"And only you have the expertise to carry it out - as I have been told."
"You have been told correctly there, too."
"And even you yourself admit - in fact, you insist - that only you could have put Jander into a mental freeze-out."
"I maintain what is, after all, the truth, Mr. Baley. It would do me no good to lie, even if I could bring myself to do so. It is notorious that I am the outstanding theoretical roboticist in all the Fifty Worlds."
"Nevertheless, Dr. Fastolfe, might not the second-best theoretical roboticist in all the worlds - or the third-best, or even the fifteenth-best - nevertheless possess the necessary ability to commit the deed? Does it really require all the ability of the very best?"
Fastolfe said calmly, "In my opinion, it really requires all the ability of the very best. Indeed... I again in MY opinion, myself, could only accomplish the task on one of my good days. Remember that the best brains in robotics - including mine - have specifically labored to design, positronic brains that could not be driven into mental freeze-out."
"Are you certain of all that? Really certain?"
"Completely."
"And you stated so publicly?"
"Of course. There was a public inquiry, my dear Earthman. I was asked the questions you are now asking and I answered truthfully. It is an Auroran custom to do so."
Baley said, "I do not, at the moment, question that you were convinced, you were answering truthfully. But might you not have been swayed by a natural pride in yourself that might also be typically Auroran, might it not?"
"You mean that my anxiety to be considered the best would make me willingly put myself in a position where everyone would be forced to conclude I had mentally frozen Jander?"
"I picture you, somehow, as content to have your political and social status destroyed, provided your scientific reputation remained intact."
"I see. You have an interesting way of thinking, Mr. Baley. This would not have occurred to me. Given a choice between admitting I was second-best and admitting I was guilty of, to use your phrase, a roboticide, you are of the opinion I would knowingly accept the latter."
"No, I Dr. Fastolfe, I do not wish to present the matter quite so simplistically. Might it not be that you deceive yourself into thinking you are the greatest of all roboticists and that you are completely unrivaled, clinging to that at all costs, because you unconsciously - unconsciously, Dr. Fastolfe - realize that, in fact, you are, being overtaken - or have even already been overtaken - by others."
Fastolfe laughed, but there was an edge of annoyance in it. "Not so, Mr. Baley. Quite wrong."
"Think, Dr. Fastolfe! Are you certain that none of your roboticist colleagues can approach you in brilliance?"
"There are only a few who are capable of dealing at all with humaniform robots. Daneel's construction created virtually a new profession for which there is not even a name - humaniformicists, perhaps. Of the theoretical roboticists on Aurora, not one, except for myself, understands the workings of Daneel's positronic brain. Dr. Sarton did, but he is dead - and he did not understand it as well as I do. The basic theory is mine."
"It may have been yours to be in with, but surely you can't expect to maintain exclusive ownership. Has no one learned the theory?"
Fastolfe shook his head firmly. "Not one. I have taught no one and I defy any other living roboticist to have developed the theory on his own."
Baley said, with a touch of irritation, "Might there not be a bright young man, fresh out of the university, who is cleverer than anyone yet realizes, who - "
"No, Mr. Baley, no. I would have known such a young man. He would have passed through my laboratories. He would have worked with me. At the moment, no such young man exists. Eventually, one will; perhaps many will. At the moment, none!"
"If you died, then, the new science dies with you?"
"I am only a hundred and sixty-five years old. That's metric years, of course, so it I is only a hundred and twenty-four of your Earth years, more or less. I am still quite young by Auroran standards and there is no medical reason why my life should be considered even half over. It is not entirely unusual to reach an age of four hundred years - metric years. There is yet plenty of time to teach."
They had finished eating, but neither man made any move to leave the table. Nor did any robot approach to clear it. It was as though they were transfixed into immobility by the intensity of the back and forth flow of talk.
Baley's eyes narrowed. He said, "Dr. Fastolfe, two years ago I was on Solaria. There I was given the clear impression that the Solarians, were, on the whole, the most skilled roboticists in all the worlds."
"On the whole, that's probably true."
"And not one of them could have done the deed?"
"Not one, Mr. Baley. Their skill is with robots who are, at best, no more advanced than my poor, reliable Giskard. The Solarians know nothing of the construction of humaniform robots.
"How can you be sure of that?"
"Since you were on Solaria, Mr. Baley, you know very well that Solarians can approach each other with only the greatest of difficulty, that they interact by trimensional viewing - except where sexual contact is absolutely required. Do you think that any of them would dream of designing a robot so human in appearance that it would activate their neuroses? They would so avoid the possibility of approaching him, since he would look so human, that they could make no reasonable use of him."
"Might not a Solarian here or there display a surprising tolerance for the human body? How can you be sure?"