He puts to the younger mathematician's robot that his master could still rebuild his reputation, but the elder's would be completely overshadowed by an indiscretion in his old age. Both robots respond identically to Baley's questioning, stating they would lie to protect a human's reputation, until he capitalizes on the single difference between the parties: one is elderly and towards the end of his distinguished career, while the other, though brilliant has yet to establish himself fully. Being Spacers, neither scientist will speak to an Earthman, but they do allow Baley to unofficially interview their personal robots via telepresence.

The robots' accounts of the dispute are, like their masters' stories, mirror images of each other, apart from the fact that one robot must be telling the truth and one is lying to protect its master's reputation. Daneel suggests Baley, an unbiased outsider, to the desperate captain.īoth Spacers have personal robots, who happen to be the same model from the same production batch, and were privy to the discussion between the mathematicians in exactly the same way. Neither will admit guilt and it would reflect badly on the ship's captain not to resolve the authorship prior to arrival at the planet where the papers are to be presented. Each claims they originated the idea, and approached the other for confirmation only to have them steal the concept and pass it off as their own. Plot summary īaley is unexpectedly contacted by Daneel regarding a dispute between two reputable Spacers on board a ship, who have just submitted essentially identical papers about a revolutionary mathematical technique.

After the story appeared, he received many letters from readers stating 'Thanks, but we mean a novel'. Daneel Olivaw, featured in his earlier novels The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun, Asimov wrote this short detective story. ' Mirror Image' is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published in the May 1972 issue Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and collected in The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973), The Complete Robot (1982), Robot Visions (1990), and The Complete Stories, Volume 2 (1992).Īfter having received many requests to continue the story of detective Elijah Baley and his robot partner R. Short story by Isaac Asimov 'Mirror Image'

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