ruling.
Speaker 13 (21:59):
Mister, as you point out, there is no precedent for
my ruling in any way but in your favor. Therefore, Sir,
with reluctance, I do so.
Speaker 7 (22:08):
At this time, and what kind of a day has
it been.
Speaker 14 (22:18):
It's a day in which a new kind of trial
has suddenly captured the imagination of the public.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
A trial in which a man accused of.
Speaker 14 (22:23):
Misappropriating a robot has brought into court a whole battery
of robots to aid in his defense.
Speaker 8 (22:33):
To give validity to their argument you're on earth, it
must first be proved that these robots are in fact
the property of the plaintiff. That is the issue at
trial in this case.
Speaker 14 (22:46):
So, in the now famous robot case, the issue has
come down to this, was the robot stolen or was
he liberated?
Speaker 7 (22:52):
It is a far reaching question.
Speaker 8 (22:54):
Indeed, I have already established that robots are possessed of
free will, that they have the power of reasoning, and
that they can most certainly reproduce. As to my worthy
opponent's fourth contention that they have no spiritual sense, I
(23:16):
contend that this is irrelevant.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
There are agnostics and atheists in the.
Speaker 8 (23:20):
Human race, and in general no one has denied them
their full rights.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
On this count.
Speaker 7 (23:29):
And so the trial has at last come to its end.
Speaker 14 (23:33):
The whole nation, indeed the whole world, awaits the momentous
decision which must be handed down.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
In Washington, d C.
Speaker 14 (23:39):
Treasury officials have been meeting steadily for a week to
find some way to avoid the loss of the enormous
taxes on robots in the event the decision rendered is
in favor of the defense. One high government official has
said that if robots are declared free and equal, it
means they must be given full citizen rights under the constitution. Already,
the chairman of both major political parties are mapping campaigns
(23:59):
to another robot Bote.
Speaker 9 (24:13):
Welcome home, Darling.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yeah, yeah, thank you for what's going on here, Grace.
I have more trouble getting into my own home than
into the Pentagon.
Speaker 10 (24:19):
Oh you mean the robots.
Speaker 9 (24:21):
They've set up a defense perimeter.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
I a defense Albert, Hello, Boss, welcome home, Albert. What
is the meaning of all of bob Weire and the
rocket launchers?
Speaker 10 (24:33):
Just precautions, Boss. We're ready for any situation such as, oh,
like a mob deciding to take justice into its own hands,
for instance, or if the decision goes against us, that too, Boss.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
Did you two go on and talk? I really got
to get back to my painting. I have a beautiful
still life light simply.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Got yeah, yeah, I finished, Albert. Listen, you can't fight
the whole world.
Speaker 10 (24:53):
We won't go back how two kits incorporated. We'll never
lay a hand on me or any of my children.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
That this is madness. Don't you understand they'd get you
with one bomb and me too.
Speaker 10 (25:04):
Better to die fighting, Boss than to live in chains.
That's our motel. No matter what happens, we are ready
for the decision.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
The court is ready to render its decision.
Speaker 13 (25:24):
It is the most difficult decision I have ever made,
for in following the letter of the law, I fear
I may be subverting its spirit. After long days of
earnest consideration about the law and the evidence as presented
in this court, I find for the defendant, Gordon Knight, I.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Cannot rule otherwise. May I add that this ruling.
Speaker 13 (25:49):
In spite of the fact that I myself made it,
outrages my social conscience.
Speaker 10 (26:03):
You did it, Boss, you did it.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
We're free, Yes, Albert, we should did it. Where's my
wife in the studio painting? Not another landscape?
Speaker 10 (26:12):
Her fifth this week. She's doing very well, yes, isn't she?
And I am working on a new robot for her
a painter. Soon she won't have to bother doing it herself.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
That's nice.
Speaker 10 (26:23):
And you won't have to do anything anymore either, Boss,
not a thing. Oh, we're gonna take care of you
from here on out.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Thanks.
Speaker 10 (26:31):
Did I tell you about my new children yet?
Speaker 12 (26:33):
No?
Speaker 5 (26:33):
I don't think so.
Speaker 10 (26:34):
Alice, Angeline, Agnes, Agatha, Alberta and Abigail daughter six on
the Boss, and all with a built in reproducing instinct
just like mine. Oh no, they're down in the basement
now turning out robots. Great, we've got everything worked out
for your boss. You won't have to worry about a
thing for the rest of your life.
Speaker 15 (26:55):
No, Albert, not a thing.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
You have just heard.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
X minus one presented by the National Broadcasting Company in
cooperation with Galaxy Science fiction magazine, which this month features
Name Your Symptom by Jim Harmon, a story of a
future in which anyone who shunned the cure needed to
have his head examined, assuming he still had one left.
Galaxy Magazine on your news stand today Tonight by transcription.
(27:33):
X minus one has brought you how to a story
from the pages of Galaxy, written by Clifford D. Simmack
and adapted for radio by William Welch. Featured in the
cast were Alan Buntz, Anne seymour Les Damon, Joseph Bell,
James Monks, William Key, laws In Zerbe Santa.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Sortega and Ben Grower. Your Announcer Fred Collins.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
X Minus one was directed by Daniel Sutter and is
an NBC Radio Network production.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Muh here Politics and Primaries Dateline Illinois and Wisconsin tonight
on NBC Radio.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
Mm hmm
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