Having said that, Lije Baley remained quiet for a moment. Then he said, "A1l right, then, can you arrange to have me talk to one of the robots-to R. Idda first, I think?"
"Dr. Sabbat's robot?"
"Yes," said Baley, dryly, "the young fellow's robot."
"It will take me but a few minutes," said R. Daneel. "I have a micro-receiver outfitted with a projector. I will need merely a blank wall and I think this one will do if you will allow me to move some of these film cabinets."
"Go ahead. Will I have to talk into a microphone of some sort?"
"No, you will be able to talk in an ordinary manner. Please par don me, friend Elijah, for a moment of further delay. I will have to contact the ship and arrange for R. Idda to be interviewed."
"If that will take some time, Daneel, how about giving me the transcripted material of the evidence so far."
Lije Baley lit his pipe while R. Daneel set up the equipment, and leafed through the flimsy sheets he had been handed.
The minutes passed and R. Daneel said, "If you are ready, friend Elijah, R. Idda is. Or would you prefer a few more minutes with the transcript?"
"No," sighed Baley, "I'm not learning anything new. Put him on and arrange to have the interview recorded and transcribed."
R. Idda, unreal in two-dimensional projection against the wall, was basically metallic in structure-not at all the humanoid creature that R. Daneel was. His body was tall but blocky, and there was very little to distinguish him from the many robots Baley had seen, except for minor structural details.
Baley said, "Greetings, R. Idda."
"Greetings, sir," said R. Idda, in a muted voice that sounded surprisingly humanoid.
"You are the personal servant of Gennao Sabbat, are you not?"
"I am sir."
"For how long, boy?"
"For twenty-two years, sir."
"And your master's reputation is valuable to you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Would you consider it of importance to protect that reputation?"
"Yes, sir."
"As important to protect his reputation as his physical life?"
"No, sir."
"As important to protect his reputation as the reputation of another."
R. Idda hesitated. He said, "Such cases must be decided on their individual merit, sir. There is no way of establishing a general rule."
Baley hesitated. These Spacer robots spoke more smoothly and intellectually than Earth-models did. He was not at all sure he could outthink one.
He said, "If you decided that the reputation of your master were more important than that of another, say, that of Alfred Barr Humboldt, would you lie to protect your master's reputation?"
"I would, sir."
"Did you lie in your testimony concerning your master in his controversy with Dr. Humboldt?"
"No, sir."
"But if you were lying, you would deny you were lying in order to protect that lie, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, then," said Baley, "let's consider this. Your master, Gennao Sabbat, is a young man of great reputation in mathematics, but he is a young man. If, in this controversy with Dr. Humboldt, he had succumbed to temptation and had acted unethically, he would suffer a certain eclipse of reputation, but he is young and would have ample time to recover. He would have many intellectual triumphs ahead of him and men would eventually look upon this plagiaristic attempt as the mistake of a hot-blooded youth, deficient in judgment. It would be something that would be made up for in the future.
"If, on the other hand, it were Dr. Humboldt who succumbed to temptation, the matter would be much more serious. He is an old man whose great deeds have spread over centuries. His reputation has been unblemished hitherto. All of that, however, would be forgotten in the light of this one crime of his later years, and he would have no opportunity to make up for it in the comparatively short time remaining to him. There would be little more that he could accomplish. There would be so many more years of work ruined in Humboldt's case than in that of your master and so much less opportunity to win back his position. You see, don't you, that Humboldt faces the worse situation and deserves the greater consideration?"
There was a long pause. Then R. Idda said, with unmoved voice, "My evidence was a lie. It was Dr. Humboldt whose work it was, and my master has attempted, wrongfully, to appropriate the credit."
Baley said, "Very well, boy. You are instructed to say nothing to anyone about this until given permission by the captain of the ship. You are excused."
The screen blanked out and Baley puffed at his pipe. "Do you suppose the captain heard that, Daneel?"
"I am sure of it. He is the only witness, except for us."
"Good. Now for the other."
"But is there any point to that, friend Elijah, in view of what R. Idda has confessed?"
"of course there is. R. Idda's confession means nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing at all. I pointed out that Dr. Humboldt's position was the worse. Naturally, if he were lying to protect Sabbat, he would switch to the truth as, in fact, he claimed to have done. On the other hand, if he were telling the truth, he would switch to a lie to protect Humboldt. It's still mirror-image and we haven't gained anything."
"But then what will we gain by questioning R. Preston?"
"Nothing, if the minor-image were perfect-but it is not. After all, one of the robots is telling the truth to begin with, and one is lying to begin with, and that is a point of asymmetry. Let me see R. Preston. And if the transcription of R. Idda's examination is done, let me have it.