"Rational robots!" Sofi Jokai planted hands on slender but ample hips. "I was an idiot to listen to you, Hen."
He repressed a chuckle. His glance flicked to the surface of the asteroid beyond the plastic walls of the igloo. R-7, he saw, had taken a stance at the lock like a cat at a mouse hole.
Although built along the general design of man, the robot was no grotesque copy. He was a complex functional piece of machinery as beautiful in his way as the cobwebby spans of a bridge, a streamlined jet plane, or a fine watch.
"But Sofi, they're still in the experimental stage. They—"
"Experimental's right," the girl interrupted passionately. "D'you realize what R-7 has done now?"
He grinned. "No. What?"
"He's taken the mining worm apart—that's what. I knew he would!"
"Knew he would? Did you warn him not to?"
"Yes. Of course I did. I had to leave him to check the reduction plant. I had a presentiment...."