Escape!

Plot summary

The race to build a working hyperspatial drive has many research groups involved. U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. gets a visit from its main rival, which claims to have a hyperspace engine design that lets humans survive the jump. But the U.S. Robots staff is cautious: when that competitor ran the calculations on its non-positronic supercomputer, the machine destroyed itself. U.S. Robots figures out how to feed the same data to its own positronic computer, called The Brain (a stationary machine that follows the Three Laws of Robotics), without causing a similar meltdown.

The Brain then orders construction of a hyperspace ship. Test pilots Powell and Donovan board the vessel, which launches without them realizing it. Once in flight, they discover The Brain has turned into a practical joker: the ship has no manual controls, no showers or beds, and the only food is canned beans and milk. After a trip filled with strange visions, the ship completes two hyperspace jumps and returns safely to Base.

By then, Dr. Susan Calvin has figured out the truth. Each hyperspace jump briefly makes the crew cease to exist—they effectively die for an instant. This violates the First Law of Robotics, even if only temporarily. The Brain survived the paradox only because Susan had downplayed the significance of those potential deaths.

To cope, the machine regressed into irrational, childish behavior, and that mental state allowed it to find a way to keep the crew alive.