Robbie Audiobook - Ch. 1 - I, Robot - By Isaac Asimov, Read by Garrick Hagon -
In the late 1990s a young girl named Gloria Weston spends most of her days with her best friend, a voiceless caretaker robot named Robbie. Officially her "nursemaid," Robbie entertains Gloria with games of hide-and-seek and by letting her ride about the yard on his shoulders. She tells him elaborate fairy tales, which he listens to with rapt attention.
Gloria's mother, Mrs. Grace Weston, has never cared for Robbie. She views him as a dangerous machine and schemes to have him sent back to the factory. George Weston, her husband, tries his best not to get involved; he views Robbie as helpful and perfectly safe. Eventually, however, he capitulates to his wife, and Robbie is sent off. The Westons buy Gloria a dog in the hopes of cheering her up, but she is disconsolate. Soon Mrs. Weston proposes another diversion: an extended trip to New York City. At news of the trip, Gloria perks up—but only because she believes they are going to the city to locate Robbie with the help of detectives. While sightseeing in a museum there, she asks "the Talking Robot" where Robbie can be found but, understandably, receives little help.
A break in the case comes when Mr. Weston arranges a tour of the U.S. Robots facility. His goal is to convince Gloria that robots are machines, not people, and thus free her from her continuing preoccupation with Robbie. At the factory, however, Gloria chances upon Robbie, who has apparently been repurposed as an industrial robot. She races toward him, ignoring a tractor that is about to collide with her, and Robbie dashes forward to save her just in the nick of time. Struck by Robbie's continued care for her daughter, Mrs. Weston relents and allows the robot to be brought home.
Susan Calvin explains to the journalist that robots who were unable to speak became obsolete in 2002, by which time "the mobile speaking robot" had been invented. Then, in 2003, a four-year ban on robot use was passed by most world governments, and Gloria lost Robbie permanently.