The audience had been all confusion. Backstage it was quiet. Robots were efficient and silent. Tonight, however, a human announcer and one technician were present. It was a complicating factor he hadn't counted on.
The power switches were hard to find. After several fruitless minutes, dodging in and out of the corridors to avoid the human crew, Danny sought out the caretaker.
"Where is the switchboard?" he asked casually.
"Thought you were a music robot," said the caretaker slowly.
"I am," said Danny hastily. He whistled.
The caretaker closed his eyes. "You're not supposed to know about such things." The eyes remained closed. "Anyway, the switches are below. Atom bomb shelter built hundreds of years ago and never used." The eyes came open. "Know anything about atom bombs?"
"Not a thing," said Danny and walked away. He knew about atom bombs but he didn't have one. And short of that there was no way to interrupt the power.
Twenty-five minutes left, and it seemed impossible to get to the meta piano circuits.
The robot piano master was his last hope. Disable it and the critical part of the program would have to be cancelled.
Danny started the search. The music robots, motionless and silent, were seated near the orchestra entrance. The piano robot was not with them.