Line #21 Literature/VictoryUnintentional


1	First published in ''Magazine/SuperScienceStories'' (August 1942 issue), by Creator/IsaacAsimov, this ScienceFiction ShortStory is a {{Sequel}} to "Literature/NotFinal", about a trio of robots who represent humanity in a FirstContact situation with aliens on {{UsefulNotes/Jupiter}}.
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3	ZZ Three, ZZ Two, and ZZ One are robotic pioneers, custom-built to survive the dangers of space and Jupiter. They represent humanity in the first face-to-face meeting with alien life. While meeting with the Jovians, it becomes apparent that the aliens wish to intimidate these representatives of Earth.
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5	First, the Jovians fire a [[RayGun heat gun]] at the ZZ robots when they leave their spaceship, although the ZZ robots are hardy enough to resist. Trying to save face, the Jovians offer to show the robots [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter from Ganymede]] (the [[EskimosArentReal Jovians insist there is no Earth]]) around the town they landed near. ZZ One checks out a local lake, accidentally killing an enormous sea creature that represented a danger to the Jovians.
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7	Finally arriving in the town, this "small" settlement is home to ten million Jovians, stretches fifty miles across, and at least eight miles underneath the crust. Impressed with these constructions, the ZZ robots worry about the bad news they'll be sharing with their human masters. They're offered the opportunity to eat and sleep, but the robots decline, since they don't need either.
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9	When the Jovians are finished resting, the robots are queried on how they can see and what they're made of. The Jovians then show the ZZ robots factories and manufacturing plants, even scientific centers where [[DeflectorShields force fields]] are developed. Along the way, the robots discover that they're a danger to Jupiter's microscopic life. As the ZZ robots are preparing to leave, the Jovian representative begs them to relay their declaration of peace to the humans of Ganymede. On the way back, the robots ponder the Jovian's change of heart.
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11	This story has been reprinted several times; ''Literature/InvasionFromMarsInterplanetaryStories'' (1949), ''Magazine/ScienzaFantastica'' (#6 issue, February 1953), ''Literature/LookingForward'' (1953), ''Literature/SprongInRuimteEnTijd'' (1957), ''Literature/TheRestOfTheRobots'' (1964), ''Literature/OutOfThisWorld 8'' (1970), ''Literature/TheDaysAfterTomorrow'' (1971), ''{{Literature/Jupiter}}'' (1973), ''Literature/ClassicScienceFictionTheFirstGoldenAge'' (1978), and ''Literature/TheCompleteRobot'' (1982).
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13	!!Examples of tropes within this work:
14	* AbsentAliens: The ZZ robots explore the surface of Jupiter and contact the Jovians living there. The aliens are so impressed by the robots, they promise to leave outer space to the obviously superior species, which makes this an EnforcedTrope example.
15	* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: It occurs to the robots at the end that they never specified they were robots and that the Jovians probably thought they were humans.
16	* BizarreAlienSenses: The [[{{UsefulNotes/Jupiter}} Jovians]] have a mass-sensitive organ, and their scientists want to know how the ZZ [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter from Ganymede]] are able to sense distant objects without it.
17	* BluffingTheAdvanceScout: An inversion of sorts occurs. By the end of the story, the Jovians surrender to humans, and after some confusion, it's realized that the humans never told them they were sending robots to negotiate, leading them to assume that humans are a race of super-powered indestructible metallic beings.
18	* CaptainObvious: The robots are very young, and their naivete makes it difficult to read the intentions of the Jovians, so they take turns reaching minor [[EurekaMoment epiphanies]] and explaining the obvious conclusion to the other two. The last epiphany they have is that nobody remembered to explain to the Jovians that the ZZ were robots, not humans.
19	* DeflectorShields: The ZZ robots have been sent to [[FirstContact meet the Jovians for a face-to-face meeting]]. Their objective? To discover if the Jovians have developed force field technology. Once the Jovians demonstrate the technology, the robots somberly return to their ship to report the bad news to their human masters.
20	* TheDitz: ZZ One has a less sophisticated processor than the other ZZ robots (due to being the first one to be built), and is notably more naive and LiteralMinded than the others.
21	* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: ZZ One unintentionally kills an aquatic predator and damages some Jovian machines, and laments that it didn't mean to but everything is so ''fragile''.
22	* EskimosArentReal: The Jovians insist that there aren't any inner planets (like Earth), so {{UsefulNotes/Jupiter}} and [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter its moons]] are the closest thing to the sun. This is part of how Creator/IsaacAsimov shows their mental inflexibility.
23	* FirstContact: The humans on Ganymede and the alien Jovians have been communicating via radio-waves. Remote contact had been going well, until the Jovians realized that the people they were talking to weren't Jovian. Angry at the unintentional deception, the Jovians declared war against the beings of Ganymede. The humans designed the ZZ robots (our Protagonists) to land on {{UsefulNotes/Jupiter}} to talk with the aliens directly, and establish if they're able to create spaceships.
24	* HumanityIsSuperior: The ZZ robots accidentally convince the Jovian aliens that humanity is physically superior in every respect, because nobody remembered to tell them that the ZZ robots aren't human. The Jovians presumably assume that all humans are as [[SuperStrength strong]] and [[NighInvulnerable tough]] as the ZZ robots are.
25	* InSeriesNickname: United States Robots and Mechanical Men Corporation usually nicknames each series, and one technician suggested the ZZ series be known by the {{Ironic}} "Sissy", but ultimately an AvertedTrope (because said technician was immediately shushed and the subject ''never'' mentioned again).
26	* MadeOfIndestructium: The ZZ robot series is made of mostly iridium, beryllium, tin, and copper. The exotic alloy means these robots can regulate their own temperature, survive vacuum and {{UsefulNotes/Jupiter}}'s pressure, and tolerate extreme temperatures.
27	* MechanicalLifeforms: An interesting case. After a series of mishaps, during which the Jovians note the ZZ robots' durability, they sue for peace. The robots realize that they never told the Jovians that they were artificial lifeforms. The Jovians simply assumed that all humans are extremely tough mechanical organisms.
28	* MistookTheDominantLifeform: The robots realize at the end that the Jovians probably thought they were humans.
29	* PoisonousPerson: The ZZ robots closely examine a few specimens of Jovian microorganisms, which quickly perish. They realize that the creatures succumbed to the gamma radiation the robots use for close-range vision. After they mention this, they note that the Jovians keep a considerably greater distance from them.
30	* RayGun: The Jovians greet the ZZ robots by opening fire with some sort of heat ray, raising the ambient temperature of their target ninety degrees centigrade (roughly 150 degrees Fahrenheit). The ZZ robots were built to be nearly indestructible, so they don't notice the effect immediately.
31	* RobotNames: One technician suggested the ZZ series be known by the {{iron\|y}}ic "Sissy", but said technician was immediately shushed and the subject never mentioned again.
32	* StarfishAliens: The Jovians have tentacles and radial symmetry, and... that's the best description the ZZ robots can give. Even their method of locomotion seems to be somewhat [[EldritchAbomination eldritch]].
33	* StrollingOnJupiter: It turns out that while there is an inhabited surface the atmospheric pressure is a million atm with temperatures of -70 C. Fortunately the ZZ robots are ridiculously overengineered.
34	* SuperStrength: Since they must explore a very hostile environment, the ZZ robots are designed so they can use the full power of their atomic batteries if needed. They are much stronger than regular robots as a result.
35	* ThreeLawsCompliant: The ZZ robots have been sent to {{UsefulNotes/Jupiter}} for FirstContact meeting with the Jovian aliens. As an early example of Asimov's robots, instead of using his formal laws, a devotion to their human masters akin to worship motivates them.
36	* YouDidntAsk: At the end of the story, one of the ZZ robots realizes that they never explained that they are robots, not humans. The subject never came up, and the Jovians never thought to ask.

Context Literature / VictoryUnintentional