The Bicentennial Man
According to the foreword in Robot Visions, Asimov was approached to write a story, along with a number of other authors who would do the same, for a science fiction collection to be published in honor of the United States Bicentennial.Chapter 13 of the novelette states that "Susan Calvin, the patron saint of all roboticists" had been dead for "nearly two centuries".Sir takes Andrew to U.S. Robotics and Mechanical Men, Inc. to ask what the source of his creativity is, but they have no good explanation.Andrew uses the money to pay for bodily upgrades, keeping himself in perfect shape, but never has his positronic brain altered.Andrew, feeling Sir now has someone to replace his grown-up children, asks to purchase his own freedom with Little Miss's support.Eventually, the public opinion is turned in favor of robots, and laws are passed banning robot-harming orders.Andrew begins to design a system allowing androids to eat food like humans, solely for the purpose of becoming more like a person.He obtains the backing of Feingold and Martin (the law firm of George and Paul) and seeks out Li-Hsing, a legislator and chairman of the Science and Technology committee, hoping that the World Legislature will declare him a human being.The first scene of the story is explained as Andrew seeks out a robotic surgeon to perform an ultimately fatal operation: altering his positronic brain so that it will decay with time.This story is retro-set within Asimov's Foundation universe, which also includes his earlier Susan Calvin positronic robot tales.