"An air-tube is unnecessary, Daneel. If I am to be working outdoors, there is no point in delaying the indoctrination."
"There will be no reason for you to work outdoors, Partner Elijah." The robot started to say more, but Baley waved him quiet with a peremptory motion of the hand.
At the moment he was not in the mood for Daneel's careful consolations, for soothings, for assurances that all would be well and that he would be taken care of.
What he really wanted was an inner knowledge that he could take care of himself and fulfill his assignment. The sight and feel of the open had been hard to take. It might be that when the time came he would lack the hardihood to dare face it again, at the cost of his self-respect and, conceivably, of Earth's safety. All over a small matter of emptiness.
His face grew grim even at the glancing touch of that thought. He would face air, sun, and empty space yet!
Elijah Baley felt like an inhabitant of one of the smaller Cities, say Helsinki, visiting New York and counting the Levels in awe. He had thought of a "dwelling" as something like an apartment unit, but this was nothing like it at all. He passed from room to room endlessly. Panoramic windows were shrouded closely, allowing no hint of disturbing day to enter. Lights came to life noiselessly from hidden sources as they stepped into a room and died again as quietly when they left.
"So many rooms," said Baley with wonder. "So many. It's like a very tiny City, Daneel."
"It would seem so, Partner Elijah," said Daneel with equanimity. It seemed strange to the Earthman. Why was it necessary to crowd so many Spacers together with him in close quarters? He said, "How many will be living here with me?"
Daneel said, "There will be myself, of course, and a number of robots."
Baley thought: He ought to have said, a number of other robots. Again he found it obvious that Daneel had the intention of playing the man thoroughly even for no other audience than Baley, who knew the truth so well.
And then that thought popped into nothing under the force of a second, more urgent one. He cried, "Robots? How many humans?"
"None, Partner Elijah."
They had just stepped into a room, crowded from floor to ceiling with book films. Three fixed viewers with large twenty-four-inch viewing panels set vertically were in three corners of the room. The fourth contained an animation screen.
Baley looked about in annoyance. He said, "Did they kick everyone out just to leave me rattling around alone in this mausoleum?"
"It is meant only for you. A dwelling such as this for one person is customary on Solaria."
"Everyone lives like this?"
"Everyone."
"What do they need all the rooms for?"
"It is customary to devote a single room to a single purpose. This is the library. There is also a music room, a gymnasium, a kitchen, a bakery, a dining room, a machine shop, various robot-repair and testing rooms, two bedrooms - "
"Stop! How do you know all this?"
"It is part of the information pattern," said Daneel smoothly, "made available to me before I left Aurora."
"Jehoshaphat! Who takes care of all of this?" He swung his arm in a wide arc.
"There are a number of household robots. They have been assigned to you and will see to it that you are comfortable."
"But I don't need all this," said Baley. He had the urge to sit down and refuse to budge. He wanted to see no more rooms.
"We can remain in one room if you so desire, Partner Elijah. That was visualized as a possibility from the start. Nevertheless, Solarian customs being what they are, it was considered wiser to allow this house to be built - "
"Built!" Baley stared. "You mean this was built for me? All this? Specially?"
"A thoroughly roboticized economy - "
"Yes, I see what you're going to say. What will they do with the house when all this is over?"
"I believe they will tear it down."
Baley's lips clamped together. Of course! Tear it down! Build a tremendous structure for the special use of one Earthman and then tear down everything he touched. Sterilize the soil the house stood on! Fumigate the air he breathed! The Spacers might seem strong, but they, too, had their foolish fears.
Daneel seemed to read his thoughts, or to interpret his expression at any rate. He said, "It may appear to you, Partner Elijah, that it is to escape contagion that they will destroy the house. If such are your thoughts, I suggest that you refrain from making yourself uncomfortable over the matter. The fear of disease on the part of Spacers is by no means so extreme. It is just that the effort involved in building the house is, to them, very little. Nor does the waste involved in tearing it down once more seem great to them.
"And by law, Partner Elijah, this place cannot be allowed to remain standing. It is on the estate of Hannis Gruer and there can only be one legal dwelling place on any estate, that of the owner. This house was built by special dispensation, for a specific purpose. It is meant to house us for a specific length of time, till our mission is completed."
"And who is Hannis Gruer?" asked Baley.
"The head of Solarian security. We are to see him on arrival."
"Are we? Jehoshaphat, Daneel, when do I begin to learn anything at all about anything? I'm working in a vacuum and I don't like it. I might as well go back to Earth. I might as well - "
He felt himself working up into resentment and cut himself short.
Daneel never wavered. He merely waited his chance to speak. He said, "I regret the fact that you are annoyed. My general knowledge of Solaria does seem to be greater than yours. My knowledge of the murder case itself is as limited as is your own. It is Agent Gruer who will tell us what we must know. The Solarian Government has arranged this."