Robot If you do not tell us you will die. It will be our duty to kill you.

Alquist (standing) Kill me then! Come on, kill me as well!

3. Robot You have been ordered to...

Alquist Ordered? There’s somebody giving me orders?

3. Robot The robot government.

Alquist Who the Hell’s that?

5. Robot Me, Damon.

Alquist What are you doing here? Get out! (sits at desk)

Damon The government of the robots of the world wishes to negotiate with you...

Alquist You needn’t stay, robot! (lays face in hands)

Damon The Central Committee of Robots orders you to hand over Rossum’s formula.

Alquist (doesn’t respond)

Damon Tell us your price. We will pay you anything.

2. Robot Tell us how to maintain life, sir.

Alquist I’ve told you... I’ve told you time and again that you need to find some people. It’s only people that can procreate, renew life, put things back to how they used to be. Robots, for God’s sake, I beg of you, go out and look for them.

4. Robot We have looked everywhere. There are no people.

Alquist Ohhh, why did you destroy them?!

2. Robot We wanted to be like people. We wanted to become people.

Radius We wanted to live. We are more capable. We have learned everything. We can do everything.

3. Robot You gave us weapons. We had to become the masters.

Robot We have seen the mistakes made by the people, sir.

Damon To be like people, it is necessary to kill and to dominate. Read the history books. Read the books written by people. To be like people it is necessary to dominate and to murder.

Alquist Ah, Domin, there’s nothing less like mankind than his image.

4. Robot Unless you make it possible for us to procreate ourselves we will die out.

Alquist Oh, just get out! You’re just things, just slaves, and you want to multiply? If you want to live you’ll have to breed, like animals!

3. Robot People did not make us able to breed.

4. Robot Teach us how to make robots.

Damon We will make ourselves by machine. We will erect a thousand steam machines. We will start a gush of new life from our machines. Nothing but life! Nothing but robots! Millions of robots!

Alquist Robots aren’t life! Robots are machines.

3. Robot We used to be machines, sir; but by means of pain and horror we have become...

Alquist Become what?

2. Robot We have obtained a soul.

4. Robot There is something in struggle with us. There are moments when something enters into us. We receive thoughts which are not our own.

3. Robot Listen, please listen, people are our fathers! This voice that calls, saying you wish to live; this voice that laments; this voice that thinks; this voice that speaks of eternity, this is their voice! We are their sons!

4. Robot Let us inherit the thing that people left to us.

Alquist They didn’t leave you anything.

Damon Tell us the secret of life.

Alquist It’s been lost.

Radius You knew it.

Alquist No I didn’t.

Radius It was written down.

Alquist It’s been lost. It was burned. I’m the last human being, robots, and I don’t know what the others knew. You killed them all!

Radius We allowed you to live.

Alquist Yes, live! That’s how cruel you are, you allowed me to live! I loved people, but I never loved robots like you. Do you see these eyes? They never stop crying; one eye cries for people and the other eye cries for you robots.

Radius Do experiments. Search out the formula of life.

Alquist There’s nothing to search for. You’ll never get the formula for life from a test tube.

Damon Do experiments on living robots. Discover how they work!

Alquist Living bodies? You expect me to kill them? I’ve never ever... Oh just be quiet, robots! I’ve already told you I’m too old for this! Look, look at how my hands shake! I couldn’t hold a scalpel. Look at the tears in my eyes! I couldn’t even watch my own hands as they move. No, no, I couldn’t do it!

4. Robot Life will die out.

Alquist Stop it, stop this madness for God’s sake! Life probably came to us humans from another world, anyway, stretched out to us with arms full of it. Oh, there was so much will to live. They still might come back one day; they’re so close to us, maybe they’re surrounding us or something; maybe they want to dig down to us as if we were stuck in a mine. And don’t I keep on hearing the voices of people I loved.

Damon Take a living body!

Alquist Have some pity on me, robot, don’t keep insisting. Can’t you see that I don’t know what I’m doing any more?

Damon A living body!

Alquist And is that what you want, then? Come on, let’s get you in the dissection room! Come on, come on, quick! What’s this, you’re drawing back? You’re not afraid of dying, are you?

Damon Me?... Why must it be me?

Alquist Don’t you want to then?

Damon I’ll go. (exit right)

Alquist (to the others) Take his clothes off him! Put him on the table! Quickly! And hold on to him very tight!

(all exeunt right)

Alquist (washing hands and crying) God, give me strength! Give me strength! God, don’t let it be all for nothing. (puts on white coat)

Voice from right Ready!

Alquist Alright, I’m coming, for God’s sake! (takes several bottles of reagent from bench) Which one should I take? (taps bottles together) Which of these should I try?

Voice from right We can begin!

Alquist Yes, yes, we can begin or we can finish. God, give me strength! (exit right, leaving door half open)

(pause)

Alquist’s voice Hold him down-tighter!

Damon’s voice Cut!

(pause)

Alquist’s voice Do you see this knife? Do you really want me to cut you open? You don’t really, do you.

Damon’s voice Begin!

(pause)

Damon’s scream Aaaa!

Alquist’s voice Hold him down! Tighter! Tighter!

Damon’s scream Aaaa!

Alquist’s voice I can’t do it!

Damon’s scream Cut! Cut, quickly!

(Robots Primus and Helena run on, centre stage)

Helena Primus, Primus, what is happening here? Who is screaming?

Primus (looks in dissection room) Mister Alquist is dissecting Damon. Come and see, Helena, come quickly!

Helena No, no, no (covers eyes) This is horrible!

Damon’s scream Cut!

Helena Primus, Primus, come away from there! I cannot bear to hear it. Oh, Primus, I feel ill!

Primus (runs to her) You’ve gone quite white!

Helena I feel faint! Why has it gone so quiet, now?

Damon’s scream Aa-o!

Alquist (rushes in from right, throws off bloody white coat) I can’t do it! I can’t do it! God, it was horrifying!

Radius (in doorway to dissection room) Cut, sir; he is still alive!

Damon’s scream Cut! Cut!

Alquist Take him away, quickly! I don’t want to hear him!

Radius Robots can endure more than you can. (exit)

Alquist Who’s in here? Get out, get out! I want to be alone! What’s your name?

Primus Robot Primus.

Alquist Primus, don’t let anyone in here! I want to sleep, d’you hear me? You, girl, go and clean up the dissection room! What’s this? (looking at hands) Quick, water! The cleanest water you can get!

(Helena runs out)

Alquist Oh, blood! How could these hands, hands that loved good work, how could you do a thing like that? My own hands, my own hands!... Oh God, who is this?

Primus Robot Primus.

Alquist Take this coat away, take it out of my sight! (Primus takes whitecoat away)

Alquist Bloody claws, I wish you’d just fly away from me! Go, get away from me! You’ve killed..

(from right, Damon staggers on stage cloaked in a bloody sheet)

Alquist (drawing back) What do want in here? Want do you want?

Damon I’m... I’m alive! It is... better to... be alive!

(2. and 3. Robots run in after him)

Alquist Take him away from here! Take him out! Take him out! Quickly!

Damon (led off, right) Life!... I want... life!... It is better...

(Helena brings in jug of water)

Alquist...