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Robbie
The primary robot in “Runaround.” Speedy is an SPD model whom Donovan and Powell send out to retrieve selenium in order to be able to power the station on Mercury. But Speedy has been programmed with a strengthened Third Law of robotics because he was so expensive to build, and so when he approaches the selenium pool and encounters an unforeseen danger, he is simultaneously driven toward it by the Second Law and driven away by the Third Law. He becomes caught in a loop and acts “drunk,” swaying back and forth and spewing nonsensical children’s rhymes. It is only when Powell puts himself in danger that the First Law kicks in and Speedy is able to snap out of his loop. Thus, Speedy becomes an example of how the robots will follow their ethical code no matter what, even if doing so renders them completely inoperable.
Speedy Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Speedy or refer to Speedy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Runaround
Quotes
It was Powell who broke the desperate silence. “In the first place,” he said, “Speedy isn’t drunk—not in the human sense—because he’s a robot, and robots don’t get drunk. However, there’s something wrong with him which is the robotic equivalent of drunkenness.”
“To me, he’s drunk,” stated Donovan, emphatically, “and all I know is that he thinks we’re playing games. And we’re not. It’s a matter of life and very gruesome death.”
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He called a last time, desperately: “Speedy! I’m dying, damn you! Where are you? Speedy, I need you.”
He was still stumbling backward in a blind effort to get away from the giant robot he didn’t want, when he felt steel fingers on his arms, and a worried, apologetic voice of metallic timbre in his ears.
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Speedy Quotes in I, Robot
The I, Robot quotes below are all either spoken by Speedy or refer to Speedy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Runaround
Quotes
It was Powell who broke the desperate silence. “In the first place,” he said, “Speedy isn’t drunk—not in the human sense—because he’s a robot, and robots don’t get drunk. However, there’s something wrong with him which is the robotic equivalent of drunkenness.”
“To me, he’s drunk,” stated Donovan, emphatically, “and all I know is that he thinks we’re playing games. And we’re not. It’s a matter of life and very gruesome death.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He called a last time, desperately: “Speedy! I’m dying, damn you! Where are you? Speedy, I need you.”
He was still stumbling backward in a blind effort to get away from the giant robot he didn’t want, when he felt steel fingers on his arms, and a worried, apologetic voice of metallic timbre in his ears.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
