I, Robot Audiobook - Ch. 2 - Runaround - By Isaac Asimov, Read by Garrick Hagon

Runaround Audiobook - Ch. 2 - I, Robot - By Isaac Asimov, Read by Garrick Hagon - The year is 2015. Engineers Greg Powell and Mike Donovan are stationed on a mining base on the planet Mercury. Twelve hours into their deployment, they have already encountered a malfunction with Speedy, a robot sent to retrieve selenium from pools on the planet's surface. Without the selenium, they will be unable to maintain their climate control systems and will roast to death. Speedy seems to have arrived at a selenium pool but is circling it without any apparent purpose. After tense deliberation, Powell and Donovan decide to travel through the tunnels under the surface, limiting their exposure to the heat and radiation of the planet's "Sunside." The engineers make their way to the tunnel exit nearest to Speedy. As they finally catch up to him, they realize that he is walking with a staggering gait and singing to himself. "He's drunk or something," Donovan declares with amazement. Realizing that a robot cannot actually be drunk, Powell concludes that Speedy's strange behavior is the result of a conflict among the Three Laws of Robotics. Speedy is torn between obedience to humans—Law 2—and self-preservation—Law 3—the latter of which he has been programmed to obey in higher proportion because of the dangerousness of his work. Thus in approaching the pool, Speedy obeys the engineers' orders, but he puts himself into danger, so he retreats again. Powell and Donovan attempt to break the cycle by creating dangerous concentrations of carbon monoxide, forcing Speedy further away from the pool and out of equilibrium. The plan backfires: Speedy backs away until the gas has dissipated, then resumes his orbit around the pool. Just as time is running out, Powell realizes he must find a way to invoke Rule 1: "a robot may not ... allow a human being to come to harm." He steps toward the pool and flags down Speedy to rescue him. With moments to spare, the robot snaps out of his "drunkenness" and carries the heat-stricken Powell back to safety.