Trella remembered the thug Kregg striking Quest in the face and then crying that he had injured his hand on the bar.
“But he said Dr. Mansard was his father,” protested Trella.
“Robots and androids frequently look on their makers as their parents,” said Jakdane. “Quest may not even know he's artificial. Do you know how Mansard died?”
“The oxygen equipment failed, Quest said.”
“Yes. Do you know when?”
“No. Quest never did tell me, that I remember.”
“He told me: a year before Quest made his rocket flight to Ganymede! If the oxygen equipment failed, how do you think Quest lived in the poisonous atmosphere of Jupiter, if he's human?”
Trella was silent.
“For the protection of humans, there are two psychological traits built into every robot and android,” said Jakdane gently. “The first is that they can never, under any circumstances, attack a human being, even in self defense. The second is that, while they may understand sexual desire objectively, they can never experience it themselves.
“Those characteristics fit your man Quest to a T, Trella. There is no other explanation for him: he must be an android.”