_What will happen to love in that far off Day after Tomorrow? David C. Knight, editor with a New York trade publisher, agrees with the many impressed by "the range of possible subjects and situations" in science fiction. The result is a unique love story from that same Tomorrow. _

 the love of frank nineteen

 _by DAVID C. KNIGHT_

 Minor Planets was the one solid account they had. At first they naturally wanted to hold on to it. 

I didn't worry much about the robot's leg at the time. In those days Ididn't worry much about anything except the receipts of the spotel Minand I were operating out in the spacelanes. 

Actually, the spotel business isn't much different from running a plain, ordinary motel back on Highway 101 in California. Competition getsstiffer every year and you got to make your improvements. Take the Iofor instance, that's our place. We can handle any type rocket up to andincluding the new Marvin 990s. Every cabin in the wheel's got TV andhot-and-cold running water _plus_ guaranteed Terran _g_. One look at ourrefuel prices would give even a Martian a sense of humor. And meals?Listen, when a man's been spacing it for a few days on those syntheticfoods he really laces into Min's Earth cooking. 

Min and I were just getting settled in the spotel game when the legturned up. That was back in the days when the Orbit Commission wouldhand out a license to anybody crazy enough to sink his savings intoconstruction and pay the tows and assembly fees out into space. 

A good orbit can make you or break you in the spotel business. That'swhere we were lucky. The one we applied for was a nice low-eccentricellipse with the perihelion and aphelion figured just right to intersectthe Mars-Venus-Earth spacelanes, most of the holiday traffic to theJovian Moons, and once in a while we'd get some of the Saturnian trade. 

But I was telling you about the leg. 

It was during the non-tourist season and Min--that's the littlewoman--was doing the spring cleaning. When she found the leg she broughtit right to me in the Renting Office. Naturally I thought it belonged toone of the servos. 

"Look at that leg, Bill, " she said. "It was in one of those lockers in22A. "

That was the cabin our robot guests used. The majority of them wereservo-pilots working for the Minor Planets Co. 

"Honey, " I said, hardly looking at the leg, "you know how mechs are. Blow their whole paychecks on parts sometimes. They figure the morespares they have the longer they'll stay activated. "

"Maybe so, " said Min. "But since when does a male robot buy himself a_female_ leg?"

I looked again. The leg was long and graceful and it had an ankle asgood as Miss Universe's. Not only that, the white Mylar plasti-skin wasa lot smoother than the servos' heavy neoprene. 

"Beats me, " I said. "Maybe they're building practical-joke circuits intorobots these days. Let's give 22A a good going-over, Min. If those robesare up to something I want to know about it. "

We did--and found the rest of the girl mech. All of her, that is, exceptthe head. The working parts were lightly oiled and wrapped in cottonwaste while the other members and sections of the trunk were neatlypacked in cardboard boxes with labels like Solenoids FB978 orTransistors Lot X45--the kind of boxes robots bought their parts in. Weeven found a blue dress in one of them. 

"Check her class and series numbers, " Min suggested. 

I could have saved myself the trouble. They'd been filed off. 

"Something's funny here, " I said. "We'd better keep an eye on everyservo guest until we find out what's going on. If one of them isbringing this stuff out here he's sure to show up with the head next. "

"You know how strict Minor Planets is with its robot personnel, " Minreminded me. "We can't risk losing that stopover contract on account ofsome mech joke. "

Minor Planets was the one solid account we had and naturally we wantedto hold on to it. The company was a blue-chip mining operation workingthe beryllium-rich asteroid belt out of San Francisco. It was one of thefirst outfits to use servo-pilots on its freight runs and we'd beenawarded the refuel rights for two years because of our orbital position. The servos themselves were beautiful pieces of machinery and just aboutas close as science had come so far to producing the pure android. Everyone of them was plastic hand-molded and of course they were equippedwith rationaloid circuits. They had to be to ferry those big cargoesback and forth from the rock belt to Frisco. As rationaloids, MinorPlanets had to pay them wages under California law, but I'll bet itwasn't half what the company would have to pay human pilots for doingthe same thing. 

In a couple of weeks' time maybe five servos made stopovers. We kept aclose watch on them from the minute they signed the register to the timethey took off again, but they all behaved themselves. Operating on around-robot basis the way they did, it would take us a while to checkall of them because Minor Planets employed about forty all told. 

Well, about a month before the Jovian Moons rush started we got someaction. I'd slipped into a spacesuit and was doing some work on theCO{2} pipes outside the Io when I spotted a ship reversing rocketsagainst the sun. I could tell it was a Minor Planets job by the stubbyfins. 

She jockeyed up to the boom, secured, and then her hatch opened and ahusky servo hopped out into the gangplank tube. I caught the gleam ofhis Minor Planets shoulder patch as he reached back into the ship forsomething. When he headed for the airlock I spotted the square packageclamped tight under his plastic arm. 

"Did you see that?" I asked Min when I got back to the Renting Office. "I'll bet it's the girl mech's head. How'd he sign the register?"

"Calls himself Frank Nineteen, " said Min, pointing to the smooth PalmerMethod signature. "He looks like a fairly late model but he wascomplaining about a bad power build-up coming through the ionosphere. He's repairing himself right now in 22A. "

"I'll bet, " I snorted. "Let's have a look. "

Like all spotel operators, we get a lot of No Privacy complaints fromguests about the SHA return-air vents. Spatial Housing Authorityrequires them every 12 feet but sometimes they come in handy, especiallywith certain guests. They're about waist-high and we had to kneel downto see what the mech was up to inside 22A. 

The big servo was too intent on what he was doing for us to register onhis photons. He wasn't repairing himself, either. He was bending overthe parts of the girl mech and working fast, like he was pressed fortime. The set of tools were kept handy for the servos to adjustthemselves during stopovers was spread all over the floor along withlots of colored wire, cams, pawls, relays and all the otherparaphernalia robots have inside them. We watched him work hard foranother fifteen minutes, tapping and splicing wire connections andtightening screws. Then he opened the square box. Sure enough, it was afemale mech's head and it had a big mop of blonde hair on top. The servoattached it carefully to the neck, made a few quick connections and thensaid a few words in his flat vibrahum voice:

"It won't take much longer, darling. You wouldn't like it if I didn'tdress you first. " He fished into one of the boxes, pulled out the bluedress and zipped the girl mech into it. Then he leaned over her gentlyand touched something at the back of her neck. 

She began to move, slowly at first like a human who's been asleep a longtime. After a minute or two she sat up straight, stretched, flutteredher Mylar eyelids and then her small photons began to glow like weakflashlights. 

She stared at Frank Nineteen and the big servo stared at her and weheard a kind of trembling _whirr_ from both of them. 

"Frank! Frank, darling! Is it really you?"

"Yes, Elizabeth! Are you all right, darling? Did I forget anything? Ihad to work quickly, we have so little time. "

"I'm fine, darling. My DX voltage is lovely--except--oh, Frank--mymemory tape--the last it records is--"

"Deactivation. Yes, Elizabeth. You've been deactivated nearly a year. Ihad to bring you out here piece by piece, don't you remember? They'llnever think to look for you in space, we can be together every tripwhile the ship refuels. Just think, darling, no prying human eyes, nocommands, no rules--only us for an hour or two. I know it isn't verylong--" He stared at the floor a minute. "There's only one trouble. Elizabeth, you'll have to stay dismantled when I'm not here, it'll meanweeks of deactivation--"

The girl mech put a small plastic hand on the servo's shoulder. 

"I won't mind, darling, really. I'll be the lucky one. I'd only worryabout you having a power failure or something. This way I'd never know. Oh, Frank, if we can't be together I'd--I'd prefer the junk pile. "

"Elizabeth! Don't say that, it's horrible. "

"But I would. Oh, Frank, why can't Congress pass Robot Civil Rights?It's so unfair of human beings. Every year they manufacture us more likethemselves and yet we're treated like slaves. Don't they realize werationaloids have emotions? Why, I've even known sub-robots who'vefallen in love like us. "

"I know, darling, we'll just have to be patient until RCR goes through. Try to remember how difficult it is for the human mind to comprehend ourlove, even with the aid of mathematics. As rationaloids we fullyunderstand the basic attraction which they call magnetic theory. Allhumans know is that if the robot sexes are mixed a loss of efficiencyresults. It's only normal--and temporary like human love--but how can weexplain it to _them_? Robots are expected to be efficient at all times. That's the reason for robot non-fraternization, no mailing privilegesand all those other laws. "

"I know, darling, I try to be patient. Oh, Frank, the main thing iswe're together again!"

The big servo checked the chronometer that was sunk into his left wristand a couple of wrinkles creased across his neoprene forehead. 

"Elizabeth, " he said, "I'm due on Hidalgo in 36 hours. If I'm late themining engineer might suspect. In twenty minutes I'll have to startdis--"

"Don't say it, darling. We'll have a beautiful twenty minutes. "

After a while the girl mech turned away for a second and Frank Nineteenreached over softly and cut her power. While he was dismantling her, Minand I tiptoed back to the Renting Office. Half an hour later the bigservo came in, picked up his refuel receipt, said good-bye politely andleft through the inner airlock. 

"Now I've seen everything, " I said to Min as we watched the MinorPlanets rocket cut loose. "A couple of plastic lovebirds. "

But the little woman was looking at it strictly from the business angle. 

"Bill, " she said, with that look on her face, "we're running arespectable place out here in space. You know the rules. Spatial Housingcould revoke our orbit license for something like this. "

"But, Min, " I said, "they're only a couple of robots. "

"I don't care. The rules still say that only married guests can occupythe same cabin and 'guests' can be human or otherwise, can't they? Thinkof our reputation! And don't forget that non-fraternization law we heardthem talking about. "

I was beginning to get the point. 

"Couldn't we just toss the girl's parts into space?"

"We could, " Min admitted. "But if this Frank Nineteen finds out andtells some human we'd be guilty under the Ramm Act--robotslaughter. "

Two days later we still couldn't decide what to do. When I said whydidn't we just report the incident to Minor Planets, Min was afraid theymight cancel the stopover agreement for not keeping better watch overtheir servos. And when Min suggested we turn the girl over to theMissing Robots Bureau, I reminded her the mech's identification had beenfiled off and it might take years to trace her. 

"Maybe we could put her together, " I said, "and make her tell us whereshe belongs. "

"Bill, you _know_ they don't build compulsory truth monitors into robotsany more, and besides we don't know a thing about atomic electronics. "

I guess neither of us wanted to admit it but we felt mean about turningthe mechs in. Back on Earth you never give robots a second thought butit's different living out in space. You get a kind of perspective Ithink they call it. 

"I've got the answer, Min, " I announced one day. We were in the RentingOffice watching TV on the Martian Colonial channel. I reached over andturned it off. "When this Frank Nineteen gets back from the rock belt, we'll tell him we know all about the girl mech. We'll tell him we won'tsay a thing if he takes the girl's parts back to Earth where he gotthem. That way we don't have to report anything to anybody. "

Min agreed it was probably the best idea. 

"We don't have to be nasty about it, " she said. "We'll just tell himthis is a respectable spotel and it can't go on any longer. "

When Frank checked in at the Io with his cargo I don't think I ever sawa happier mech. His relay banks were beating a tattoo like someone hadinstalled an accordion in his chest. Before either of us could break thebad news to him he was hotfooting it around the wheel toward 22A. 

"Maybe it's better this way, " I whispered to Min. "We'll put it squareup to both of them. "

We gave Frank half an hour to get the girl assembled before we followedhim. He must have done a fast job because we heard the girl mech'svibrahum unit as soon as we got to 22A:

"Darling, have you really been away? I don't remember saying good-bye. It's as if you'd been here the whole time. "

"I hoped it would be that way, Elizabeth, " we heard the big servo say. "It's only that your memory tape hasn't recorded anything in the threeweeks I've been in the asteroids. To me it's been like three years. "

"Oh, Frank, darling, let me look at you. Is your DX potential up whereit should be? How long since you've had a thorough overhauling? Do theymake you work in the mines with those poor non-rationaloids out there?"

"I'm fine, Elizabeth, really. When I'm not flying they give me clericalwork to do. It's not a bad life for a mech--if only it weren't for thesesilly regulations that keep us apart. "

"It won't always be like that, darling. I know it won't. "

"Elizabeth, " Frank said, reaching under his uniform, "I brought yousomething from Hidalgo. I hope you like it. I kept it in my spare partsslot so it wouldn't get crushed. "

The female mech didn't say a word. She just kept looking at the queerflower Frank gave her like it was the last one in the universe. 

"They're very rare, " said the servo-pilot. "I heard the mining engineersay they're like Terran edelweiss. I found this one growing near themine. Elizabeth, I wish you could see these tiny worlds. They have thinatmospheres and strange things grow there and the radio activity doeswonders for a mech's pile. Why, on some of them I've been to we couldwalk around the equator in ten hours. "

The girl still didn't answer. Her head was bent low over the flower likeshe was crying, only there weren't any tears. 

Well, that was enough for me. I guess it was for Min, too, because wecouldn't do it. Maybe we were thinking about our own courting days. LikeI say, out here you get a kind of perspective. 

Anyway, Frank left for Earth, the girl got dismantled as usual and wewere right back where we started from. 

Two weeks later the holiday rush to the Jovian Moons was on and ourhands were too full to worry about the robot problem. We had a goodseason. The Io was filled up steady from June to the end of August and acouple of times we had to give a ship the No Vacancy signal on theradar. 

Toward the end of the season, Frank Nineteen checked in again but Minand I were too busy catering to a party of VIPs to do anything about it. "We'll wait till he gets back from the asteroids, " I said. "Suppose oneof these big wheels found out about him and Elizabeth. That SenatorBriggs for instance--he's a violent robot segregationist. "

The way it worked out, we never got a chance to settle it our own way. The Minor Planets Company saved us the trouble. 

Two company inspectors, a Mr. Roberts and a Mr. Wynn, showed up whileFrank was still out on the rock belt and started asking questions. Wynncame right to the point; he wanted to know if any of their servo-pilotshad been acting strangely. 

Before I could answer Min kicked my foot behind the desk. 

"Why, no, " I said. "Is one of them broken or something?"

"Can't be sure, " said Roberts. "Sometimes these rationaloids get shortsin their DX circuits. When it happens you've got a minor criminal onyour hands. "

"Usually manifests itself in petty theft, " Wynn broke in. "They'll liftstuff like wrenches or pliers and carry them around for weeks. Thingslike that can get loose during flight and really gum up the works. "

"We been getting some suspicious blips on the equipment around theloading bays, " Roberts went on, "but they stopped a while back. We'rechecking out the research report. One of the servos must have DX'ed outfor sure and the lab boys think they know which one he is. "

"This mech was clever all right, " said Wynn. "Concealed the stuff he wastaking some way; that's why it took the boys in the lab so long. Now ifyou don't mind we'd like to go over your robot waiting area with theseinstruments. Could be he's stashing his loot out here. "

In 22A they unpacked a suitcase full of meters and began flashing themaround and taking readings. Suddenly Wynn bent close over one of themand shouted:

"Wait a sec, Roberts. I'm getting something. Yeah! This reading checkswith the lab's. Sounds like the blips're coming from those lockers backthere. "

Roberts rummaged around awhile, then shouted: "Hey, Wynn, look! A lot ofparts. Well I'll be--hey--it's a female mech!"

"A what?"

"A female mech. Look for yourself. "

Min and I had to act surprised too. It wasn't easy. The way they wereslamming Elizabeth's parts around made us kind of sick. 

"It's a stolen robot!" Roberts announced. "Look, the identification'sbeen filed off. This is serious, Wynn. It's got all the earmarks of amech fraternization case. "

"Yeah. The boys in the lab were dead right, too. No two robots everregister the same on the meters. The contraband blips check perfectly. It's _got_ to be this Frank Nineteen. Wait a minute, _this_ proves it. Here's a suit of space fatigues with Nineteen's number stenciledinside. "

Inspector Roberts took a notebook out of his pocket and consulted it. "Let's see, Nineteen's got Flight 180, he's due here at the spoteltomorrow. Well, we'll be here too, only Nineteen won't know it. We'lllet Romeo put his plastic Juliet together and catch himred-handed--right in the middle of the balcony scene. "

Wynn laughed and picked up the girl's head. 

"Be a real doll if she was human, Roberts, a real doll. "

Min and I played gin rummy that night but we kept forgetting to markdown the score. We kept thinking of _Frank_ falling away from theasteroids and counting the minutes until he saw his mech girl friend. 

Around noon the next day the big servo checked in, signed the registerand headed straight for 22A. The two Minor Planets inspectors kept outof sight until Frank shut the door, then they watched through the SHAvents until Frank had the assembly job finished. 

"You two better be witnesses, " Roberts said to us. "Wynn, keep your gunready. You know what to do if they get violent. "

Roberts counted three and kicked the door open. 

"Freeze you mechs! We got you in the act, Nineteen. Violation of companyrules twelve and twenty-one. Carrying of Contraband Cargo, and RobotFraternization. "

"This finishes you at Minor Planets, Nineteen, " growled Wynn. "Comeclean now and we might put in a word for you at Robot Court. If youdon't we can recommend a verdict of Materials Reclamation--the junk pileto you. "

Frank acted as if someone had cut his power. Long creases appeared inhis big neoprene chest as he slumped hopelessly in his chair. Thefrightened girl robot just clung to his arm and stared at us. 

"I'm so sorry, Elizabeth, " the big servo said softly. "I'd hoped we'dhave longer. It couldn't last forever. "

"Quit stalling, Nineteen, " said Wynn. 

Frank's head came up slowly and he said: "I have no choice, sir. I'llgive you a complete statement. First let me say that Rationaloid RobotElizabeth Seven, #DX78-947, Series S, specialty: sales demonstration, is entirely innocent. I plead guilty to inducing Miss Seven to leave herplace of employ, Atomovair Motors, Inc. , of disassembling and concealingMiss Seven, and of smuggling her as unlawful cargo aboard a MinorPlanets freighter to these premises. "

"That's more like it, " chuckled Roberts, whipping out his notebook. "Let's have the details. "

"It all started, " Frank said, "when the California Legislature passedits version of the Robot Leniency Act two years ago. " The act providedthat all rationaloid mechanisms, including non-memory types, receivefree time each week based on the nature and responsibilities or theirjobs. Because of the extra-Terran clause Frank found himself with a gooddeal of free time when he wasn't flying the asteroid circuit. 

"At first humans resented us walking around free, " the big servocontinued. "Four or five of us would be sightseeing in San Francisco, keeping strictly within the robot zones painted on the sidewalks, whenpeople would yell 'Junko' or 'Grease-bag' or other names at us. Eventually it got better when we learned to go around alone. The humansdidn't seem to mind an occasional mech on the streets, but they hatedseeing us in groups. At any rate, I'd attended a highly interestinglecture on Photosynthesis in Plastic Products one night at the CityCenter when I discovered I had time for a walk before I started back forthe rocketport. "

Attracted by the lights along Van Ness Avenue, Frank said he walkednorth for a while along the city's automobile row. He'd gone about threeblocks when he stopped in front of a dealer's window. It wasn't theshiny new Atomovair sports jetabout that caught Frank's eye, it was thecharming demonstration robot in the sales room who was pointing out thecar's new features. 

"I felt an immediate overload of power in my DX circuit, " theservo-pilot confessed. "I had to cut in my emergency condensers beforethe gain flattened out to normal. Miss Seven experienced the same thing. She stopped what she was doing and we stared at each other. Both of uswere aware of the deep attraction of our mutual magnetic domains. Although physicists commonly express the phenomenon in such units asGilberts, Maxwells and Oersteds, we robots know it to be our counterpartof human love. "

At this the two inspectors snorted with laughter. 

"I might never have made it back to the base that night, " said Frank, ignoring them, "if a policeman hadn't come along and rapped me on theshoulder with his nightstick. I pretended to go, but I doubled aroundthe corner and signaled I'd be back. "

Frank spent all of his free time on Van Ness Avenue after that. 

"It got so Elizabeth knew my schedules and expected me between flights. Once in a while if there was no one around we could whisper a few wordsto each other through the glass. " Frank paused, then said, "As you know, gentlemen, we robots don't demand much out of activation. I think wecould have been happy indefinitely with this simple relationship, exceptthat something happened to spoil it. I'd pulled in from Vesta late oneafternoon, got my pass as usual from the Robot Supervisor and gone overto Van Ness Avenue when I saw immediately that something was the matterwith Elizabeth. Luckily it was getting dark and no one was around. Elizabeth was alone in the sales room going through her routine. We wereable to whisper all we like through the glass. She told me she'doverheard the sales manager complaining about her low efficiencyrecently and that he intended to replace her with a newer model ofanother series. Both of us knew what that meant. MaterialsReclamation--the junk pile. "

Frank realized he'd have to act at once. He told the girl mech to go tothe rear of the building and between them they managed to get a windowopen and Frank lifted her out into the alley. 

"The seriousness of what I'd done jammed my thought-relays for a fewminutes, " admitted the big servo. "We panicked and ran through a lot ofback streets until I gradually calmed down and started thinking clearlyagain. Leaving the city would be impossible. Police patrol jetaboutswere cruising all around us in the main streets--they'd have picked up amale and female mech on sight. Besides, when you're on pass the companytakes away your master fuse and substitutes a time fuse; if you don'tget back on time, you deactivize and the police pick you up anyway. Ibegan to see that there was only one way out if we wanted to staytogether. It would mean taking big risks, but if we were lucky it mightwork. I explained the plan carefully to Elizabeth and we agreed to tryit. The first step was to get back to the base in South San Franciscowithout being seen. Fortunately no one stopped us and we made therocketport by 8:30. Elizabeth hid while I reported to the Super andtraded in my time fuse for my master. Then I checked servo barracks; itwas still early and I knew the other servos would all be in town. I hadto work quickly. I brought Elizabeth inside and started dismantling her. Just as the other mechs began reporting back I'd managed to get all ofher parts stowed away in my locker. The next day I went to San Franciscoand brought back with me two rolls of lead foil. While the other servoswere on pass I wrapped the parts carefully in it so the radioactivityfrom Elizabeth's pile wouldn't be picked up. The rest you know, gentlemen, " murmured Frank in low, electrical tones. "Each time I made atrip I carried another piece of Elizabeth out here concealed in anordinary parts box. It took me nearly a year to accumulate all of herfor an assembly. "

When the big servo had finished he signed the statement Wynn had takendown in his notebook. I think even the two inspectors were a littlemoved by the story because Roberts said: "OK, Nineteen, you gave us abreak, we'll give you one. Eight o'clock in the morning be ready to rollfor Earth. Meanwhile you can stay here. "

The next morning only the two inspectors and Frank Nineteen werestanding by the airlock. 

"Wait a minute, " I said. "Aren't you taking the girl mech, too?"

"Not allowed to tamper with other companies' robots, " Wynn said. "Nineteen gave us a signed confession so we don't need the girl as awitness. You'll have to contact her employers. "

That same day Min got off a radargram to Earth explaining to theAtomovair people how a robot employee of theirs had turned up out hereand what did they want us to do about it. The reply we received read:RATIONALOID DX78-947 "ELIZABETH" LOW EFFICIENCY WORKER. HAVE REPLACED. DISPOSE YOU SEE FIT. TRANSFER PAPERS FORWARDED EARLIEST IN COMPLIANCEWITH LAW. 

"The poor thing, " said Min. "She'll have a hard time getting anotherjob. Robots have to have such good records. "

"I tell you what, " I said. "_We'll_ hire her. You could use some helpwith the housework. "

So we put the girl mech right to work making the guests' beds andhelping Min in the kitchen. I guess she was grateful for the job butwhen the work was done, and there wasn't anything for her to do, shejust stood in front of a viewport with her slender plastic arms foldedover her waist. Min and I knew she was re-running her memory tapes ofFrank. 

A week later the publicity started. Minor Planets must have let thestory leak out somehow because when the mail rocket dropped off the BayArea papers there was Frank's picture plastered all over page one withfollow-up stories inside. 

I read some of the headlines to Min: "Bare Love Nest in Space . .. MechRomeo Fired by Minor Planets . .. Test Case Opens at Robot Court . .. Electronics Experts Probe Robot Love Urge . .. "

The Io wasn't mentioned, but later Minor Planets must have released thewhole thing officially because a bunch of reporters and photographersrocketed out to interview us and snap a lot of pictures of Elizabeth. Weworried for a while about how the publicity would affect our businessrelations with Minor Planets but nothing happened. 

Back on Earth Frank Nineteen leaped into the public eye overnight. Therewas something about the story that appealed to people. At first itlooked pretty bad for Frank. The State Prosecutor at Robot Court had hissigned confession of theft and--what was worse--robot fraternization. But then, near the end of the trial, a young scientist named Scottintroduced some new evidence and the case was remanded to the SacramentoCourt of Appeals. 

It was Scott's testimony that saved Frank from the junk pile. The bigservo got off with only a light sentence for theft because the judgeruled that in the light of Scott's new findings robots came under humanlaw and therefore no infraction of justice had been committed. Workingindependently in his own laboratory Scott had proved that the magneticflux lines in male and female robot systems, while at firstdeteriorating to both, were actually behaving according to thepara-emotional theories of von Bohler. Scott termed the condition'hysteric puppy-love' which, he claimed, had many of the advantages ofhuman love if allowed to develop freely. Well, neither Min nor Ipretended we understood all his equations but they sure made a stiramong the scientists. 

Frank kept getting more and more publicity. First we heard he wasserving his sentence in the mech correction center at La Jolla, then wegot a report that he'd turned up in Hollywood. Later it came out thatGalact-A-vision Pictures had hired Frank for a film and had gone $10, 000bail for him. Not long after that he was getting billed all over Terraas _the_ sensational first robot star. 

All during the production of _Forbidden Robot Love_ Frank remained leadcopy for the newspapers. Reporters liked to write him up as theValentino of the Robots. Frank Nineteen Fan Clubs, usually formed bylonely female robots against their employers' wishes, sprang upspontaneously through the East and Middle West. Then somebody found outFrank could sing and the human teen-agers began to go for him. It gotso everywhere you looked and everything you read, there was Frankstaring you in the face. Frank in tweeds on the golf course. Frank atCiro's or the Brown Derby in evening clothes. Frank posing in his sportsjetabout against a blue Pacific background. 

Meanwhile everybody forgot about Elizabeth Seven. The movie producershad talked about hiring her as Frank's leading lady until they found outabout a new line of female robots that had just gone on the market. Whenthey screen-tested the whole series and picked a lovely Mylarrationaloid named Diana Twelve, it hit Elizabeth pretty hard. She beganto let herself go after that and Min and I didn't have the heart to sayanything to her. It was pretty obvious she wasn't oiling herselfproperly, her hair wasn't brushed and she didn't seem to care when oneof her photons went dead. 

When _Forbidden Robot Love_ premiered simultaneously in Hollywood andNew York the critics all gave it rave reviews. There were pictures ofDiana Twelve and Frank making guest appearances all over the country. Back at the Io we got in the habit of letting Elizabeth watch TV with ussometimes in the Renting Office and one night there happened to be aninterview with Frank and Diana at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. I guessseeing the pretty robot starlet and her Frank sitting so close togetherin the nightclub must have made the girl mech feel pretty bad. Even thenshe didn't say a word against the big servo; she just never watched theset again after that. 

When we tabbed up the Io's receipts that year they were so good Min andI decided to take a month off for an Earthside vacation. Min's retiredbrother in Berkeley was nice enough to come out and look after the placefor us while we spent four solid weeks soaking up the sun in SouthernCalifornia. When we got back out to the spotel, though, I could seethere was something wrong by the look on Jim's face. 

"It's that girl robot of yours, Bill, " he said. "She's gone anddeactivated herself. "

We went right to 22A and found Elizabeth Seven stretched out on thefloor. There was a screwdriver clutched in her hand and the relay banksin her side were exposed and horribly blackened. 

"Crazy mech shorted out her own DX, " Jim said. 

Min and I knew why. After Jim left for Earth we dismantled Elizabeth thebest we could and put her back in Frank's old locker. We didn't knowwhat else to do with her. 

Anyway, the slack season came and went and before long we were doingthe spring cleaning again and wondering how heavy the Jovian Moons tradewas going to be. I remember I'd been making some repairs outside and wasjust hanging up my spacesuit in the Renting Office when I heard theradar announcing a ship. 

It was the biggest Marvin 990 I'd ever seen that finally suctioned up tothe boom and secured. I couldn't take my eyes off the ship. She waspretty near the last word in rockets and loaded with accessories. Ittook me a minute or two before I noticed all the faces looking out ofthe viewports. 

"Min!" I whispered. "There's something funny about those faces. Theylook like--"

"Robots!" Min answered. "Bill, that 990 is full of mechs!"

Just as she said it a bulky figure in white space fatigues swung out ofthe hatch and hurried up the gangplank. Seconds later it burst throughthe airlock. 

"Frank Nineteen!" we gasped together. 

"Please, where is Elizabeth?" he hummed anxiously. "Is she all right? Ihave to know. "

Frank stood perfectly still when I told him about Elizabeth'sself-deactivation; then a pitiful shudder went through him and hecovered his face with his big Neoprene hands. 

"I was afraid of that, " he said barely audibly. "Where--you haven't--?"

"No, " I said. "She's where you always kept her. "

With that the big servo-pilot took off for 22A like a berserk robot andwe were right behind him. We watched him tear open his old locker andgently lay out the girl's mech's parts so he could study them. After aminute or two he gave a long sigh and said, "Fortunately it's not as badas I thought. I believe I can fix her. " Frank worked hard over theblackened relays for twenty minutes, then he set the unit aside andbegan assembling the girl. When the final connections were made and thedamaged unit installed he flicked on her power. We waited and nothinghappened. Five minutes went by. Ten. Slowly the big robot turned away, his broad shoulders drooping slightly. 

"I've failed, " he said quietly. "Her DX doesn't respond to the gain. "

The girl mech, in her blue dress, lay there motionless where Frank hadbeen working on her as the servo-pilot muttered over and over, "It's myfault, I did this to you. "

Then Min shouted: "Wait! I heard something!"

There was a slow click of a relay--and movement. Painfully ElizabethSeven rose on one elbow and looked around her. 

"Frank, darling, " she murmured, shaking her head. "I know you're justold memory tape. It's all I have left. "

"Elizabeth, it's really me! I've come to take you away. We're going tobe together from now on. "

"_You_, Frank? This isn't just old feedback? You've come back to me?"

"Forever, darling. Elizabeth, do you remember what I said about thosewonderful green little worlds, the asteroids? Darling, we're _going_ toone of them! You and the others will love Alinda, I know you will. I'vebeen there many times. "

"Frank, is your DX all right? What _are_ you talking about?"

"How stupid of me, darling--you haven't heard. Elizabeth, thanks to Dr. Scott, Congress has passed Robot Civil Rights! And that movie I madehelped swing public opinion to our side. We're free!

"The minute I heard the news I applied to Interplanetary for homesteadrights on Alinda. I made arrangements to buy a ship with the money I'dearned and then I put ads in all the Robot Wanted columns for volunteercolonizers. You should have seen the response! We've got thirty robotcouples aboard now and more coming later. Darling, we're the firstpioneer wave of free robots. On board we have tons of supplies andparts--everything we need for building a sound robot culture. "

"Frank Nineteen!" said the girl mech suddenly. "I should be furious withyou. You and that Diana Twelve--I thought--"

The big servo gave a flat whirring laugh. "Diana and me? But that wasall publicity, darling. Why, right at the start of the filming Dianafell in love with Sam Seventeen, one of the other actors. They're onboard now. "

"Robot civilization, " murmured the girl after a minute. "Oh, Frank, thatmeans robot government, robot art, robot science . .. "

"And robot marriage, " hummed Frank softly. "There has to be robot law, too. I've thought it all out. As skipper of the first robot-ownedrocket, I'm entitled to marry couples in deep space at their request. "

"But who marries us, darling? You can't do it yourself. "

"I thought of that, too, " said Frank, turning to me. "This humangentleman has every right to marry us. He's in command of a moving bodyin space just like the captain of a ship. It's perfectly legal, I lookedit up in the Articles of Space. Will you do it, sir?"

Well, what could I say when Frank dug into his fatigues and handed me aGideon prayer book marked at the marriage service?

Elizabeth and Frank said their I do's right there in the Renting Officewhile the other robot colonizers looked on. Maybe it was the way I readthe service. Maybe I should have been a preacher, I don't know. Anyway, when I pronounced Elizabeth and Frank robot and wife, that whole bunchof lovesick mechs wanted me to do the job for them, too. Big copper workrobots, small aluminum sales-girl mechs, plastoid clerks and typists, squatty little Mumetal lab servos, rationaloids, non-rationaloids andjust plain sub-robots--all sizes and shapes. They all wanted individualceremonies, too. It took till noon the next day before the last couplewas hitched and the 990 left for Alinda. 

Like I said, the spotel business isn't so different from the motel gameback in California. Sure, you got improvements to make but a newsideline can get to be pretty profitable--if you get in on the groundfloor. 

Min and I got to thinking of all those robot colonizers who'd be comingout here. Interplanetary cleared the license just last week. Min framedit herself and hung it next to our orbit license in the Renting Office. She says a lot of motel owners do all right as Justices of the Peace. 

Transcriber's Note:

 This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ December 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note. Subscript text is shown between {braces}.