Chapter 20

20 WATSON STARTS TO RUN TOWARD THE ROBOTS, BUT FRANK grabs his arm. "Wait! It might be a trap. And I'm sure Edison has more security. Let's watch for a minute." And, sure enough, in less than a minute, a motorized boom lift wheels around the corner of the particle collider... carrying T. Edison

and the boom driver, Mr. Chimp. Frank and Watson duck behind a bank of computers. "All right, you repair-shop rejects," calls Edison from the boom platform. "Stand over against that wall. Right in front of the target." "We are hardly rejects," says Klink. "My mental capacity alone is, by any measure, now roughly twelve times that of even your smartest human." "And you are a robot. And I have decided to get rid of you before that jerk Einstein and his doofus pal—" "Hey..." whispers Watson. "I'm not a doofus." "—come back snooping around. I will destroy all evidence that you ever helped me. And we will get to run the best and final test on the Edison

Antimatter Squirt Gun. Win-win!" Frank and Watson can see Klank's antenna blinking in serious thought. "But I do not want to be destroyed." "Hmm," says Edison. "What is Asimov's Second Law of Robotics again?" Klank beeps, "A robot must obey orders from humans." Edison pushes a remote, and the Edison Antimatter Squirt Gun lights up with a deep

hum. "Great. So I am ordering you two metalheads to get over there in front of that target. Now." Klink and Klank move slowly along the brick wall and stand in front of the target. "There is nothing they can do," says Frank. "They can't violate their robot laws. We have to save them." "Right," says Watson. He jumps up and starts running toward Klink and Klank. "Though I was thinking we could make a plan first..." Frank chases Watson and tries to pull him back, but only manages to catch him just as they both reach a ring of pressure- activated floor plates surrounding the Edison Antimatter Squirt Gun. The weight of Watson and Frank sinks the floor plate a barely noticeable half inch. But that half inch interrupts a photoelectric light

beam, which triggers a switch, which activates a spring, which shoots a line of titanium bars out of the floor, which trap Watson and Frank in an escape-proof cage against the scarred brick factory wall.

"What?!" yells Edison. And this time he looks truly surprised. "How did you two idiots get in here? You are supposed to be in the junkyard across the lake, saving your robot pals." Mr. Chimp opens his mouth wide and bares his four large canine teeth. "Sorry to spoil your test," says Frank. "We just missed you so much, we had to come back and visit again." Edison uses his remote control to swivel his Edison Antimatter Squirt Gun back and forth. He looks at Klink and Klank. He looks at Frank and Watson. He thinks. He smiles. "Oh, this is even better. Klink, what is that First Law of Robotics?" "A robot cannot injure a human, or let a human