As the robots gather outside the factory, "standing there like a wall," the factory administrators struggle to confront the unfolding rebellion. The atmosphere is heavy with a "feeling of death." Through a telescope, they watch the robots unloading firearms from the ship in the harbor and preparing to aim the ship's massive guns at the compound.

Dr. Gall suggests that, in retrospect, programming the robots to fight humanity's wars was not the best idea. They have obviously learned aggression. He now admits that three years before, he had secretly begun experimenting with reprogramming newer robots to experience emotions like hate and ambition. Now, he sees, "They see their superiority, and they hate us."

Domin cannot entirely abandon his faith in what was once the driving dream of this factory: to relieve humanity of the burden of "dreadful and humiliating" manual labor. They hear robots attempting to cut through the electrified fence. The administrators begin to see that humanity is to blame for the chaos. Their greed justified enslaving the robots. That insensitivity ultimately caused their rebellion.

Helena returns from playing the piano and confesses that it was her idea to give the robots emotions, hoping it would allow them to develop souls. She explains that Dr. Gall's experiment resulted in over a hundred "improved" robots who are now leading the revolt. She admits to destroying Dr. Rossum's original formulas, believing it would end the factory's reign and put an end to the suffering.

The administrators are horrified. Without the formulas, there is no way to reconstruct the process of creating robots. Busman, the chief financial officer, suggests they could still bargain with the robots by offering them the money in the factory safe. He reasons that even robots might be swayed by half a billion dollars in cash. He rushes off to collect the money, hoping to secure their escape.

The rest gather at the window and, for a moment, consider trying to pick off the robot leader, whom Helena recognizes as Radius, the robot whose life she spared. Helena, ever the humanitarian, begs them not to shoot Radius. Suddenly, Busman appears carrying huge bundles of cash. He runs out toward the robot leadership but accidentally brushes up against the electrified fence. He is killed immediately.

The lights go out as the robots cut the power. Explosions rock the compound as the robots begin their final assault. Bombs fall, and the compound's defenses are breached. Led by Radius, the robots storm the offices, armed with knives. One by one, they kill the administrators, including Domin and Helena.

They spare only Alquist, the company's chief architect and mechanical engineer. They believe, like them, Alquist works with his hands and is thus worth saving. Radius tells Alquist he will now be their servant. Climbing up to the balcony railing overlooking the offices, Radius celebrates, "A new world has arisen: the Rule of the Robots!"