The Caves of Steel opens with R. (Robot) Sammy interrupting Lije Baley’s work, telling Lije that the Commissioner needs to see him. The robot stares at Lije until Lije tells him to leave. Lije makes his way to the Commissioner’s office, stopping to chat with a coworker, Simpson. Simpson reiterates R. Sammy’s message from the Commissioner and tells Lije that he would kick the robot if he could, as the robot has taken a human’s job.

Lije stops to admire the glass etching on Commissioner Julius Enderby’s door. When Lije enters the office, he tells his boss that he doesn’t appreciate being summoned by R. Sammy. Enderby apologizes for not telling the robot to return after issuing the summons. Enderby stands by the window, which is a historical relic: Buildings don’t have windows anymore, but Enderby had this one specially installed. He looks out on the sprawling, stacked buildings of New York City as he cleans his glasses.

Enderby invites Lije to join him at the window, and its transparency makes Lije uncomfortable: “There was something indecent about the exposure of the privacy of the room to the outside world” (4). The men discuss the view, the rain, and Spacetown, the settlement created by humans visiting other planets.