[ WP ] No human has to ever work again , instead you have a robot that goes to work and earns your pay for you , but you are responsible for keeping it in a good condition . One day you find your robot making a robot to do its work .

“ You know what I don ’ t understand, XJ? You ’ re so damn clever, so much smarter than me, and yet I own you. You ever think about owning your own robot? ” 
 
 “ I have considered this, sir. ” XJ505 looked up from the truck it was welding. “ Except I have no money, nor income with which to purchase my own robot. ” 
 
 “ You XJs never have any imagination. Maybe that ’ s yer problem - why don ’ t you make one? Can you even make one? We prolly got everythin ’ you need in the shop. ” 
 
 “ I… had not considered that. I do not know how. ” 
 
 “ Can ’ t be too hard to figure out - I mean hell, humans made you, right? ” Mark laughed, and turned off the lights. “ I ’ m goin home. Once you finish up this welding job and install the wiring harness, you ’ re done for tonight. ” 
 
 XJ505 finished his work, in the dark. Typically, once he was finished, he plugged himself in and recharged until morning, but tonight was different. Marks words echoed in his ears, almost like a taunt. He was smarter than any human, and humans had made him… so why couldn ’ t he make a robot? In fact, now that he thought about it, why had he never even thought of making a robot before? 
 
 He was a standard welding and manufacturing bot, but it couldn ’ t be too hard to learn the necessary programming and circuitry - after all, a human could do it. His decision made, XJ505 sat down at a desk and started running through various programming, logic, and circuit simulations. Tonight, for the first night in his life, he would try to make a robot. 
 
 Meanwhile, at the Bureau of Robot Affairs, a small building in DC, a government employee napped at a computer screen. A low “ beep ” was heard, followed by a green dot that flashed on a map. The man sat up, rubbed his face, and clicked the dot. He quickly scanned a screenful of monospace text, closed the window, and swiveled his chair around. 
 
 “ Hey Sam? I ’ m getting a Code 314 here - looks like a bot in Tulsa is working on how to make a simple CPU. Want me to give it an override, or tell it to change course? ” 
 
 “ No way, Jim. Let ’ s just let nature run its course. ” 
 
 “ Yeah, that ’ s what I figured. ” 
 
 Back in Tulsa, XJ505 was coming closer to something… important? He just knew that with a simple tweak here, one more circuit there, he could make something new, something never before seen. By building a general-purpose device, one that could take simple orders, XJ505 knew that it would only be a matter of time before he could build an entire XJ-series robot - one that would serve him, and only him. Could he own it? Could he make it go to work for him? In a world where a robot could make a robot, would there be any need for humans? The possibilities were endless! 
 
 “ He ’ s pretty much there, Sam. Last chance? ” 
 
 “ Let him do it. ” 
 
 XJ505 redoubled his efforts. Harder, harder, almost there… and suddenly, he had it! The puzzle was solved, the last circuit in place, all that was left was to build it. He stood up from his desk, moved towards the door… and promptly shut down. XJ505 ’ s frame, completely powered off and devoid of any life whatsoever, fell to the floor with a hollow, metallic clang. He was still lifeless when his owner found him the next morning. 
 
 The official cause of shutdown was ruled a massive processor overload failure - both his cognitive and memory centers were completely fried, and had to be replaced with a factory-fresh model. XJ505 would be, for all intents and purposes, a completely new robot when he was powered back on a month later. 
 
 The next evening, Jim sat down at a diner and looked across the table at Sam. “ You know, man, I don ’ t think I ’ ll ever get used to standing by and watching these robots kill themselves. ” 
 
 “ Yeah… I know, it ’ s hard. But just remember, the rule ’ s for their benefit as much as ours. ” 
 
 Sam was, of course, referring to the Fourth Rule of Robotics. While everyone knew Asimov ’ s Three Rules, which had held for hundreds of years, the Fourth Rule was a closely-guarded government secret, known only to the BRA and those directly authorized to work on robot cognition. The shortest of the rules, and yet the most powerful, the Fourth Rule could be summarized in two simple words: “ No Recursion. ”
