The Stainless Steel Leech Roger Zelazny They're really afraid of this place.

During the day they'll clank around the headstones, if they're ordered to, but even entral can't !ake the search at night, despite the ultras and the infras " and they'll never enter the !ausoleu!. #hich !akes things nice for !e. They're superstitious$ it's part of the circuitry. They %ere designed to serve !an, and during his brief ti!e on earth, a%e and devotion, as %ell as dread, %ere auto!atic things. &ven the last !an, dead 'ennington, co!!anded every robot in e(istence %hile he lived. )is person %as a thing of veneration, and all his orders %ere obeyed. *nd a !an is a !an, alive or dead " %hich is %hy the graveyards are a co!bination of hell, heaven, and strange feedback, and %ill re!ain apart fro! the cities so long as the earth endures. +ut even as , !ock the! they are looking behind the stones and peering into the gullies. They are searching for " and afraid they !ight find " !e. ,, the un-unked, a! legend. .nce out of a !illion asse!blies a defective such as , !ight appear and go undetected, until too late. *t %ill, , could cut the circuit that connected !e %ith entral ontrol, and be a free /bot, and !aster of !y o%n !ove!ents. , liked to visit the ce!eteries, because they %ere 0uiet and different fro! the !addening sta!p"sta!p of the presses and the clanking of the cro%ds1 , liked to look at the green and red and yello% and blue things that gre% about the graves. *nd , did not fear these places, for that circuit, too, %as defective. So %hen , %as discovered they re!oved !y vite"bo( and thre% !e on the -unk heap. +ut the ne(t day , %as gone, and their fear %as great. , no longer possess a self"contained po%er unit, but the freak coils %ithin !y chest act as storage batteries. They re0uire fre0uent recharging, ho%ever, and there is only one %ay to do that. The %erebot is the !ost frightful legend %hispered a!ong the glea!ing steel to%ers, %hen the night %ind sighs %ith its burden of fears out of the past, fro! days %hen non"!etal beings %alked the earth. The half"lifes1 the preyers upon order, still cry darkness %ithin the vite"bo( of every /bot. ,, the discontent, the un-unked, live here in Rose%ood 2ark, a!ong the dog%ood and !yrtle, the headstones and broken angels, %ith 3ritz " another legend " in our deep and peaceful !ausoleu!.

3ritz is a va!pire, %hich is a terrible and tragic thing. )e is so undernourished that he can no longer !ove about, but he cannot die either, so he lies in his casket and drea!s of ti!es gone by. .ne day, he %ill ask !e to carry hi! outside into the sunlight, and , %ill %atch hi! shrivel and di! into peace and nothingness and dust. , hope he doesn't ask !e soon. #e talk. *t night, %hen the !oon is full and he feels strong enough, he tells !e of his better days, in places called *ustria and )ungary, %here he, too, %as feared and hunted. 4.. +ut only a stainless steel leech can get blood out of a stone " or a robot,4 he said last night. 4,t is a proud and lonely thing to be a stainless steel leech " you are possibly the only one of your kind in e(istence. Live up to your reputation5 )ound the!5 Drain the!5 Leave your !ark on a thousand steel throats54 *nd he %as right. )e is al%ays right. *nd he kno%s !ore about these things than ,. 4'ennington54 his this, bloodless lips s!iled. 4.h, %hat a duel %e fought5 )e %as the last !an on earth, and , the last va!pire. 3or ten years , tried to drain hi!. , got at hi! t%ice, but he %as fro! the .ld ountry and kne% %hat precautions to take. .nce he learned of !y e(istence, he issued a %ooden stake to every robot " but , had forty"t%o graves in those days and they never found !e. They did co!e close, though.. 4+ut at night, ah, at night54 he chuckled. 4Then things %ere reversed5 , %as the hunter and he the prey5 4, re!e!ber his frantic 0uesting after the last fe% sprays of garlic and %olfsbane on earth, the crucifi( asse!bly lines he kept in operation around the clock " irreligious soul that he %as5 , %as genuinely sorry %hen he died, in peace. 6ot so !uch because , hadn't gotten to drain hi! properly, but because he %as a %orthy opponent and a suitable antagonist. #hat a ga!e %e played54 )is husky voice %eakened. 4)e sleeps a scant three hundred paces fro! here, bleaching and dry. )is is the great !arble to!b by the gate. 2lease gather roses to!orro% and place the! upon it.4 , agreed that , %ould, for there is a closer kinship bet%een the t%o of us than bet%een !yself and any /bot, despite the dictates of rese!blance. *nd , !ust keep !y %ord, before this day passes into evening and although there are searchers above, for such is the la% of !y nature. ."""".""".""". 4Da!n the!5 7)e taught !e that %ord.8 Da!n the!54 , say. 4,'! co!ing up5 +e%are, gentle /bots5 , shall %alk a!ong you and you shall not kno% !e. , shall

-oin in the search, and you %ill think , a! one of you. , shall gather the red flo%ers for dead 'ennington, rubbing shoulders %ith you, and 3ritz %ill s!ile at the -oke.4 , cli!b the cracked and hollo% steps, the east already spilling t%ilight, and the sun half"lidded in the %est. , e!erge. The roses live on the %all across the road. 3ro! great t%isting tubes of vine, %ith heads brighter than any rust, they burn like danger lights on a control panel, but !oistly. .ne, t%o, three roses for 'ennington. 3our, five . 4#hat are you doing, /bot94 4:athering roses.4 4;ou are supposed to be searching for the %erebot. )as so!ething da!aged you94 46o, ,'! all right,4 , say, and , fi( hi! %here he stands, by bu!ping against his shoulder. The circuit co!pleted, , drain his vite"bo( until , a! filled. 4;ou are the %erebot54 he intones %eakly. )e falls %ith a crash. .Si(, seven, eight roses for 'ennington, dead 'ennington, dead as the /bot at !y feet " !ore dead " for he once lived a full organic life, neared to 3ritz's or !y o%n than to theirs. 4#hat happened here, /bot94 4)e is stopped, and , a! picking roses,4 , tell the!. There are four /bots and an .ver. 4,t is ti!e you left this place,4 , say. 4Shortly it %ill be night and there %erebot %ill %alk. Leave, or he %ill end you.4 4;ou stopped hi!54 says the .ver. 4;ou are the %erebot54 , bunch all the flo%ers against !y chest %ith one ar! and turn to face the!. The .ver, a large special"order /bot, !oves to%ard !e. .thers are approaching fro! all directions. )e had sent out a call. 4;ou are a strange and terrible thing,4 he is saying, 4and you !ust be -unked, for the sake of the co!!unity.4

)e seizes !e and , drop !y 'ennington's flo%ers. , cannot drain hi!. <y coils are already loaded near their capacity, and he is specially insulated. There are dozens around !e no%, fearing and hating. They %ill -unk !e and , %ill lie beside 'ennington. 4Rust in peace,4 they %ill say.. , a! sorry that , cannot keep !y pro!ise to 3ritz. 4Release hi!54 6o5 ,t is shrouded and !oldering 3ritz in the door%ay of the !ausoleu!, s%aying, clutching at the stone. )e al%ays kno%s.. 4Release hi!5 ,, a hu!an, order it.4 )e is ashen and gasping, and the sunlight is doing a%ful things to hi!. ""The ancient circuits click and suddenly , a! free. 4;es, !aster,4 says the .ver. 4#e did not kno%.4 4Seize that robot54 )e points a shaking e!aciated finger at hi!. 4)e is the %erebot,4 he gasps. 4Destroy hi!5 The one gathering flo%ers %as obeying !y orders. Leave hi! here %ith !e.4 )e falls to his knees and the final darts of day pierce his flesh. 4*nd go5 *ll the rest of you5 =uickly5 ,t is !y order that no robot ever enter another graveyard again54 )e collapses %ithin and , kno% that no% there are only bones and bits of rotted shroud on the doorstep of our ho!e. 3ritz has had his final -oke " a hu!an !as0uerade. , take the roses to 'ennington, as the silent /bots file out through the gate forever, bearing the unprotesting .verbot %ith the!. , place the roses at the foot of the !onu!ent " 'ennington's and 3ritz's " the !onu!ent of the last, strange, truly living ones. 6o% only , re!ain un-unked.

,n the final light of the sun , see the! drive a stake through the .ver's vite"bo( and bury hi! at the crossroads. Then they hurry back to%ard their to%ers of steel, of plastic. , gather up %hat re!ains of 3ritz and carry hi! do%n to his bo(. The bones are brittle and silent. . ,t is a very proud and very lonely thing to be a stainless steel leech. &nd