Act I

The play opens with Domin dictating letters to his typist, Sulla. The setting is a small island, although its precise location is not clear. A visitor is announced, and Helena Glory enters. She claims to have come to inspect the facility and leads Domin to believe that she is there as a representative of her father, the president. She is introduced to Sulla and cannot believe that she is a robot. After careful questioning of the young female robot, Helena insists that Sulla must be human. Domin offers to dissect Sulla, and Helena is aghast that Sulla would be so readily sacrificed. Hearing that she is present, Busman, Hallemeier, Gall, Fabry, and Alquist rush in. At first, Helena mistakes them for robots and tells them that she is there to save them from exploitation. She is embarrassed to learn that they are managers and doctors at...