Number 23, exercise 62.0:01
Listen to the text the surgeon, and try to read it in the same manner.0:06
The surgeon after Isaac Asimov.0:14
The surgeon looked up without expression.0:19
He is nervous, said his assistant.0:25
Well, it's a serious operation.0:29
Ill see him in this room, said the surgeon.0:33
Has he made up his mind?0:36
The surgeon's face didn't change expression.0:43
He stared at his hands.0:47
Sometimes one can talk them out of it.0:49
Said the assistant indifferently.0:54
If he wants metal, let it be metal.0:57
Either way, it's a medical engineering problem.1:04
And I'm a medical engineer.1:07
Why should I go beyond that?1:09
The surgeon pushed a small button and the door opened.1:16
The patient moved into the room in his motor chair, the nurse stepping along beside him.1:21
You may go, nurse, said the surgeon.1:28
He nodded to the assistant, who left with the nurse and the door closed behind them.1:35
The man in the chair watched them go.1:41
He looked worried and uncomfortable.1:44
He said, will we be starting today?1:48
I understand it will take weeks.1:57
Not the operation itself, but there are a number of small points to take care of.2:00
Then, as though trying to sound friendlier, but against his will, he doctor.2:11
The surgeon paid no attention to this.2:20
He said calmly, we take our time to make it less dangerous, and we already have all the required equipment.2:22
But I must ask you to make a decision.2:31
It is possible to supply you with either of two types of cyber metal or plastic, said the patient irritably.2:36
I want the metal because it is better.2:50
It depends on the patient.2:55
In my opinion, in your individual case, it is is not.2:57
And we prefer not to call them plastic.3:03
It is a fibrous cyber heart.3:06
It's made of a polymeric material designed to imitate as closely as possible the human heart you now have in your chest.3:09
And the human heart I now have in my chest is worn out.3:21
Although I am not yet 60 years old.3:25
I don't want another one like it.3:29
I want something better.3:32
We all want something better.3:35
For you, the fibrous cyberhut will be better.3:37
It has a potential life of centuries.3:41
But it does wear out.3:45
No, I want it to be metallic.3:47
Doctor, what's the matter with you?3:50
Are you afraid I'm making myself into a robot?3:53
Into a metallo, as they called them since Metallos became Citizens.3:57
There is nothing wrong with a metallo as you say.4:02
But you're not a metallo.4:08
Why not stay a human?4:12
Because I want the best, and that's a metallic heart.4:15
And will you be the surgeon in charge?4:20
They tell me you're the best.4:23
I will do what I can to make the operation an easy one.4:29
The door opened and the chair moved the patient out to the waiting nurse.4:35
The medical engineer came in.4:41
Well, he said, I can't say what happened just by looking at you.4:45
What was his decision?4:51
The surgeon bent over his desk putting together some records.4:54
He insists on the metallic heart.5:02
It has become a real mania with people ever since Metallos became citizens.5:05
Men have this strange desire to make metalos out of themselves because they think that metallos are physically strong and powerful.5:11
You don't work with Metallos, but I do.5:24
So I know the last two who came in for repairs have asked for fibrous elements.5:28
I suppose that someday we shall have metallose that are a kind of flesh and blood and humans half made of metal.5:35
We have two varieties of intellect on Earth now, and in the near future we won't be able to tell the difference between them.5:45
We'd have the best of both worlds.5:54
The advantages of man combined with those of robot.5:57
You'd get a hybrid, said the surgeon almost angrily.6:02
You'd get something that is not both, but neither.6:07
I believe in being what one is.6:11
I wouldn't change a bit of my own structure for any reason.6:14
I am myself well pleased to be myself and would not be anything else.6:18
He had finished now and had to prepare for the operation.6:26
He placed his strong hands into the heating oven and kept them there until they became red hot and completely sterilized.6:31
Though his speech had been emotional, his voice had never risen, and on its metal face there was, as always, no sign of expression.6:41
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