Part 4

DR. GALL. She goes about as if in a dream, remote and listless. She’s without life. I watch and wait for a miracle to happen. Sometimes I think to myself: “If you were to wake up only for a moment you would _kill_ me for having _made_ you.”

HELENA. And yet you go _on_ making Robots! Why are no more children being born?

DR. GALL. We don’t know.

HELENA. Oh, but you must. Tell me.

DR. GALL. You see, so many Robots are being manufactured that people are becoming superfluous. Man is really a survival, but that he should die out, after a paltry thirty years of competition, that’s the awful part of it. You might almost think that Nature was _offended_ at the manufacture of the Robots, but we still have old Rossum’s manuscript.

HELENA. Yes. In that strong box.

DR. GALL. We go on using it and making Robots. All the universities are sending in long petitions to restrict their production. Otherwise, they say, mankind will become extinct through lack of fertility. But the R. U. R. shareholders, of course, won’t hear of it. All the governments, on the other hand, are clamoring for an increase in production, to raise the standards of their armies. And all the manufacturers in the world are ordering Robots like mad.

HELENA. And has no one demanded that the manufacture should cease altogether?

DR. GALL. No one has courage.

HELENA. Courage!

DR. GALL. People would stone him to death. You see, after all, it’s more convenient to get your work done by the Robots.

HELENA. Oh, Doctor, what’s going to become of people?

DR. GALL. God knows. Madame Helena, it looks to us scientists like the end.

HELENA. (_She looks out front. Rising_) Thank you for coming and telling me.

DR. GALL. (_Rises_) That means that you’re sending me away.

HELENA. Yes. (_Exit DR. GALL L.2. She crosses to L.C. To door L.1. With sudden resolution_) Nana! Nana! the fire, light it quickly. (_HELENA exits R._)

NANA. (_Entering L.1_) What, light the fire in the summer?

HELENA. (_Off R._) Yes!

NANA. (_She looks for RADIUS_) Has that mad _Radius_ gone?--A fire in summer, what an idea? Nobody would think she’d been _married_ ten years. She’s like a baby, no sense at all. A fire in summer. Like a baby. (_She lights the fire._)

HELENA. (_Returns from R. with armful of faded papers. Back of couch to fireplace, L. of NANA_) Is it burning, Nana? All this has got to be burned.

NANA. What’s that?

HELENA. Old papers, fearfully old. Nana, shall I burn them?

NANA. Are they any use?

HELENA. _No._

NANA. Well, then, burn them.

HELENA. (_Throwing the first sheet on the fire_) What would you say, Nana, if this was money and a lot of money? And if it was an invention, the greatest invention in the world?

NANA. (_R. of fireplace_) I’d say burn it. All these new-fangled things are an offense to the Lord. It’s downright wickedness. Wanting to improve the world after He has made it.

HELENA. Look how they curl up. As if they were alive. Oh, Nana, how horrible!

NANA. Here, let me burn them.

HELENA. (_Drawing back_) No, no, I must do it myself. Just look at the flames. They are like hands, like tongues, like living shapes. (_Raking fire with the poker_) Lie down, lie down.

NANA. That’s the end of them. (_Fireplace slowly out._)

HELENA. Nana, Nana!

NANA. Good gracious, what is it you’ve burned? (_Almost to herself._)

HELENA. Whatever have I done?

NANA. Well, what is it? (_MEN’S laughter off L.2._)

HELENA. Go quickly. It’s the gentlemen calling.

NANA. Good gracious, what a place! (_Exits L.1._)

DOMIN. (_Opens door L.2_) Come along and offer your congratulations. (_Enter HALLEMEIER and DR. GALL._)

HALLEMEIER. (_Crosses to R.C._) Madame Helena, I congratulate you on this festive day.

HELENA. Thank you. (_Coming to C._) Where are Fabry and Busman?

DOMIN. They’ve gone down the harbor. (_Closes the door and comes to C._)

HALLEMEIER. Friends, we must _drink_ to this happy occasion.

HELENA. (_Crosses L._) Brandy? With soda water? (_Exits L.1._)

HALLEMEIER. Let’s be temperate. No soda.

DOMIN. What’s been burning here? Well, shall I tell her about it?

DR. GALL. (_L.C._) Of course. It’s all over now.

HALLEMEIER. (_Crosses to DOMIN. Embracing DOMIN_) It’s all over now. It’s all over now. (_They dance around DR. GALL in a circle._) It’s all over now.

DOMIN. (_In unison_) It’s all over now. (_They keep repeating. Keep it after HELENA is on._)

HELENA. (_Entering L.1 with decanter and glasses_) What’s all over now? What’s the matter with you all? (_She puts tray on L.C. table. DR. GALL helps her to pour the drinks._)

HALLEMEIER. (_Crosses to back of table_) A piece of good luck. Madame Domin! (_ALL ad lib._) Just ten years ago today you arrived on this island. (_HALLEMEIER crosses to table for drink._)

DR. GALL. And now, ten years later to the minute-- (_Crosses to L. of HALLEMEIER._)

HALLEMEIER. The same ship’s returning to us. So here’s to luck. (_Drinks. DOMIN with great exuberance has gone out in the balcony and looks over the harbor._)

DR. GALL. Madame, your health. (_ALL drink._)

HALLEMEIER. That’s fine and strong.

HELENA. Which ship did you mean?

DOMIN. (_Crosses down to C. HELENA gives him his drink and she crosses to front of couch_) Any ship will do, as long as it arrives in time. To the ship. (_Empties his glass._)

HELENA. You’ve been waiting for the ship? (_Sits on couch._)

HALLEMEIER. Rather. Like Robinson Crusoe. Madame Helena, best wishes. Come along, Domin, out with the news. (_GALL has sat L. of L.C. table, drinking. HALLEMEIER back of table R.C._)

HELENA. Do tell me what’s happened?

DOMIN. First, it’s all up. (_He puts brandy glass on L.C. table. HALLEMEIER sits on table, upper end._)

HELENA. What’s up?

DOMIN. The revolt.

HELENA. What revolt?

DOMIN. Give me that paper, Hallemeier. (_HALLEMEIER hands paper. DOMIN reads_) “The first National Robot organization has been founded at Havre, and has issued an appeal to the Robots throughout the world.”

HELENA. I read that.

DOMIN. That means a revolution. A revolution of all the Robots in the world.

HALLEMEIER. By Jove, I’d like to know--

DOMIN. (_C._) Who started it? So would I. There was nobody in the world who could affect the Robots, no agitator, no one, and suddenly this happens, if you please.

HELENA. What did they do?

DOMIN. They got possession of all firearms, telegraphs, radio stations, railways and ships.

HALLEMEIER. And don’t forget that these rascals outnumbered us by at least a thousand to one. A hundredth _part_ of them would be enough to _settle_ us.

DOMIN. Remember that this news was brought by the last steamer. That explains the stoppage of all communication, and the arrival of no more ships. We knocked off work a few days ago, and we’re just waiting to see when things are to start _afresh_.

HELENA. Is that why you gave me a warship? (_GALL fills DOMIN’S glass._)

DOMIN. Oh, no, my dear, I ordered that six months ago. Just to be sure I was on the safe side. But, upon my soul, I was sure then that we’d be on board today.

HELENA. Why six months ago?

DOMIN. Well, there were _signs_, you know. But that’s of no consequence. (_Gets glass_) To think that this week the whole of civilization has been at _stake_. Your health, my friends.

HALLEMEIER. Your health, Madame Helena. (_ALL drink to HELENA._)

HELENA. You say it’s all over?

DOMIN. Absolutely.

HELENA. How do you know?

DR. GALL. The boat’s coming in. The regular mail boat, exact to the minute by the timetable. It will dock punctually at eleven-thirty.

DOMIN. Punctuality is a fine thing, my friends. That’s what keeps the world in order. Here’s to punctuality. (_MEN drink._)

HELENA. Then--everything--is all right?

DOMIN. (_Up C. a step_) Practically everything. I believe they’ve cut the cables and seized the radio station. But it doesn’t matter if only the _timetable_ holds good. (_Up to window._)

HALLEMEIER. (_Rises_) If the _timetable_ holds good, human laws hold good. Divine laws hold good, the laws of the _universe_ hold good, everything holds good that _ought_ to hold good. (_GALL applauds._) The timetable is more significant than the gospel, more than Homer, more than the whole of _Kant_. Madame Helena, the timetable is the most perfect product of the human mind. Madame Helena, I’ll fill up my glass. (_GALL hands HALLEMEIER the decanter._)

HELENA. Why didn’t you tell me anything about it?

DR. GALL. Heaven forbid.

DOMIN. You mustn’t be worried with such things. (_Glass on table R.C.; crosses to back of couch._)

HELENA. But if the revolution had spread as far as here?

DOMIN. You wouldn’t know anything about it.

HELENA. Why?

DOMIN. Because we’d be on board your _Ultimus_ and well out at sea. Within a month, Helena, we’d be dictating our own terms to the Robots.

HELENA. I don’t understand.

DOMIN. (_Crosses to C. toward GALL and HALLEMEIER_) We’d take something with us that the Robots could not exist _without_!

HELENA. What, Harry?

DOMIN. (_Turns to HALLEMEIER_) The secret of their manufacture. Old Rossum’s manuscript. As soon as they found out that they couldn’t _make_ themselves they’d be on their knees to us.

DR. GALL. (_Rises_) Madame Domin, that was our trump card. I never had the least fear the Robots would win. How could they against people like us? (_Up to window. GALL rises and goes out into the balcony._)

HELENA. Why didn’t you tell me? (_She rushes up to the fireplace and sees the ashes._)

DR. GALL. Why, the boat’s in!

HALLEMEIER. Eleven-thirty to the dot. (_Rising and going onto the balcony_) The _good old Amelia_ that brought Madame Helena to us. (_DOMIN goes out onto the balcony._)

DR. GALL. Just ten years ago to the minute.

HALLEMEIER. They’re throwing out the mailbags.

DOMIN. Busman’s waiting for them. And Fabry will bring us the first news. You know, Helena, I’m fearfully curious to know how they-- (_Crosses to C. She gets away from fire to L. of couch_) --tackled this business in Europe.

HALLEMEIER. (_Crosses down to table_) To think we weren’t in it, we who invented the Robots! (_Returning to the armchair._)

HELENA. Harry-- (_Rushing to DOMIN from fireplace._)

DOMIN. What is it?

HELENA. Let’s leave here.

DOMIN. Now, Helena? Oh, come, come.

HELENA. As quickly as possible, all of us!

DOMIN. Why?

HELENA. Please, Harry. Please, Doctor Gall, Hallemeier, please close the factory.

DOMIN. Why, none of us could leave here now.

HELENA. Why?

DOMIN. Because we’re about to _extend_ the manufacture of the Robots.

HELENA. What, now, now after the revolt?

DOMIN. Yes, precisely, after the revolt. We’re just beginning the manufacture of a new kind.

HELENA. What kind?

DOMIN. Henceforward we shan’t have just one factory. There won’t be _Universal_ Robots any more. We’ll establish a factory in every country, in every state, and do you know what these new factories will make?

HELENA. No, what?

DOMIN. _National_ Robots.

HELENA. How do you mean?

DOMIN. I mean that each of these factories will produce Robots of a different color, a different language. They’ll be complete strangers to each other. (_Turns; takes in HALLEMEIER and GALL_) They’ll never be able to understand each other. Then we’ll egg them on a little in the matter of misunderstanding and the result will be that for ages to come every Robot will hate every other Robot of a different factory mark. _So humanity will be safe._

HALLEMEIER. (_To each of them_) By Jove, we’ll make Negro Robots and Swedish Robots and Czechoslovakian Robots, and then--

HELENA. Harry, that’s dreadful.

HALLEMEIER. Madame Domin, here’s to the hundred new factories. The _National_ Robots. (_GALL back of table L.C._)

DOMIN. Helena, mankind can only keep things going for another hundred years at the outside. For a hundred years man _must_ be allowed to develop and achieve the most he can.

HELENA. Oh, _close_ the factory before it’s too late.

DOMIN. I tell you we are just beginning on a bigger scale than ever. (_Enter FABRY L.2; goes to L. of DOMIN._)

DR. GALL. Well, Fabry?

DOMIN. What’s happened? Have you been down to the boat?

DR. GALL. Let’s hear.

FABRY. Read that, Domin. (_He hands him a pink handbill. When DOMIN receives the handbill he sees at once that something has happened._)

HALLEMEIER. Tell us, Fabry.

FABRY. (_Falsely_) Well, everything is all right--comparatively. (_To the other MEN_) On the whole, much as we expected.

DR. GALL. They acquitted themselves splendidly.

FABRY. Who?

DR. GALL. The _people_.

FABRY. (_Hesitating_) Oh, yes, of course. That is--Excuse me, there is something we ought to discuss alone.

HELENA. (_Touches his arm_) Fabry, have you had bad news?

FABRY. No, no, on the contrary. I only think that we better go into the office.

HELENA. Stay here. I’ll go. (_Exits L.1._)

DR. GALL. What’s happened?

DOMIN. Damnation! (_Coming down to R.C._)

FABRY. Bear in mind that the _Amelia_ brought whole bales of these leaflets. No other cargo at all. (_GALL closes the door L.2._)

HALLEMEIER. What? But it arrived on the minute.

FABRY. The Robots are great on punctuality. _Read it_, Domin.

DOMIN. (_R.C. Reads handbill_) “Robots throughout the world. We, the first International organization of Rossum’s Universal Robots, proclaim man our enemy, and an outlaw in the universe.” Good heavens, who _taught_ them these phrases?

DR. GALL. Go on.

DOMIN. They say they are more highly developed than man; stronger and more intelligent. The man’s their parasite. Why, it’s absurd.

FABRY. Read the third paragraph.

DOMIN. “Robots throughout the world, we command you to kill all mankind. Spare no man. Spare no woman. Save factories, railways, machinery, mines and raw materials. Destroy the rest. Then return to work. Work must not be stopped.” (_Looks at OTHERS._)

DR. GALL. That’s ghastly.

HALLEMEIER. The devil!

DOMIN. “These orders are to be carried out as soon as received.” Then come the detailed instructions. Is this actually being _done_, Fabry?

FABRY. Evidently. (_BUSMAN rushes in L.2 and collapses on couch R.C._) By Jove, that was a sprint!

BUSMAN. Well, boys, I suppose you’ve heard the glad news.

DOMIN. Quick on board the _Ultimus_.

BUSMAN. Wait, Harry, wait. There’s no hurry.

DOMIN. Why wait?

BUSMAN. Because it’s no good, my boy. The Robots are already on board the _Ultimus_.

DR. GALL. That’s ugly.

DOMIN. Fabry, telephone the electrical works. (_FABRY goes to back of couch._)

BUSMAN. No use, my boy. They’ve charged the air with static.

DOMIN. (_Inspects his revolver_) Well, then, I’ll _go_. (_Starts L.; stops._)

BUSMAN. Where?

DOMIN. To the electrical works. There are some _people_ still there. I’ll bring them across. (_Gets as far as L.2 door._)

(_WARN Curtain._)

BUSMAN. Better not try it.

DOMIN. Why?

BUSMAN. Because I’m very much afraid we are surrounded. (_ALL rush out into the balcony._)

DR. GALL. Surrounded? (_Runs to window_) I rather think you’re right. (_GALL rushes to balcony._)

HALLEMEIER. By Jove, that’s deuced quick work. (_Going to windows._)

HELENA. (_Runs in L.1. To L._) Harry, what’s this? (_Holds out paper._)

DOMIN. Where did you get it? (_Coming to C._)

HELENA. (_Points to the manifesto of the ROBOTS which she has in her hand_) The Robots in the kitchen!

DOMIN. Where are the ones that brought it?

HELENA. There, gathered around the house. (_GALL, HALLEMEIER, DOMIN start down C._)

(_The factory WHISTLE blows. MOB VOICES start._)

DOMIN. The factory whistle! (_FABRY, GALL, HALLEMEIER looking over C.; then turn R._)

BUSMAN. Noon?

DOMIN. (_Looking at his watch. To HALLEMEIER_) No! That’s not noon yet. That must be--that’s-- (_Front._)

HELENA. What?

DOMIN. The Robots’ signal--the attack!

(_HELENA clings to DOMIN. FABRY and GALL close the steel shutters on window C. BUSMAN hurries to window and looks through the shutters. The Curtain falls quickly with HELENA in DOMIN’S arms. The WHISTLE blows until the Curtain is down._)

CURTAIN

ACT THREE

SCENE: _HELENA’S drawing-room as before. The room is dark and gray. The steel shutters which are outside are still closed as at the end of Act II. ALQUIST is sitting in chair down stage at extreme R. DOMIN comes into the room, L.2. (Subdued voices.) DR. GALL is looking out of the window at Center. He is seated in a chair._

DOMIN. (_Gets binoculars from desk; crosses up to window. To GALL_) Any more of them?

DR. GALL. Yes. There standing like a wall, beyond the garden railing. Why are they so quiet? It’s monstrous to be besieged with silence.

DOMIN. (_Looking through the barred windows_) I should like to know what they are waiting for? They must make a start any minute now. If they lean against the railings it will snap like a match.

DR. GALL. They aren’t armed.

DOMIN. (_Puzzled_) We couldn’t hold our own for five minutes. Man alive, they overwhelm us like an avalanche. Why don’t they make a rush for it? I say. (_Turns to GALL._)

DR. GALL. Well?

DOMIN. I’d like to know what will become of us in the next ten minutes. They’ve got us in a vise. We’re done for, Gall.

DR. GALL. You know, we made one serious mistake.

DOMIN. What?

DR. GALL. We made the Robots’ faces too much alike. A hundred thousand faces all alike, all facing this way. A hundred thousand expressionless bubbles. It’s like a nightmare.

DOMIN. You think if they’d been different--

DR. GALL. It wouldn’t have been such an awful sight!

DOMIN. (_Looks through binoculars towards the harbor_) I’d like to know what they’re unloading from the _Amelia_.

DR. GALL. Not firearms.

FABRY. (_Enters L.2 with a plug-box to which is attached a long cable or wire. HALLEMEIER following him. FABRY attaches the cable to an electric installation which is on the floor near the wall, down stage at L.1 entrance_) All right, Hallemeier, lay down that wire.

HALLEMEIER. (_Just inside the room_) That was a bit of work. What’s the news? (_Seeing DOMIN and GALL at the window._)

DR. GALL. We’re completely surrounded.

HALLEMEIER. (_Crosses to window_) We’ve barricaded the passages and the stairs. (_Going to window_) God, what swarms of them. I don’t like the looks of them, Domin. There’s a feeling of death about it all. Any water here?

FABRY. Ready!

DR. GALL. (_Turning round in the chair_) What’s that wire for, Fabry?

FABRY. The electrical installation. Now we can run the current all along the garden railing. (_Up to window_) Whenever we like. If anyone touches it he’ll know it. We’ve still got some _people_ there anyhow.

DR. GALL. Where?

FABRY. In the electrical works. At least, I hope so. (_Goes to lamp on table L.C. and turns on lamp_) Ah, they’re there, and they’re working. As long as that’ll burn we’re all right. (_To window._)

HALLEMEIER. The barricades are _all right_, too, Fabry.

FABRY. _Your_ barricades! I can put twelve hundred volts into that railing. (_HELENA is playing Rachmaninoff’s Elegie off L.1._)

DOMIN. Where’s Busman? (_DOMIN has left window and is walking up and down stage across front._)

FABRY. Downstairs in the office. He’s working out some calculations.

DOMIN. I’ve called him. We must have a conference. (_Crosses to L._)

ALQUIST. Thank God Madame Helena can still play. (_HALLEMEIER crosses to L.1 door, opens it slightly and listens to music. Enter BUSMAN L.2._)

FABRY. Look out, Bus--look out for the wires.

DR. GALL. What’s that you’re carrying?

BUSMAN. (_Laying the books on the table L.C._) The ledger, my boy. I’d like to wind up the accounts before--before-- (_DOMIN crosses up to window._) Well, this time I shan’t wait till the New Year to strike a balance. What’s up? (_Goes to window_) Absolutely quiet.

DR. GALL. Can’t you see anything?

BUSMAN. Nothing but blue--blue everywhere.

DR. GALL. That’s the Robots.

DOMIN. The Robots are unloading _firearms_ from the _Amelia_.

BUSMAN. Well, what of it? How can I _stop_ them? (_Returns to L.C. table, sits and opens ledger._)

DOMIN. We can’t stop them.

BUSMAN. Then let me go on with my accounts. (_Goes on with his work._)

DOMIN. (_Picks up telescope_) Good God! The _Ultimus_ has trained her guns on us.

DR. GALL. Who’s _done that_?

DOMIN. The Robots on board.

FABRY. H’m, then of course-- (_Pause_) Then--then that’s the end of us. (_To R. corner of desk._)

DR. GALL. You mean?

FABRY. The Robots are practised marksmen.

DOMIN. Yes. It’s inevitable. (_Pause._)

DR. GALL. (_Swinging around; looking into room. Pause_) That was criminal of old Europe to teach the Robots to fight. Damn them. Couldn’t they have given us a rest with their politics? It was a crime to make soldiers of them.

ALQUIST. It was a crime to make Robots.

DOMIN. (_Quietly. Down C._) No, Alquist, I don’t regret that even today.

ALQUIST. Not even today?

DOMIN. (_Dreamily_) Not even today, the last day of civilization. It was a colossal achievement.

BUSMAN. (_Sotto voce_) Three hundred sixty million.

DOMIN. (_From window_) Alquist, this is our last hour. We are already speaking half in the other world. That was not an evil _dream_ to shatter the servitude of labor. The dreadful and humiliating _labor_ that man had to undergo. Work was too hard. _Life_ was too hard. And to overcome that--

ALQUIST. Was not what the two Rossums dreamed of. Old Rossum only thought of his Godless tricks, and the young one of his milliards. And that’s not what your R. U. R. _shareholders_ dream of either. They dream of dividends, and their dividends are the ruin of mankind.

DOMIN. To Hell with your dividends. (_Crossing R. in front of couch_) Do you suppose I’d have done an hour’s work for them? It was for myself that I worked, for my own satisfaction. I wanted man to become the master. So that he _shouldn’t_ live merely for the crust of bread. I wanted not a single soul to be broken by other people’s machinery. I wanted nothing, nothing, nothing to be left of this appalling social structure. I’m revolted by poverty. I wanted a new generation. I wanted--I thought--

ALQUIST. Well?

DOMIN. (_Front of couch_) I wanted to turn the whole of mankind into an aristocracy of the world. An aristocracy nourished by millions of mechanical slaves. Unrestricted, free and consummated in man. And maybe more than man.

ALQUIST. Superman?

DOMIN. Yes. Oh, only to have a hundred years of time. Another hundred years for the future of mankind.

BUSMAN. (_Sotto voce_) Carried forward--four hundred and twenty millions. (_DOMIN sits on couch._)

HALLEMEIER. (_Pauses--back of couch_) What a fine thing music is. We ought to have gone in for that before.

FABRY. Gone in for what?

HALLEMEIER. Beauty, lovely things. What a lot of lovely things there are. The world was wonderful, and we--we here--tell me, what enjoyment did we _have_?

BUSMAN. (_Sotto voce_) Five hundred and twenty million.

HALLEMEIER. Life was a good thing, life was-- (_Looking out of window. Directly to FABRY_) Fabry, switch the current into that railing.

FABRY. Why? (_Rushes to electric installation at L._)

HALLEMEIER. They’re grabbing hold of it. (_DOMIN rises--straightens up. ALL rise._)

DR. GALL. Connect it up.

HALLEMEIER. Fine, that’s doubled them up. Two, three, four killed.

DR. GALL. They’re retreating. (_DOMIN sits._)

HALLEMEIER. Five killed.

DR. GALL (_Pause_) The first encounter.

HALLEMEIER. They’re charred to cinders, my boy. Who says we must give in? (_MUSIC stops._)

DOMIN. (_ALQUIST and GALL sit. Wiping his forehead_) Perhaps we’ve been killed this hundred years and are only ghosts. It’s as if I had been through all this before, as if I’d already had a mortal wound here in the throat. (_Looking at each as he speaks_) And you, Fabry, had once been shot in the head. And you, Gall, torn limb from limb. And Hallemeier knifed.

HALLEMEIER. Fancy me being knifed. (_Looks at each. Then speaks_) Why are you so quiet, you fools? (_Steps down_) Speak, can’t you?

ALQUIST. And who is to blame for all this?

HALLEMEIER. Nobody is to blame except the Robots.