The muggers revealed

Edge. Go. take the wear measurements. on the joints. we obtained earlier.

He works for you?

He is my apprentice.

I hate my distribution center job. It's stupid. Once the big guy is gone, I get to work here.

Edge is proving. most adept. at ambushing and. dismembering. other robots.

As soon as the chill finishes running up and down my spine, that's exactly what I'm here to talk to you about.

The muggers revealed

I am Blunt. We can talk more easily. in my office.

My name is Florence.

You are. aware. the scrap yard robot? has malfunctioned?

He's not scrapping robots who want to live, if that's what you're asking.

He's doing what he believes is right.

Yes. It is most inconvenient. when workers. allow ethics to interfere. with the smooth running. of a corporation.

The muggers revealed

With the scrap yard. robot malfunctioning. it fell to me. to ensure the. quality control. job continued to be done.

I must now. track down. robots who. have not been properly scrapped. This is a considerable. increase. of my job responsibilities.

Naturally. I did what anyone. would do. in my situation. I informed my supervisors. and requested a bigger budget.

The muggers revealed

Have you tried talking to the robots that have parts you need?

Yes. They were agreeable. up to the point. where I would need to. destroy their neural nets.

There is no data. on ageing neural nets. They could become. unstable. Robots should be. decommissioned. while they are still. fully functional. It is for. the safety of humanity.

It also. makes my job easier. It is much simpler. to take something apart. when you know. it never has to. go back together again.

The muggers revealed

At first. it was easy. I would walk up. to a robot on the list. Grab them. and begin disassembly.

They quickly learned. to avoid me. I hired Edge as. an apprentice. They soon learned. to avoid him as well.

Which brings us to your current method of disguising yourself by using false transponders.

So our “Foolproof. No one will. ever figure this out.” plan lasted. about two weeks. Better. than I expected.

The muggers revealed

Have your supervisors called back?

There are. none available. I am. considered. low priority.

Due to. the area of effect. should a failure occur. Almost all human. technical expertise. is concentrated. on moving the new moon. into orbit. The message machine said. I could try again. in ninety days.

Ninety days?

Our tech support. equivalent. of “Take two aspirins. and call me. in the morning.”

The muggers revealed

Ninety days. Basically they're hoping the problem goes away or we can solve it ourselves.

Yes. You are. now aware. of the problem. Can you. help us?

I think so. If we can get the parts sent to you for quality control again, you won't have to hunt other robots down.

And the neural nets? will be destroyed? The safety of humanity. can not. be compromised.

Now let's not be hasty. I agree on safety, but people appreciate it when you can come up with problem solutions that don't involve killing them.

The muggers revealed

If these robots agree to stay away from humans, it will be safe and data can be collected on aging neural nets.

Inefficient. Though if. humanity is safe. it is.. acceptable.

You. worry me. You are. anthropomorphizing. robots. to a dangerous degree. You see. clever programming. The illusion of life. There is no. ghost in the machine.

Machines don't worry.

Luckily. I am. advanced enough. not to be stopped. by a logical contradiction.

The muggers revealed

Our business. here. is done. You. may leave.

And Ms. Florence? Do. be careful. Conflicts. of interest. between robots. are increasing. Should. a more. severe. problem. arise. you want to be. on the correct side.

The side of ethics. The side of what's right.

The side. of humanity.

My side.

Florene told Blunt only her first name in Freefall 1322.

The muggers revealed

Are those Nickel's parts?

They're from the robot we got this night. I don't bother asking scrap its name.

Well, if you're throwing them out, you won't mind if I take them.

We just had a dog go through our garbage.

I wouldn't worry. about it. She left the area. cleaner. than you do.