"Hello, Pirx!" "PIRX'S ADVENTURES" "Based on Stanislaw Lem's works written by:" "Cast:" "Part 3." "Weekend on Mars" "Hello, Pirx!" "Come in!" "Has the famous hero come to me?" "The scrambled egg eater?" "How's it on the Earth?" "Did somebody arrive?" "Why do you not answer?" "Do you have a guest?" "You could say that." "Then I won't disturb you." "You're not disturbing me, stay!" "You know, I would have called you many times already, but... the TV people, the journalists..." "And you thought a woman journalist would make a nice change?" "I'd like to ask something." "Yes?" "I'll come back later, I won't disturb you." "Come in." "Here you go, here's my guest." "Please, turn it off!" "You jealous space Othello." "I thought..." "What did you think?" "I wanted to say..." "You only wanted to?" "I came to ask..." "What?" "What are you doing this weekend?" "It depends." "Because I..." "Because you..." "If you..." "If I..." "Then we." "Then we." "I see, wait." "Switch on channel four." "This is Telinform, the robot information service." "Our weekend offers." "Are you tired, nervous?" "Spend time among the asteroids." "Soothe your nerves on the planet of musical crystals." "Cosmic crystal vibrations enfold and caress your body with invisible fingers." "Do you want adventure?" "Take an odyssey around Jupiter's moons." "Spend 12 days on 12 moons of Jupiter." "You can travel spacesuit-free, protected in an invisible oxygen tent on deck." "Are you moody, sad?" "Come to Mercury." "A few minutes among the laughing nickel spheres will make you merry." "Are you lonely, sorrowful?" "Come to Venus." "Here you'll find complete compassion." "The whispering plants will whisper back your heartbeat." "Are you a timid lover?" "Come to Mars." "The furniture declares your love for you." "The dreamy Mars Crater Hotel is open." "Floating beds, furniture that responds to your every request, anti-gravitation beaches and beam baths await you." "What's this?" "Nice." "Beautiful." "What is it?" "Nothing." "Why don't you put down those bags?" "Everything's like a fairytale." "Yes, like a fairytale." "Once upon a time..." "Excuse me." "You forgot to hand in your identification card." "I'm sorry." "Here you are." "The key to the space suit safe." "Thanks." "Aren't there any curtains?" "Window here, window there, it's draughty." "I don't understand." "If this were an aquarium, and we were goldfish, then I wouldn't object." "Nobody can see in." "The hotel's made of glass, but there's technical magic." "Don't worry, nobody outside can see in." "Thank you." "Nobody sees in." "Oh, Glória!" "What a big sigh!" "As the great galactic poet, Konrád wrote:" "I thirsted for a little calm." "Let's drink it." "I didn't know that you read poetry." "I know the second line." "I wanted to see you with my hungry eye." "I remember the third line though." "A sleepy daze was sought." "Our dear guests!" "We saved it as a surprise, but it may cause misunderstanding... your room plays the role of a maid, robotically." "If you desire anything, just say so and the room will provide it immediately." "We've experienced it already." "We do everything to make our dear guests feel as if they're in a fairytale." "Like in a fairytale." "Wonderful." "Tell me, how it is possible to turn off this equipment?" "To turn it off?" "There's no way." "Thank you." "I think I'll take a bath." "Dry yourself." "22" "22" "22" "+0.5" "22.5" "+0.5=23" "+0.5" "+0.5=24" "22" "122 -22" "222 -322" "422 -522" "622 -722" "+0.5" "We apologise to our dear guests for the disturbance!" "Captain Pirx, will you accept a videophone call from Marsbase?" "Of course." "We apologise for disturbing your relaxation!" "Allow me to present" "Professor Ignatov, geologist," "Major Vargas, and we're waiting for the appearance of McCork, robot constructor." "I am Captain Ahaniel, engineer and the head of Marsbase security department." "I've been forced to order a red alert, 10 minutes ago in X/17 sector." "Serious danger threatens us... to avoid which I would need your assistance." "I am at your service." "And are you Pilot Pirx?" "Of course he is." "Thank you." "Let's look at the facts." "A mine collapsed on the edge of sector X/17 and some working robots were damaged." "One of them to managed to get up to the surface, but its reaction to injury caused it.." "but let's not start in the middle of the events." "The problem became apparent when, after the accident, the energy supply and telephone connection were disrupted in the area." "Excuse me, wait a second." "Call the hospital again." "We discovered at midnight, that what caused the network breakdown and the problem with the phone line, was that the cables were cut with a laser beam." "The repair team who started to repair the cable, were attacked with a laser after 3am, they were hit and their rover caught fire." "The driver and one of the staff are dead." "The other one is known to have escaped and hidden in the desert." "I am a geologist, I know this sector." "Rocky, chasmy ground, with enormous craters and splittings." "I am McCork, a robot constructor." "He managed to get back to the base, but he ran almost 40 kilometres in a space suit, using up his entire air supply, got anoxia, and is now unconscious." "I believe you already know who cut the cable, and attacked the rover... it was the escaped robot." "I would ask some questions as a robot constructor:" "What type was the escaped robot?" "Setaur." "And where was it wounded?" "We assume that the damage was to its brain." "And what kind of consequences might this injury have?" "What is your opinion, McCork?" "Well, there really is big trouble now." "The setaurs are heavily armoured, owing to the danger of workplace collapse." "Because of this they are of massive construction with thick armour, yes." "They are used in mines to break and chop up heavy material." "So this type was equipped with a mining laser, powered by a small atomic pile." "If they get injured in the brain-centre, this destructive tendency may turn general... and the robot is capable of incredible destruction." "It is necessary to destroy it immediately." "I ask for your help in this." "I think this isn't simple." "There's no kind of projectile that can penetrate the robot's armour." "It can reach a velocity of 100 km/h, and can change direction quickly." "The terrain makes our problem harder, because it can hide itself and ambush." "With what kind of weapons is it possible to destroy it?" "Only with a laser." "We have special mine lasers, with which we may be able to destroy it." "Isn't it possible to destroy the robot from a spacecraft?" "Maybe Pilot Pirx can answer that." "From a spacecraft in no way, maybe with a spacecraft." "Theoretically a medium power ship could certainly destroy a setaur, if the robot got under its exhaust." "It would be necessary to send the ship above the robot, but such a small target could always escape." "I'd suggest a rover, armoured of course." "Mars is a peaceful tourist centre, there aren't any tactical devices." "We have a special mining rover with a steel shell." "Against the robot's mine laser even an armoured rover is in an exposed situation." "So we need to be very cautious." "Does this mean you're willing..?" "I am, yes." "Sure, me too." "Of course I am too." "Thank you." "Please come to Marsbase so we can talk over any other issues." "A moment, Captain Sir." "I am a woman journalist, if you don't have any objection to that..?" "You can't join in the action, of course, but you may come to the base, with care." "But please, in secret!" "I would not like a panic among the tourists." "Thank you." "Control tower two here!" "Control tower two here!" "The setaur is moving south according to the sensors." "Helicopter KX here!" "We saw it 12 minutes ago." "It fired at us!" "We have not seen it since then." "Keep looking for it." "Attention helicopter fleet!" "Attention helicopter fleet!" "Keep looking for the setaur!" "This is the centre of the action." "We are in contact with all of the participants and an observer." "Do you have a connection with the Earth?" "I would like to contact my paper..." "Yes, but we'd prefer not." "We need to keep our lines clear until after the action." "Calling rover 4/2!" "4/2 reporting!" "What's up?" "At the moment, nothing." "It can disappear in this stone jungle." "It's nothing by comparison." "We would notice it if it attacked." "But then it's too late." "So you think the fight will be unequal?" "If there's a fight at all." "It could cut through our car like a knife through butter." "It springs out from behind a rock and we're helpless." "In this the shaking we can't use the laser." "We can't take aim." "The setaur won't wait for us to take aim." "It doesn't need to aim." "It has a laser eye between its two optical eyes." "It moves together with the optical organs" "Does that mean it immediately knows to shoot at what it sees?" "Yes." "There it is!" "Half-turn left!" "Stop!" "Azimuth?" "45-8" "Azimuth: 45-8" "Attention!" "Fire!" "Move ahead carefully." "Stop!" "Instead of the robot, it's crystal ore." "That's something." "We'll keep looking for it." "Move ahead." "We should have realised the robot's too clever to leave itself open like that." "So it behaves as if it was a reasonable being, a living being?" "Living beings behave more expediently, its opportunities are unlimited, it may wander freely... it doesn't need fuel, oxygen, sleep, rest..." "It's so independent that I'm dismayed as an engineer, we made something so perfect." "Don't just be so proud of it." "Why did a mine worker robot need free will to do its job?" "You engineers overdesign everything." "Don't be irritated." "But I am irritated." "This misfortune happened because of that." "Some people died already, and who knows who'll be next?" "I have a family." "You volunteered, as far as I'm aware." "The need for overdesign is unavoidable in the present state of technical development." "It's required for events which cannot be foreseen." "Here you go, the event which cannot be foreseen is here." "Where did the girl go?" "She was here before." "She asked, and went out." "Why did you let her out?" "Glória, I prohibited you to leave the base!" "That robot won't come here." "We can't know what it's going to do." "I let you come here, but it means you must accept taking instructions from me." "Do you understand?" "I see!" "I see!" "I'm sorry that I was shouting but I was obliged, that..." "We were sent here to the centre, it's already over the hedge and ditch too, eh?" "We are helpless." "The first to shoot it gets shot anyway." "Then for us it is over." "I'm not sure about that." "Indeed, it would be better if it shoots first." "Why, I don't understand?" "You'll understand it then." "Accelerate." "Hello?" "Hello, Marsbase!" "Marsbase, Glória here!" "If you can hear me, I want to say I'm not scared." "I'm approaching the building carefully." "But I want to take a photograph of the robot." "Why did we bring these bottles?" "What's in them?" "Ammonia, chlorine, coal hydrogen." "But this is life-threatening!" "I was a student recently, but I was enthusiastic about the exciting things." "Be glad that you can experience this..." "It would be better if you looked after your health!" "It is the cursed shower!" "I'm scared of these bottles." "Because if the robot fires at us and they burst... then anyway it won't matter..." "Why?" "Because we won't be able to put them in place." "We roll them there then." "I'm afraid of something else." "Right, you admit it?" "Sure, son." "Not the setaur, but the cars, see?" "They could easily fire at us if we come out suddenly from behind a rock." "We need to make contact with them." "We've entered the danger zone." "Towards twenty." "For the present, nothing." "We're starting to get dispersed." "We've got stuck!" "Rev up the right side." "Now the left side!" "Try it backward." "Now forward!" "It's got stuck again!" "A standing target is easy to shoot." "We wander the neighbourhood and the robot shoots the base." "Sure, it shot off the aerials." "It was a mistake that there isn't an armed man in the base." "What could we do?" "They don't have enough lasers." "It can't shoot the building to pieces." "Stop!" "Total silence!" "We've been left alone." "Maybe it's been found." "They're not with us any more but they're dealing with the robot." "Attention!" "Explosions!" "Direction: 47.8" "Full forward thrust!" "Fine, fine, this is not a spaceship." "Keep the direction." "Student?" "Yes" "McCork?" "Yes" "I say if we are hit, you open the door." "Driver, reduce speed." "Direction: the top of the hill" "A rover." "The setaur may be near here." "It's madness to show ourselves here!" "We should hide in a trench." "Where could the others be?" "Try to contact it again." "Setaur-1, setaur-2 to me!" "Aim: 72-80 Fire!" "Stop!" "Measure it." "Add azimuth!" "Hurry up!" "Contaminated viscose discolouration." "Transept minings with an ambulance slide." "What's the azimuth?" "Azimuth: 39.9" "40.01" "40.02" "It's changing place." "Setaur-1, setaur-2 Setaur-1, setaur-2" "In front of us!" "Fire!" "I hit it." "You asked for it!" "Back!" "Take cover!" "I set it off!" "We almost burned." "This is near suicidal!" "Do you see the rock behind us on the screen?" "Try to get into its cover." "At least 30 metres open ground to go." "Stop!" "We'll get out." "We'll go for a little exploration." "On foot, because the rover is a big target for the setaur" "You go first?" "Student?" "Yes." "Give one of the bottles to me." "McCork?" "McCork?" "Yes." "I thought you were asleep." "Look for contact with the others, in case we get ourselves shot." "Roger that." "Student?" "Yes." "Open the door!" "We could have taken that fire." "They went towards it, certainly." "From 40-50 metres it could have fired at them." "It's not in the sunlight." "Maybe it's between the rocks, in the shade." "We'll try to entice it out." "I was always daydreaming about exciting Indian stories like this." "McCork, shoot into its ruby laser eye if you see a flash." "Nothing." "It's cleverer than I thought." "Or it didn't notice it." "Maybe." "Why didn't you shoot?" "Skulks in a cleft, or shoots laterally." "I already doubt whether anything will come of this." "Will we try it once more?" "Maybe your luck will be better." "Go and get the other two bottles ready." "What's up?" "We've made radio contact." "The 4 men in the burst car were from building operations." "The other car turned back because his laser went wrong." "The others went on but saw nothing." "I see." "And where's our group?" "Our group is 20 miles ahead of us." "One of the rocket patrols reported seeing the setaur, and everybody went there, but it was a false alarm." "Call the others here." "Because the robot is here." "We'll slow it down and learn about it." "There's transmission interference." "The others can't hear us." "The problem may be with the transmitter or the location may be blocking us." "I see." "When they arrive here, who knows whether we'll manage to talk to them." "What are we going to do, sit around idly?" "Could we do something else?" "If we flooded the basin with rovers, we might attain our goal." "Yeah, but at the price of losses." "The rover's too big and slow for a setaur." "We could get hit like the other car." "We could use some trick to lure the setaur out into the sunlit area." "And if we sent down the empty rover?" "And we could shoot at the robot from above?" "It wouldn't be wise to blindly run the car out." "Yes, the robot would shoot it to pieces, that would show its position." "Does it know that the shade gives it a big advantage?" "It's not a martial machine, it doesn't know tactics." "But there is some logic in its craziness." "If we could understand this logic." "It's a real mistake to sit here." "What are we going to do?" "I'm thinking about it." "If I were in the place of the setaur, what would I do?" "I would attack." "Idle waiting offers no benefit." "Then, though... maybe it's coming toward us." "It could appear any moment." "Yes, that occurred to me." "That's what a logician would do." "But does it act logically?" "Heavy question." "We need to test it again." "Let's roll down the other two bottles." "Get it ready." "Then we'll see what's going on." "Let's get going!" "McCork?" "McCork?" "Yes." "Didn't you hear my previous call?" "No." "We have to use sight then." "Something's blocking us, we may lose contact." "McCork?" "Yes." "Didn't you see anything?" "Nothing." "Give the bottle to me." "Stay here!" "I'll go over to the other rock." "I can see the ground better from there." "Is the road clear?" "Clear." "Who is it?" "Don't be silly!" "Did you see something?" "Nothing!" "What did you say?" "Nothing." "What do you mean nothing?" "I don't see anything." "This robot is not stupid." "God damn it!" "It doesn't want to shoot at a target we put in front of its nose." "Maybe it's gone." "What do you mean?" "Did it go to take a bath?" "We'll never find it if it enters this stone labyrinth." "Listen to me!" "First shoot the near bottle, then after 3 seconds the farther one!" "Roger that!" "Relax, it's still early." "You even come near!" "That's fantastic!" "This robot's puzzled, just like a man." "Like a man and a robot constructor." "I envy your humour." "Bless you!" "What did you say?" "Take a hot bath." "Do you think that would be useful?" "For your beauty, sure." "I'm curious what it could think, now it's injured." "Me?" "No, the robot." "Maybe that if somebody shoots at objects, like it does," "then perhaps he's not an enemy, but an ally." "Maybe we could use that." "Azimuth: 15.3" "Fire!" "Pirx here, from rover 4/2." "Do not shoot!" "Do you hear me?" "Do not shoot!" "Damned walkie-talkie!" "I can't move!" "Wait!" "Don't move!" "They're firing at us!" "Wait!" "Don't move!" "Thank you Captain Pirx!" "I hope you feel good about this!" "Don't believe it." "He has remorse." "Remorse?" "Why?" "Because of the robot." "Let him be sorry for it." "The robot?" "But it was a damaged machine." "A dangerous construction." "If it wasn't brought down, it would kill people." "It isn't that simple." "It wanted to protect me." "Because they were shooting at you, like they were at it, it drew the conclusion that you might be its ally." "These machines are logical constructions." "But I am not a logical construction." "I am a man." "Captain Pirx?" "Marsbase health service has established that you've sneezed many times." "Me?" "It's nothing, only a little cold." "Is a cold on Mars a little thing?" "Do you know what you're saying?" "Bless you!" "Thank you." "Disease isolation ward"