5
Residential
Jasla trudged out of the cave and into the snow. It was a bitter cold day but at least it was clear and not windy. It had surprised her how strong the storm from the day before had been, she had seen few like it in her life. The Council, as they called themselves, had to know going out into such a storm was death, but they sent her and Luke out anyway.
Yes she had failed to bring food for the tribe for a while, but they really had been working on a permanent solution. The Council didn’t care to listen to her reasons though and that stung a bit. Her whole life she had brought in more than her fair share but in less than two weeks she had fallen from one of the most respected hunters in the Tribe down to this borderline exile.
It was Luke's fault of course, putting ideas of being the Tribe’s hero in her head. Well that was in the past, when she returned with this news they would welcome her back with open arms, and she would be respected and loved again.
It didn’t take long to regain her bearings in the daylight, she had hunted this land all her life after all. With building anticipation for the hero's welcome to come, Jasla set off in the direction of the Ice Door.
The entire trek Jasla kept trying to be angry with Luke. He knew how bad off the Tribe was but still he refused to return with her. His hand was bad but he should be able to hold a spear again and as hunters that was all that really mattered. She knew Luke wasn't a hunter though, not like she was. He came from a place where they didn’t have to hunt for food like her people did. The idea of a place where the food was so plentiful that you didn’t have to worry about hiding your kills from thieves was just, wonderful. Then she thought of the hidden paradise they had found. Because of her, her people would get to live without the pain of hunger constantly eating at them.
Well, thanks to her AND Luke. It was so frustrating, he could join her in becoming the saviors of the Tribe but he refused. Even with that it was still only because of him that they had this chance anyway, so how could she properly be mad at him. Jasla sighed and shook her head, he just didn’t understand the situation. He didn’t understand anything about her or her people. She kept telling herself that, several times a day. He didn’t know what some of the things he did meant and he certainly didn’t mean anything by them. Hell, the first thing he had done was challenge a hunter to an honor duel by accident.
It was good that he had won, Luke had knowledge of things she and her people could only dream of. Ungtwa was a poor hunter who thought too highly of himself anyway, the tribe didn’t lose much from his death. She forcibly changed her train of thought to avoid thinking of what the hapless outsider had done next.
Without Luke she wouldn’t have been able to learn English, she still wasn’t very good but she could mostly understand the videos. The videos on the…
Jasla broke into a sprint. How could she have forgotten the magic box… er… laptop. That was her most prized possession, Luke had even told her he could teach her to make it show her movies, some sort of video of stories. She had been so protective of that treasure, and she just left it in the camp like junk to be scavenged.
She knew it was gone, of course it would be, the Tribe didn’t have much in the way of supplies as it was. They wouldn’t let a camp full of gear and leftover food and water just sit there. She knew it was gone, but still she ran.
When she arrived at the Ice Door Jasla threw open the hatch and raced down the ladder.
“STOP"
She knew that voice, it was one of the hunters from the Council
“Tomal, I brought food, and I know a place to…”
“That’s enough, outsider, drop your spear and… whatever else you found out there. I will take you to the Council Hall to decide your punishment"
“What? I brought food, I was supposed to come back with food. Take it and let me go get my things from our camp"
“I wont tell you again outsider, drop your things or else.”
Jasla blinked, stunned, but did as commanded. The hunter marched her through the door at spear point back toward the Council Hall. Before they made it out the door several scavengers had taken her kills and her gear, running off into the shadows. With the Tribe on its last legs and the weather being so clear most of the Council was out hunting, and she was made to wait in the Council Hall alone with guards at the door.
No matter how she tried reasoning with them, they ignored her. Once she tried to leave explaining how she wanted to check their old camp but one of the guards cracked her in the side with the butt of their spear and she refrained from trying that again. It took most of the day before the Council members gathered together to decide her fate.
Tomal, the Council member that had taken her prisoner, started the meeting, “Councilors, it seems to me that I shouldn’t have to explain why I called this emergency meeting, but I will do so anyway. I discovered the traitor Jasla trying to sneak in while most of the hunters were away. Probably trying to steal food and supplies when she thought no one would be here to protect them.”
Jasla was speechless
Another Councilor spoke up, “Is that so? I had thought better of you Jasla. That outsider has seriously corrupted you if you would steal from your people while they starve.”
“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?” a third asked
It took a second for Jasla to compose herself, this didn’t make any sense.
“I… I don’t know what this is… I brought food back like you asked. I even found a place where there is enough for everyone.”
Tomal scoffed, “Caught in the act and she couldn’t even come up with a convincing lie. Clearly this traitor cant be trusted to leave our people in peace even while we starve, I say we call a vote to execute her and give her to the scavengers.”
Jasla choked, “What? I brought food, I wasn’t here to steal anything!”
“Now execution is a bit hasty wouldn’t you say? I don’t think we should go that far.” One councilor said
“You cant execute me, I know where we can get enough food for the whole tribe!”
“Guards, Jasla cant keep her mouth shut, we need to decide how to handle her. Lock her in one of the rooms, make sure there are at least two guards on her at all times!” Tomal ordered
The guards did as commanded and Jasla couldn’t hear the rest of the meeting as they decided how to punish her.
Luke sat on one of the benches for a while considering how he could have handled things differently. He just couldn’t see any way he could have convinced Jasla to stay, and there was no way he could talk himself into going back out into that frozen hell. His hand still ached fiercely and he couldn’t work up the nerve to unwrap it to see how bad it was. Obviously at some point he would have to face his fear and go back outside Now that they had found sustainable food he could survive here forever in theory but he would go crazy. He needed to know what the world was like, how bad was it.
With no more answers than he had before Luke shook himself out of his funk, looked to his map and began planning. He would have to see what sort of obstacles barred his path to know exactly what he would need to overcome them, but he was confident anything he could need would be found in the Maintenance sector. With that being the case he did decide to add a few things that might be useful for breaching the sort of barriers that were more likely. A small acetylene torch in a carrier for cutting through stubborn steel doors, a diamond blade cut off saw to at least score walls so he might break through, and a sledgehammer to do the breaking. That was about as much as he could carry, and secure to himself while still able to move about.
With his gear selected Luke made his way back to Hydroponics. At this point he had a choice to make. Hydroponics was connected to the Residential sector, and the Residential sector was connected to the office sector via a busted door. He could try that route and hope the busted door was the only obstacle, or he could continue down the tram line and hope the collapse didn’t reach far and he could choose between digging out the collapse that blocked the office sector, or enter the residential sector via the tram station.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Luke decided that digging out a collapsed tunnel wasn’t something he wanted to try, he would risk another collapse and he had gear for breaching walls and doors, not digging and moving rubble. Nodding to himself Luke reentered the farmland and found his way to the Residential welcome area. It seemed that there were multiple farms, some with livestock, some without, all separated by the standard concrete corridors. This place must have housed a truly ridiculous number of people to require so much space and farms.
Entering the reception area Luke noted the color schemes must be based on the sector, but the designs were all the same. A familiar looking door and card reader blocked the way, but this time the card reader was intact and functional. Maintenance personnel had some of the most access of any profession and Luke had no problem linking his PDA to the door and opening it.
From the other side a quiet music could be heard, smooth jazz like elevator, or lobby music. Tentatively, with his spear at the ready, Luke moved into the new sector.
“Welcome weary traveler!”
The voice came from everywhere and Luke couldn’t decide which direction to threaten with his suddenly inadequate seeming spear.
“Now, now no need to fear, no harm shall befall any travelers in my kingdom after all.”
“Who are you? Where are you?”
“I’m… I’m right here, are you ok? Did you hit your head?”
“I’m fine, if you’re not going to attack, then show yourself.”
“Hmmm yes, yes that would be the thing to do wouldn’t it… No I don’t think I will, this is more fun. Come and find me! It will be like a game!”
“I don’t want to play games I’m in a hurry, I need to get to the Office sector.”
…
“No… no that wont do. You need to stay here and play with me"
Luke heard a click and spun to see the door closed and the card reader go dark
“Did you just lock me in?”
“Yes, yes I did"
“Why? I need to get to the offices, people are starving"
There was a long pause before the voice continued, “I get it, ok? I just… I don’t want to be alone anymore. Please don’t leave me"
The sudden change in tone threw Luke off and it took a moment to compose a response, “Uhh… You seem to have control over the system, why don’t you leave yourself?”
Another pause and then a sigh, “I cant leave"
“Sure you can, come with me, there are a bunch of people in the Office you don’t have to be alone, how did you get down here anyway?”
“Fine, I’m coming, just wait there, you’ll see"
With that the voice cut off and Luke was left waiting. And waiting. Finally he could hear a sound like small whirring motors coming from the corridor. The door swung open on its own and a small black sphere rolled in. The thing rolled up to Luke and stopped at his feet before unfolding into a small humanoid shape. There were two small legs with rubber tracks for feet, two oversized hands attached to thin rods for arms that disappeared into the torso, and two cameras like eyes protruded from the top. The tiny robot stood about a foot tall and posed like it had just finished an impressive gymnastics routine.
“Tada"
Luke bent down and poked at the thing with his spear
“Hey! Stop that I’m sensitive…”
“What are you?"
“That’s kind of rude don’t you think? What are YOU? Huh? You giant squishy meat pile.”
Luke blinked, “I’m a human."
“HAH, of course you are, and I’m Santa Claus.”
“No really I’m human”
The tiny robot froze, “Really?”
“Really"
“You’re not a fever dream, a hallucination?”
“Can you have those?”
“HAH you bet, a few centuries of isolation and you get all sorts of weird insanities. Once I dreamed I was stuck in an underground research base with no one to talk to for hundreds of years!... weird huh? “
Luke shook his head, “So… what are you?”
The robot actually blinked, a small shutter closed over the camera lens eyes and opened back up, “I’m a small robot… You sure you didn’t hit your head?"
It tilted its entire body like a dog cocking its head.
“I can see you’re a tiny robot but… never mind, I need to get to the offices people there are dying.”
The robot slumped, why was it emoting so much?
“I heard you, but we just met, why don’t you stay and we can watch movies, have popcorn, play board games, whatever you want.”
Luke looked at the Pitiful thing for a moment, he had no idea what hundreds of years of solitude would do to someone.
“I cant stay here… but why don’t you come with me instead?”
The robot looked at Luke and shook itself back and forth, “I can’t, watch"
It scooted over to the door, or tried to. A set of three stairs led to a small landing where the door waited, the same was true of all the doors that separated sectors. The robot could place their hands on the first step but couldn’t twist itself up onto the stair to get to the next one. Thinking about it, Luke recalled that the emergency exits ladder rungs would also be too far apart for the robot to climb them.
The robot had been in isolation for hundreds of years because the underground base wasn’t handicap accessible.
Without a word Luke approached the struggling robot and boosted it to the top of the stairs. The robot stopped moving, its camera eyes sweeping around for a time.
“I… I’m free…? No, no I did that wrong, let me try again… FREEDOOOOOOM" the voice changed from its robotic sound to one more akin to a Scotsman declaring his freedom at his own execution
“Yeah… you’re free. Actually give me some time, there’s supposed to be a sector focused on robotics, it’s way down the line but I’m sure we can upgrade your legs or something, I just really need to get my friends some food.”
The robot made a dramatic sigh, “Yes, yes you meat piles need to constantly devour one another to survive don’t you. Very well, I shall allow you to carry me until we get to the Robotics department where you may express your gratitude and loyalty by building me new legs.”
“Right… Well let’s go, I need to find the office sector" Luke said as he picked the robot up.
Now that he had once more increased his burden Luke seriously regretted stocking up on so many tools in Maintenance. Fortunately the robot was content to ride on the portable torch rack.
The robot seemed determined to make up for the centuries of solitude all in one day as it never stopped talking, gesticulating and emoting wildly the whole time.
“So human meat pile, what is your name, I find myself tiring of calling you by your title.”
“I’m Luke, and yea, it would be nice if you could call me that instead.”
“Very well Looke, I am Domestic Assistant Drone Designation: Yellow, that’s a bit of a mouthful though so you may shorten it and call me Daddy"
Luke stopped walking and looked at the robot.
“What’s wrong, why did we stop Leuke?”
“Two things, my name is Luke, it’s just about the most simple name there is, quit messing it up. And I’m not calling you Daddy.
“Wait so you don’t want me messing up your name, even though I haven't used a human name in ages, but you just refuse to call me by my name? Are all humans as unreasonable and selfish as you?”
“I’m not calling you Daddy, pick something else.”
The robot sighed dramatically, “Fine, I am also known as a Personal Assistant Prototype Automaton…”
Luke stared
“You can shorten it to Pa…”
“I’m not calling you Papa either, you’re doing this on purpose"
“What? Telling you my name as it was given to me by my creators? Yes I am doing that on purpose “
“Pick a real name or I’ll pick one for you”
There was another pause before the robot hesitantly said, “Three hundred and seventy three years ago… my human was called Arthur… I would like to be called Arthur Jr. or AJ…”
The rapid mood swings were jarring but Luke could tell asking about Arthur would be a bad idea and just nodded instead, “Alright AJ, you’ve been here longer than I have. which way to the offices?”
AJ decided then that he would have to find a way to talk Luke into upgrading his face with a mouth when he got him new legs, that way he could smile at times like this.
“Hey what is that?” AJ asked pointing at Luke
“What?”
“On your head, it looks like an interface port”
Luke felt the side of his head where AJ was pointing, sure enough there was some sort of metallic port near his temple.
“I… I don't know, I think I have some sort of chip in my head, maybe its for that?”
“Let me take a look, lift me up"
Luke didn't see why no, and lifted AJ up to his head for a better angle .
“Hmmm yea I think I’ve seen these before.”
“You have?”
“Sure, lots of people started showing up with one version or another. Let me just…”
Before Luke could react AJ had latched onto Luke's head and connected to the port
Connecting…
Additional processors and more recent updates detected
Updating…
Update complete
New information available
Modifying parameters based on new update…
Some Skills may be added, removed, or changed by update, please note any changes below
Skill adjusted: Data reconstruction
Data reconstruction: Level 4
Skill added: Artificial Intelligence link
Artificial intelligence link: Level 1
Connection lost
Luke threw AJ to the ground where the robot landed on its feet easily.
“What the hell was that?”
“Calm down, I was just updating your operating system, it’s even more out of date that I am!”
“No that’s not cool, what is this update? What the hell is artificial intelligence link?”
“Ahh, so you see, I am built to interface with implanted chips like those as part of my registering who I work for. The link is how you can connect to me and communicate without connecting physically like that again. It’s like bluetooth for robot friends!”
“I don’t think we are friends, don’t do shit like that without saying something first"
“calm down, it’s just easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Its done, we are bonded, and as you improve that link we get closer and get to know each other better"
“Don’t do that again" Luke repeated
AJ shrugged, “Ok I won't its done, I promise I wont do it again"
Luke wanted to say more but more messages interrupted him
Data reconstruction complete
Corrupt file restored
View restored file?
Yes
A familiar video screen appeared.
Someone who must have been Kevin popped up on screen looking wild-eyed and out of breath despite being seated, “They didn't take everything. Haha, I didn’t tell the others, I couldn’t tell the others, but I made backups haheha. This is going to happen one way or another, I just need to get the old team back we can still do this, it will just take a bit longer that’s all. Don’t worry Seconds, I will make sure you are born, then we can do anything!"
End of restored file
Further corruption detected in later files
Continue restoring files?
Yes
It seemed Kevin was the one responsible for keeping the Seconds project active, though he was clearly unstable at that point. With a more wary eye on AJ, Luke continued his journey to the Office sector