What is with this obsession of these robots for the ancient time-telling devices? Han Fastolfe constructed both Jander and Daneel. While physically identical, they are very distinct characters and have different mental development. Still, they both loved those strange time-telling devices from the ancient Earth… Playing again in the mind of Elijah Baley on his trip to Aurora to investigate a crime: the destruction of the mind of R. Jander Panell. The action is inspired by Isaac’s Asimov universe from the Robots series and features the URWERK UR-100V Stardust.
When the captain put me in charge of the investigation of Dr. Sarton’s death, I would not have believed that I would be able to work side by side with a robot. Befriending one was some world’s end for me. Leaving Earth was against my whole being. And here I am, travelling to space again to meet an old friend – Robot Daneel Olivaw.
I cannot say that I enjoy it, but after I experienced the voyage to Solaria, I am not so much against it – leaving Earth, going to the stars… I don’t know if the trip itself made a positive impact or if it was simply the successful outcome: the relatively easy crime-solving or the sweet impression that some of the Solarians left me.
Investigating another case with Daneel is definitively a challenge. His superior memory and increased acuity made him a valuable partner. Sometimes, I feel that his intellect is actually so powerful that he just politely asks for my help, being more than capable of succeeding in any task… I think he genuinely enjoyed our interactions, but I am not really sure who is helping who… Although he did not express any political views, I noticed some exceptional diplomatic approaches in all the Terrans and Spacer interactions. Since our successful cases on Earth and Solaria, he was often called to negotiate or intermediate various topics involving the two entities.
So here I am again in space, voyaging to another planet – Aurora. Daneel is here with me. We are joined by another robot – R. Giskard Reventlov, an older generation pre-humaniform built by Dr. Fastolfe but highly mentally capable. It looks like the spacers have built robots with impressive skills, Giskards being a psychiatrist and having the ability to read and influence emotions. I am extremely impressed by the success in creating such strong personalities just by programming. Han Fastolfe is a genius…
Investigating the premises where the mind of R. Jander Panell was destroyed, I noticed several tools that seemed to be used for some small mechanical devices. I remember seeing Daneel using something similar for his mechanical time-telling device. But such devices were nowhere to be found, leading to the idea that someone asked Jander to build, repair or modify such a device, or it was taken.
“Hey there, stranger!” – that voice so charming and familiar – Gladia Delmarre. But what is she doing here on Aurora? I investigated her husband’s death on Solaria. But here she was, as gorgeous as ever. When I turned towards her, I had a mix of feelings. I was not expecting to be so impressed and happy to see her again. I could not help but notice she had on her left wrist a time-telling device somewhat similar to what Daneel was wearing. Something that could fit the description of Jander’s missing object…
I had to ask… she blushed a bit and asked for a private meeting later the evening. Although completely unprofessional and outside the protocol, I accepted. So I prepared: I asked the property robots to make me a new suit, I shaved, and I was even earlier outside to wait for the hoover car to pick me up. What was I thinking? Or better said, what was I not thinking?
So we met in a private saloon where some food and beverages were already prepared. She ordered the robot servers to leave, and she told me we had all the privacy. I could not take my eyes off her. So radiant and beautiful. But remembering her history, I was a bit turned – what are the odds she is being involved in two murders, so different, so distant? So I had to bite my lips and ask: what is with the device?
“You know“, she told me, “It is from Earth… Some of the early explorers brought it with them on space travels and was on Aurora since the very beginning of colonisation“. She told me she received it as a gift from Jander when they were lovers.
“Lovers? What do you mean, lovers? Jander is just a robot, and you are a woman…” I exploded in an inexplicable rage and (to my own surprise) a feeling of jealousy. “You know Elijah? You are unfair and completely out of order. Please leave!” – showing me the door. Surprised by my own reaction, I left. Not before observing the immense sadness in her eyes…
Struggling with feelings, I spend the entire night just thinking of her. Those sad eyes on her incredibly beautiful face made it harder. What was I thinking? Why did I react like that? Why I can’t take her out of my head? We had a lovely interaction on Solaria, but I never thought about her that way. What did change? The entire rest of the night and the day after, I only remembered, again and again, our encounters. Something came, over and over again, in my mind: the moment I heard her voice and the warming feeling that filled my heart when I saw her again after all these years.
Since I was ashamed and did not have the courage to send her a video message, I only sent a written message asking for a meeting. She replied fast and sent a hoover car to bring me to her. She was waiting for me outside her farmhouse. I could tell she was sad but somehow happy to meet me.
The love dialogue
“Hi Gladia! Thank you for having me” – pursing my lips in frustration
“Hi Elijah! Anytime, but I think we both have some explanation to give…” answered in a serious tone.
“I have to apologise for the last evening! I am really sorry that I put so much emotional stress on you, Especially now when you clearly have to handle another loss. I… I… Aaah! It was not the correct way of handling the situation. But I don’t know what happened. But you still have to answer some questions. You know… official questions.“
“Then let me answer your questions, Elijah, and don’t bark at me as though you expected to surprise me into telling you something I would otherwise keep secret!” – she said with noticeable anger.
I wanted to say that these are not my intention at all
“Tell me about the watch…” – I asked in a formal tone. Her eyes fall to her lap, and her face seemed to sink lower and become a touch harsh, as though she were reaching into a past she would much rather obliterate.
She said, “You got a glimpse of my life on Solaria. It was not a happy one, but I knew no other. It was not until I experienced a touch of happiness that I suddenly knew exactly to what an extent and how intensively my earlier life was not happy. The first hint came through you, Elijah.“
“Through me?” – I exclaimed, completely taken by surprise. What an avalanche of emotions is now in my head.
While I was unable to say a word, she continued: “Yes, Elijah. Our last meeting on Solaria – I hope you remember it, Elijah – taught me something. I touched you! I removed my glove, one that was similar to the one I am wearing now, and I touched your cheek. The contact did not last long. I don’t know what it meant to you – no, don’t tell me, it’s not important – but it meant a great deal to me.“
She raised her eyes to me – “It meant everything to me. It changed my life. Remember, Elijah, that until then, I had never touched a man except for my husband. You know how we, spacers, are raised and what is the dynamic of our relationships. On Solaria, no aspect of sex is ever discussed, nor is any sex-related word used in polite society… And it never occurred to me, never once, that there might be pleasure in touching under other circumstances. You were there, palpable, and your eyes were warm and concerned. You actually trembled when my hand approached your cheek. I saw that…“
“Why it was, I don’t know. The touch was so fugitive, and there was no way in which the physical sensation was different from what I would have been if I touched my husband or any other man – or, perhaps, even any woman. But there was more to it than the physical sensation. You were there, you welcomed it, you showed me every sign of what I accepted as affection. And when our skin – my hand, your cheek – made contact, it was as though I had touched a gentle fire that made its way up my hand and arm instantaneously and set me all in flame.”
“But you had to leave. Go back to your home, your wife… So I said thank you. Remember that, Elijah? I said thank you because you gifted me something that no one has ever before… Just a touch. But it was the beginning of everything…” Her voice faded out, and, for a moment, she said nothing, remembering.
Then, one finger lifted. “Don’t say anything. I am not done yet.” While I could not raise my face to meet her eyes, she continued…
“You left. You had to. And I was unhelpfully lost in my hope that I would experience that feeling again. That fire that burned violently in my body. And heart… So I left that crocked society, I left Solaria and came to Aurora, one of the few Space worlds that had a positive relationship with Earth. Han Fastolfe assigned R. Jander Panell to work with me in the study of Spacers-Settlers human interaction. He was a good confidant. Slowly, physical attraction rose, and Jander became a tender, careful lover, but he lacked the emotional response a human being is able to unconsciously have.”
“Knowing my story, Jander searched in the artefacts archive for Earth objects. He found this rare time-telling device that was brought by one of Aurora’s first lady colonists and founders. He repaired it and gifted it to me with a note – We are all made of stardust! Every time you wear it and look at it, remember that moment of pleasure. Every time you feel the bracelet around your wrist, remember that chain around your heart – set it free! It was his way of telling me that he understands what I have been through…
I finally had the courage to look at her, to search for her eyes, only to see her gazing at me in tears. She raised her left wrist, removed the time-telling device, put it on the table, and left, saying with a lost voice – “Now you know everything! Use it for your investigation. But Elijah, I wanted back.”
We are all stardust
After the intense evening with Gladia, I returned to the property with an indescribable amalgam of feelings: sadness, joy, jealousy, envy, and hope. Nothing made sense… I lost the night again to thoughts, remembering all the interactions with Gladia, all her stares, words and voice inflexions… Does she love me? Or is it just the idea of me filling an emptiness created by the Spacers’ society?
So, I spent my next days studying the watch and its intricate construction. Daneel was very much helpful in explaining to me the rotating satellites’ movement and the way this watch worked. I noticed some similarities between his devices and the one that Gladia had. But I still don’t understand the need of our ancestors to display time in such a complicated manner.
After completing the investigation, I returned the object to Gladia and said goodbye. She hugged me tightly and whispered in my ear, “Never forget Elijah. We are all made of stardust!“ And left, never to see her again but asking myself – what if?
Epilogue
Just as I arrived at the spaceport and was on my way to the hotel. I’ve heard a woman running towards me and shouting – “Elijah! Elijah Baley! I can’t believe it…” It was one of those rare spacer beauties we heard about between the seniors’ talks at Space Academy.
“I am sorry, mam, I think you are mistaking me. My name is indeed Baley, but Daneel Giskard Baley.” While she was catching her breath and looking at me in disbelief, I continued, smiling, “The only Elijah Baley I know is my grand grand father. Maybe he is the one you know…”
“Oh yes, indeed” she replied. “I knew him more than 100 years ago. But seeing you, looking so much like him, it skipped my mind that on Earth, life passes much faster than in space.“
She smiled back at me and introduced herself as Gladia Delmarre. What I didn’t know then was that she would become the love of my life and forever companion.
Diclaimer: Parts of the love dialog are taken and some are rephrased from the Isaac Asimov - The Robots of Dawn.
URWERK UR-100V Stardust Technical Specifications
Price CHF 88,000 – limited production of 10 per year
Movement
- Calibre: Selfwinding UR 12.02 movement governed by a Windfänger airscrew
- Jewels 40
- Frequency: 28 800 v/h – 4 Hz
- Power reserve: 48 hours
- Materials: Satellite hours on beryllium-bronze Geneva crosses; aluminium carousel; carousel and triple baseplates in ARCAP alloy
- Finishing:
- Circular graining, sanding, shot-blasting, circular satin finishing
- Chamfered screw heads
- Hours and minutes painted in Super-LumiNova® and accentuated by 36 brilliant-cut diamonds
- Indications: Satellite hours; minutes; rotational distance at the Equator in 20 minutes; orbital distance in 20 minutes
Case
- Case middle in steel, snow-set with 400 brilliant-cut diamonds (VVS1, Color D diamond), steel crown set with 24 brilliant-cut diamonds, case-back in shot-blasted titanium and sapphire
- Dimensions: Width: 41.0 mm, length: 49.7 mm, thickness: 14.0 mm
- Glass: Sapphire crystal
- Water resistance Pressure-tested at 3ATM (30m)
Strap
- Baltimore blue fabric strap; pin buckle in shotblasted steel, set with 22 brilliant-cut diamonds
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