"Asimov, Isaac - Robot City 02 - Suspicion - Michael McQuay" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

Interestingly enough, the terminal had all the hook-ups and leads for hyperwave transmission and reception. Unfortunately, the power pack and directional hyperwave antenna were missing from the back, taken, no doubt, by the overseer.
He stared at the terminal in disbelief. No blocks, no passwords, no protections on the system at all. He couldn?t believe that an entire civilization would open itself up to him just because he?d found an office. Suppose he?d meant to cause it harm?
Cautiously, he slipped into the scheme of things, working his way down to the level of files, then asking to go to the central core. Once reaching that, he asked to open the file marked: CITY DEFENSES.
Within seconds, the READY signal was flashing again. He was in! Rapidly he typed:
LIST CITY DEFENSES.
The computer answered:
CITY DEFENSES:
ADVANCE REPLICATION
SEAL CONTAMINATION
HALT CENTRAL CORE INPUT
MOBILATE CENTRAL CORE
LOCALIZE EMERGENCY TERMINALS
ISOLATE SUPERVISORY PERSONNEL
He sat, shaking, at the typer. This was it. He decided to try his hand at shutting it down. He typed:
CANCEL REPLICATION.
The computer never hesitated.
CITY DEFENSES CANNOT BE CANCELED WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION AND INPUT REGARDING ALIEN THREAT OR CONTAMINATION.
Derec typed:
OVERRIDE ALL PREVIOUS INSTRUCTIONS AND CANCEL REPLICATION.
The computer answered:
OVERRIDE IMPOSSIBLE UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. CITY DEFENSES CANNOT BE CANCELED WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION AND INPUT REGARDING ALIEN THREAT OR CONTAMINATION.
It was a lock-out. The computer refused even to talk to him about it unless he could determine the reason for the defensive measures and provide proper rationalization for termination. It seemed etched in granite. He typed:
LIST REASONS FOR CITY DEFENSE ACTIVATION.
The computer answered with a graph of the city, its shape ever changing, turning slowly. A tiny light was flashing in the section marked Quadrant #4. At the bottom of the screen the computer wrote:
ALIEN CONTAMINATION IN QUADRANT #4.
Derec asked:
CITE NATURE OF CONTAMINATION.
The computer answered:
ALIEN CONTAMINATION IN QUADRANT #4.
He sat back and looked at the machine. It was very possible that the flashing light could represent the body of his look-alike. The machine wasn?t going to let him off the hook on the murder. He was beginning to see why it was so easy for him to get into the central core from this terminal, and he received his final confirmation quickly, when he typed:
LIST PROCEDURE FOR DEACTIVATION OF CITY DEFENSES.
The machine replied:
DEACTIVATION PROCEDURE:
ISOLATE CONTAMINATION OR PRESENCE
DEFINE NATURE OF THREAT
NEUTRALIZE THREAT
PROVIDE PROOF OF NEUTRALIZATION THRU PROCEDURE C-15
Derec typed:
LIST PROCEDURE C-15
And was answered:
PROCEDURE C-15:
ISOLATE MOBILATED CENTRAL CORE
ENTER CENTRAL CORE
PROVIDE SUPERVISOR PASSWORD
ENTER PROOF OF NEUTRALIZATION
Derec just stared at the screen, frustrated and amazed at what he was looking at. Nothing of consequence could be done from this terminal, or from any city terminal, for that matter. Input had to come directly at the central core, and unless he misunderstood the word ?mobilate,? the central core was not stationary. It was mobile, moving. And to round out the entire business philosophically, a supervisor robot was necessary to enter the defensive program.
It was actually the perfect defense. The act of shutting down the defenses had to be deliberate and calculated and agreed to by both human and robot supervision. Again, the system was set up synnoetically, and Derec, despite his disappointment, had to admire it. Ultimately, he really didn?t know the form of the contamination. The central core was behaving properly by not granting his requests for deactivation until all the facts were in. The problem, of course, was that city could kill itself before the facts came to light.
He was back where he started, with the murder of his twin. There was still much he could learn from the office and the open terminal, but he simply didn?t have the time right now. He reluctantly decided that he?d have to close out for now and return when there was more time.
He had reached out to return the terminal to its berth in the drawer when he thought of something. If the overseer were, indeed, keeping track of them, perhaps there was a file extant with that information. Not knowing his own name, he decided to go with another. Bringing the filename menu back on the screen, he typed in the words:
BURGESS, KATHERINE