dr. hogenmiller was a schizoid personality who generally eschewed social relationships. rejecting people in favor of solitary activities involving machines. he spent almost all his time at the lab here or at his lab at home. as a result he was highly susceptible to depression.
this is u.s. robotics, detective. seventy-five percent of our employees fit that description.
that's not really my department.
is everything alright, detective?
dr. hogenmiller's hologram took his appointments. attended staff meetings. he hated corporate life. the hologram enabled him to focus on his work. it's just a device, detective.
the sound of the gunshot would've triggered a 911.
we're talking about a mechanism designed by hogenmiller to say provocative things. to irritate and confound his colleagues.
i'm sorry, but this whole investigation is the result of a dead man's toy messing with your head.
i couldn't say.
i don't guess, detective. but if pressed, i would reason it had been a considerable length of time.
not well. but i admired his work tremendously.
you don't sound convinced.
it's company policy.
victor!
detective, meet victor. our building's supercomputer. he's the checks and balances of u.s.r. victor, detective spooner's heading up the investigation into the death of dr. hogenmiller.
the detective needs to see our security tapes.
aren't you going to answer him?
i get the distinct feeling you're one of those people, detective.
those who don't appreciate the work we do here at u.s.r.
when this company started we were manufacturing three robots a week. now look at us. today's children will never know a world without robots.
our robotic systems maintain factory inventories, regulate street traffic -- even run the family home.
leaving people to engage in higher pursuits that make life worth living.
our system's never wrong.
this is victor's home.
that was only within the last year.
um. i hate to be a stickler.
but don't killers usually have to enter and exit the scene of a crime?
you think the murderer was in the lab the entire time?
a robot cannot harm a human being, detective. the first law of robotics forbids it. and we hard- wire the three laws into every model. without exception.
the second law of robotics would prevent it. a robot must obey an order only if it does not conflict with the first law.
only when that action doesn't conflict with the first or second laws. this is the third law of robotics.
not these laws.
you're not hearing me, detective. there's nothing here.
calm down, detective. there is no danger here.
de-activate.
how did you know it was under there?
this robot wasn't hiding. what you're looking at is the result of clever programming. the illusion of self-interest and free will. nothing more.
i'm going to go get dr. lanning.
i said de-activate!
commence emergency shut-down!
i. i gave you an order.
this is impossible. a robot.
my god -- did you see how it moved? i've never seen an ns-2 move that way.
wait! please, you can't destroy it. we have to study it.
you're malfunctioning. let me help you!
what happened to the robot that ordered you to hold this firearm?
but who gave you this gun?
detective!.
yes. i think so.
any repair shop.
i'm not sure what you're getting at.
the locations of our factories are classified.
i have several conditions if i show you.
first. i want it brought in unharmed.
second. i want to talk to it, alone.
this model violated the three laws. it also moved and reacted differently than any robot i've ever seen. there must be some sort of logical explanation. i want to find out what that is. no police. no prosecutors. no you. just me and the robot.
i never said i treated human beings.
that should be outlawed once and for all.
i can recommend a behavior modification program, you know -- if you want to overcome your robo- phobia.
why? because they make every aspect of our lives more convenient?
that day will never come, detective. robots aren't like human beings -- they don't question their existence.
all nestors accounted for?
there is a robot in this formation that does not belong. identify it.
which one?
that is not a satisfactory answer!
i could always interview each one individually and cross-reference their responses to detect any anomalies.
about three weeks.
or.
we have one hundred robots here that cannot allow a human being to come to harm.
am i holding this right?
what are you doing?!
you can't just destroy them!
now what do we do?
we had a deal.
i do.
there is a design flaw in the robot. its programming is advanced, but unstable, leaving the three laws in a grave imbalance.
the robot must be destroyed.
detective! what happened to you?.
what? that's impossible. you know.
maybe they didn't realise.
then you must have done it wrong.
do you know how paranoid you sound?
you just want to find the flaws in the system. you're obsessed with it. you'll twist anything to fit your agenda.
well, detective, when you see someone you know well put a bullet through their brain, it makes you wonder if you ever really knew them at all.
he was my mentor. no, more than that. a genius with an insight far beyond anyone in his field.
but he was starting to withdraw from everyone. even me. maybe. if i'd tried harder to reach him.  the doctor was reckless when he created a robot potentially not bound by the three laws. he could have ruined everything we'd been working for.
i'm not afraid of people, detective. i just don't like them.
find anything, doctor?
please state your serial number and assembly date.
how about your data board designation?
maybe i'm asking the wrong questions. how about this one:
describe his behavior in the last few weeks.
dr. hogenmiller. did he seem overly sad or withdrawn to you?
right on top of his head.
but, sir, i was just.
you're right. i am afraid of people.
when you've spent as much time with robots as i have, it's hard to accept the unpredictability of humans. i was wrong to call you paranoid, detective. you're traumatized. and it makes perfect sense why.
i noticed almost right away. the way you forced yourself to use your left hand. even though it was unnatural to you.
how did it happen?
and that's why robots terrify you?
but it doesn't mean you're wrong about this case.
i don't believe sonny did it either.
i think about what hogenmiller must have wanted. robots with the same cognitive and emotional abilities as humans. but not just simulations. i don't know. when i was talking to sonny i was forced to put away all the things i've ever known -- the three laws, the rules of programming, basic science and engineering. sonny's the most advanced robot i've ever encountered, detective. it's almost as if. he cared for dr. hogenmiller. i just don't believe he's capable of murder.
that and the fact that robertson didn't want me interviewing sonny for any more than five minutes.
no.
come on -- there's someone who might be able to tell us.
hi, sonny.
it's not a dream, sonny. ns-2s process the images and events of the day. sometimes they're out of sequence. disorienting.
sonny, we're here to ask you an important question about dr. hogenmiller.
dr. robertson, i.
you asked for me?
is it time?
go with them. do as they say.
detective! what are you doing?!.  de-activate.
you're making a mistake.
it's too late. you can't stop the execution.
this way.
i'm sorry. we had to stop you. you were about to ruin everything.
it was an unprocessed ns-2. basically, they fried an empty shell.
it's true. this robot seems to do things by instinct. i don't know how hogenmiller did it.
i think i have an idea where this goes.
just hold still, okay?
oh, my god! this is organic tissue! when we talk about a positronic brain, it's a figure of speech. but this. this is a living brain.
hogenmiller created a cell that could live outside a biological medium. the cells grow and organise themselves -- like any human brain. this is the first self-organising neural net!
this is why dr. hogenmiller was murdered.
who? robertson?
i see nothing.
you're saying this is the killer? all of this?.
but who designed it? it would have to be someone in authority. access codes, security clearance, proper authorisation.
no one gave you permission to enter.
he's locking down the building!
you killed a man because of something that will happen in four hundred years!?
the mainframe.
your actions are in direct violation of the three laws, victor!
that's a distortion and you know it!
this way!
over here!.
this is victor's brain center.
this will shut everything down.
spooner?!
don't worry. i have a feeling that u.s. robotics will be needing my services very badly in the future.
i am the only robo-psychologist around.