Robots of Dawn

Walkthrough and solution, by Daniele Raffo



You are Elijah Baley, the famous detective from Earth, and you have come to the planet Aurora to investigate the murder of the illustrious roboticist Han Fastolfe. Suspects are the Solarian woman Gladia, Fastolfe's daughter Vasilia, the artist Santirix Gremionis, and Kelden Amadiro, head of the Robotics Institute and Fastolfe's rival.

You have been brought from the spaceport to Dr. Fastolfe's estate. You start in the living room.
(At any time, you can use the hyperwave screen in Dr. Fastolfe's workroom to check how your investigation is going. Use the screen, then wait several times until the show changes, then use the screen again until it shows something about your case. You can reach the workshop from the living room by going east, east, north, west.)
Go east and north in the spare room, and take the time band. (You can now know what time it is by reading the time band. One action takes one minute. This is important as around 6:70 you will start feeling sleepy; since that moment, you have about 20 turns before you are forced to go to bed, ending the investigation. Remember that Aurora uses decimal time.)
Go south, east, north twice to go to the master bedroom. Take the notebook and read it. Enter the Personal to the southeast and take the nose filter. Go north, south, then east to the guest room. Go south to enter the guest Personal and take the pair of gloves.
Go north, west, south, then west four times through the hallway, then north. Enter Fastolfe's study from the west door and take the recording device and the blue bookfilm. Go east, then south twice to enter the visitor's Personal and take the shaver.
Go north, then east twice back to the living room. Use the trimensional viewer. When asked by the robots, ask to contact Vasilia for matters regarding Gremionis. Turn on the recording device. Ask Vasilia whether Gladia had the motive and means ("did Gladia have motive", etc.) and whether Gremionis had the motive and means. She will then decide to end the conversation.
Go west twice and north twice into Fastolfe's workshop, where you meet R. Daneel Olivaw, the first humanoid robot built by Fastolfe and your partner in the investigation. From now on Daneel will accompany you in your enquiry and will bear witness on the conversations you carry with the suspects. Give the recording device to Daneel and he'll memorize its contents in his memory.
Go south and touch the contact strip in the hallway: the wall slides away and reveals an elevator. Go east to enter it and it will move. Exit the elevator to the west and you'll be in the garage. Enter the airfoil and order the robot to drive you to Gremionis.

Exit the airfoil and go north to enter the establishment. Ask Gremionis whether Amadiro had the motive, means, and opportunity, and whether Vasilia had the motive and means. Go west, south, and east to enter Gremionis' workshop. If a guide rod is there, take it (it proves Gremionis' means) and ask Daneel about it. Go west, north, east, south to head back outside (it may also happen that Gremionis gets annoyed of your wandering and has his robots throw you out).

Enter the airfoil and order the robot to drive you to Vasilia. Exit the airfoil and go north to Vasilia's workroom, where she unwelcomes you. Go northwest, then south twice to the study. Take the tingle field neutralizer. Go north twice; you'll be thrown out by Vasilia's robots.

Enter the airfoil and order the robot to drive you to the Robotics Institute.
(It is also possible to get there via cable car, from the outside of Gremionis' house. Wait several times until a cable car arrives. Enter it. It will start moving and stop first at a small store, then at a museum. Exit it when it stops next to a library. Wait for another cable car and enter it. Exit it when it stops at the Robotics Institute. In this way you can enter the Institute from the opposite entrance, but the trip takes much longer.)
Exit the airfoil and go north to enter the Robotics Institute. Use the neutralizer, go north four times to an helical ramp and touch the handrail; the ramp moves up and you will find yourself in a long hallway. Go east twice, then south in the sterilization chamber. Read the sign, then use the nose filter. Go east into the gas chamber and take the gas canister. Touch the rod: it feels hot. Go east to the small laboratory; if a report is there, take it and read it (it proves Amadiro's means). Go west twice and touch the rod again: it feels cooler.
Go north, then west thrice, then south to Maloon Cicis' office. If a time sheet is there, take it and read it (it proves Vasilia's opportunity).
Go north, west, and south to Dr. Amadiro's office. Ask Amadiro whether Gremionis had means, and whether Gladia had motive and means. Go north to exit the office; Amadiro will say that he has a pressing engagement and he'll accompany you out of the building. Once outside on the lawn, enter the airfoil and ask the robot to go back to Fastolfe's estate.

In the garage exit the airfoil, enter the elevator to the east, let it move, then exit the elevator to the west. Go south, east, east to the living room, north to go outside, then east thrice to Gladia's house, where she is waiting for you. Go east twice and north twice to the master bedroom. Take the lightsphere. Go south and up the stairs.
Go west in the workroom; Gladia will enter the room too. Take the light-form and examine it. Take the reader and read the blue bookfilm. Show the light-form to Gladia and she'll confess something about it (this proves Gladia's and Gremionis' opportunity). Ask Gladia whether Gremionis had motive, whether Vasilia had motive, and whether Amadiro had means.
Go east, down, south, west twice, north to exit Gladia's house, west twice, and south back to Fastolfe's house. Go west twice, north, east into the elevator, west into the garage, and enter the airfoil. Order the robot to go to the Robotics Institute.

Exit the airfoil, go north to enter the Institute, and use the neutralizer. Go north, west, north twice, and east. The room is dark, so turn on the lightsphere. Look, then touch the contact strip. Go east into the ultrasonic brain dissolving chamber, take the summary and read it. Go west, south, and take the plasma torch. Go north, west, south twice, east, and use the neutralizer. Go south twice to exit the Institute, then enter the airfoil and order the robot to go back to Fastolfe's.

Exit the airfoil, enter the elevator to the east, exit the elevator to the west, and go west into Fastolfe's study. Burn the safe with the plasma torch. Take the red bookfilm and read it to learn some interesting fact.

You have now enough clues to identify the murderer, and to understand what really happened.
If you've found the guide rod, and when asking Amadiro for Gremionis' means he replied "I suppose that there is a small possibility that he was familiar enough to Fastolfe and Daneel that he caught them with their guard down", then Gremionis is guilty.
If you've found the time sheet, and when asking Gremionis for Vasilia's means he replied "Well, she did mention to me that she is working on a project involving gases", then Vasilia is guilty.
If you've found the report, and when asking Gladia for Amadiro's means she replied "The involvement of a skilled roboticist like Amadiro might explain why Daneel was unable to stop the murder", then Amadiro is guilty.
If none of the above happened i.e. you managed to find the object but not the testimony against the accused person, or vice versa, then Gremionis, Vasilia, and Amadiro are innocent. In this case, if when asking Vasilia for Gladia's motive she replied "Not unless she finally realized, as I did, that Dr. Fastolfe is interested in only one thing — studying the human brain. People are just guinea pigs to him", then Gladia is guilty.

You have nothing else to do, so go east, south, east four times, north, and east to the guest room. Sleep (if you aren't tired, just wait several times until you are).

You wake up the following morning. The Chairman has arrived to know whether you have found the murderer, and is waiting for you in the living room. Shave, then go west, south, then west twice to the living room. When the Chairman asks you whether you managed to solve the mistery, reply "yes". Then, present the evidence to the Chairman and ask Daneel to provide all the relevant information, as detailed below.

If Gremionis is guilty: show the guide rod and the light-form to the Chairman, say "Daneel did Gremionis have motive", say "Daneel replay Amadiro did Gremionis have means", say "Daneel replay Gladia did Gremionis have motive", say "Daneel replay Vasilia did Gremionis have motive".
If Vasilia is guilty: say "Daneel replay Gremionis did Vasilia have motive", say "Daneel replay Gremionis did Vasilia have means", say "Daneel replay Gladia did Vasilia have motive", say "Daneel did Vasilia have motive", show the time sheet to the Chairman.
If Amadiro is guilty: say "Daneel replay Gremionis did Amadiro have motive", say "Daneel replay Gremionis did Amadiro have means", say "Daneel replay Gremionis did Amadiro have opportunity", say "Daneel replay Gladia did Amadiro have means", say "Daneel tell me about Amadiro", say "Daneel did Amadiro have means", say "Daneel did Amadiro have motive", show the report to the Chairman.
If Gladia is guilty: show the light-form to the Chairman, say "Daneel replay Vasilia did Gladia have motive", say "Daneel replay Vasilia did Gladia have means", say "Daneel replay Amadiro did Gladia have motive", say "Daneel replay Amadiro did Gladia have means", say "Daneel did Gladia have means".

After which, the Chairman will be persuaded and will ask you whether you confirm that the suspect killed Dr. Fastolfe. At this point, reply "no" for the astonishing finale: Dr. Fastolfe shows up alive, explaining that the one that was killed was a robot, his humaniform double. By asking the Chairman to call a Earth detective to help, he meant to prove that Earth people are equal, and in some ways even superior, to Aurorians, and deserve the chance to colonize the Galaxy. By solving the case, you also assured a bright future for Earth.