Dre wanders around the camp casually looking at all the various people just trying to get by and survive in the area that Dre and Razzo are staying in. All the people here look either sad, angry, or defeated as if there’s not much to live for in this world, and the glimmer of hope slowly fading in their eyes with each passing moment. To Dre this is all unfamiliar territory as with the Automaton race their social setting is analytical and tactical with no emotions going into their planning. Yet even with all their planning they couldn’t predict the invasion that would occur on their world. Then Dre thinks to itself and wonders how the Automatons that are left on Mars are surviving right now and whether they are able to carry themselves with the same hope as they did when they first arrived there when they had nothing. Dre tries to focus away from that and refocuses its mind on objective things that it can accomplish. Through Dre’s analysis of the camp Dre determines that several spots within this section of the camp had weak points that with even several hundred kilograms on top of the spot could lead to a burying of half the camp. Dre noted these weak points and using an analytical construction framework decided what post would be best to reinforce the structure of the station. Dre then went on to venture throughout the various other camps. As Dre was about to leave the section of the camp the robot was met with the same guard that brought Dre and Razzo to their pop up house.
The guard asks: “Where are you going?”
“Just wandering around the camp, probably going to go see the leaders soon and report my findings”.
The guard nods his head and says: “Alright just don’t be too long because my shift is almost over, I’ll wait for you here until you get back”.
Dre, zoning out already whilst inspecting the next section of the camp quietly replies: “Sounds good”.
As Dre goes around inspecting the next camp with the tents it notices that here the shelters are kept in much better condition and even sees groups of people going about working together to fix a lamp post. Then a bit further put up another group setting up a small house.
Dre approaches these people and asks them: “What’s going on here?”
One of the ladies that was helping put up the wall after huffing and puffing exclaims: “Putting up a wall can’t you see!”
Dre rolls its eyes and fires back: “I can see that I’m not blind but for what purpose?”
One of the kids at the far end of the wall pops her head out and with a big smile says: “We’re building a bakery!”
Dre is confused by where it has found itself: “This is a rebellion camp not your home correct?”
The little girl exclaims: “You decide where your home is, you can make any place your home if you put your heart into it!”
Dre thinks to itself ‘what sort of generic answer is that, I guess it’s good the kid kept its innocence throughout all this but how did it do it without altering its reality is a question for someone else to answer. Note to self humans like to be in denial of things when met with overwhelming reality. Probably because the reality is too painful to think about. Yes, that sounds about right.’
The woman says to the girl: “That’s the spirit, don't let the situation defeat you!”
The woman looks over at Dre asking all these questions and shoots him a weird look: “By the way shouldn’t you be in a cage or something since you invaded us?”
Dre clarifies: “No I don’t belong in the cage, do you throw everything that doesn’t look like you in a cage? I’ve been informing the leaders, and we did not invade your planet, it was the Minerau. I swear everywhere I go I have to explain this”.
The woman says: “It don’t matter to us but either help or keep it moving”.
“Well I only got one arm so I can’t help with the heavy lifting but I can draw up a blueprint for how to make a sturdy structure with your limited resources”.
The woman grunts: “What are we supposed to do with that when we’re already putting the walls up, it’s a small hut like house not a bridge I think we’ll manage without”.
Dre mumbles: “I’m not the one forcing you to build it, why are you mad at me?”
The little girl shouts over to Dre and says: “She’s just worried it’ll fall or something but I’ll take a blueprint, anything to help!”
Dre walks over to the little girl and as the girl holds the board up for Dre, the robot slowly draws out a sketch for the structure of a bakery and incorporates the potential for expansions to the sides and upwards. Afterwards Dre turns towards the rest of the camp and continues walking around making mental notes of what needs improvement. As Dre wanders around the camp it notices that the mood would shift gradually with the different groups of people that were around and the more Dre moved towards the center the more positive the atmosphere would become. It was shocking to the Automaton as in such a dire state of despair with the situation around them humans were still able to smile and find some semblance of happiness. It was something that no other recorded intelligent species embodied in Dre’s database, and Dre couldn’t understand where it came from. Dre continued on its course throughout camp and recorded its structural weak points the Automaton then made its way towards the leaders tent. Upon getting closer to the leaders tent the two guards standing outside the leaders tent were giving Dre dirty looks. They didn’t say anything but they took their roles with extreme seriousness unlike anyone else around. It was almost as if this was the only part of them that gave them a semblance of purpose at the camp, even though with their large sturdy builds could be elsewhere helping in the camp instead of standing around the entrance. Both guards had similar armor to that of the group of scavengers that took Dre and Razzo in as prisoners, but in this case they didn’t have any need for the dark cloaks to conceal them. Even in the darkened landscape of the camp they shined brightly like a beacon signifying the leaders tent. Unlike most others they were holding energy weapons that had constant energy pulsating through them that appeared to receive their energy from the ground. Both of the weapons were staff-like weapons with green energy coiling around the staff and into a rounded ball at the top that was filled with green energy. One of the guards steps up to Dre as the Automaton approaches the tent. He has a dissatisfied look on his face like someone made his only sandwich wrong and put the one specific topic that he hates in it.
The guard that stepped up begins demanding answers: “Why are you here? You should be back at the section of the camp you were placed in. If you are here to complain about the state of your section or your living environment or general unhappiness or someone spit on you then that is something for which we can direct you to someone else but not a matter for which to bother the leaders. If there are matters due to the uncomfortableness of the people around you in the section of the camp that you’re in then we can also direct you in the right direction. If you have any other thoughts, comments or concerns we’d happily direct you to the right place. You see the leaders don’t quite want to be disturbed right now, thank you for understanding”.
A moment of silence befalls amongst the three of them as Dre is unsure if the guard has something else to say and the guard is waiting for Dre to ask for direction. After a moment of awkward silence Dre decides to break the tension.
Dre rolls its eyes and says: “Oh good you finished, that was the most generic thing you could have said, you sounded like more of a machine than me. At least I have some suave in my conversation, that just sounded robotic and memorized. How long did it take you to remember all that anyway? Anyways, not important. I can give you language lessons later. I'm here to see the leaders. I have some more important information to deliver to them”.
The other guard steps in: “After all that talking what makes you think we’d let you see the leaders now robot? What’s the information that you need to pass over to them, they are extremely busy at the moment and we can pass it along when they are more available”.
Dre hesitates to give up the information: “Well what are they so busy with?”
The first guard thinks for a couple seconds then says: “We don’t have to tell you, it’s on a need to know basis and you simply don’t need to know, you’re lucky we’ve listened to you for this long no scram!”.
Dre thinks for a moment about the situation that it finds itself in and how to deal with the two idiot gatekeepers. Analyzing what response would be best to get the two bumbling fools out of the way Dre stands still for a few moments processing the perfect plan simple yet effective. During this time the two guards are staring at the Automaton not understanding what is going on.
The first guard whispers to the second guard: “Do you think it fell asleep?”
The second guard gets closer to Dre and is inches away from the robot, he waves his hand in front of the robot. Dre doesn’t react waiting for the perfect moment, the guard then goes and gets right in Dre’s face trying to notice any movement, no reaction from Dre. The guard then goes and pokes Dre and in the forehead and a loud alarm sounds off from Dre scaring the guard causing him to trip over himself and fall on his back. The plan works to perfection causing a commotion outside the tent. It causes the leaders to hurry outside of the tent looking to figure out what the commotion is all about. Simple and effective, the elegance of the perfect plan.
Anker erupts: “What’s going on around, are we being attacked?!”
Stolen novel; please report.
Dre snaps out of this state and says: “Nobody is being attacked, simply one of your guards was bothering me and touched me so my defense mechanism activated. Now since I have your attention I have a few details to discuss with all of you”.
Kaner motions to Dre with his hand: “Come in, come in, let us know what you have for us”.
Anker exclaims at the guards: “Why are you on your butt soldier, get up and stop bothering people when they come to ask questions. We’re here to help people and lead, not be the new government where we are untouchable and unattainable celebrities. I know you used to be in a personal peace keeping corp but we don’t need that attitude when it comes to getting us out of this mess here. Now smarten up lads!”
As Dre walks into the tent it hears the guards arguing amongst themselves as to why they didn’t let the Automaton into the leaders tent right away. Dre thinks to itself that if that’s the state of the other half of the humans then it makes sense why they couldn’t coordinate a stronger resistance in the initial stages of the invasion, although they most likely wouldn’t have been in charge, still the disorganization is something to keep in mind. As well as if the Minerau weren’t spread so thin between multiple planets humans wouldn’t stand a chance against the fleet simply because of the sheer strength of the armadas firepower. Dre begins to weigh the benefits and negatives of helping each side, but at the end of the day Dre understands that it wasn’t humans that instigated the attack. Dre sits down at the table and continues to think to itself and analyze the human race with as much detail as possible but only becoming more confused about this race as it ventures into the rabbit hole of comprehending them. Everyone stares at Dre wondering what information the robot has come to share and eagerly waits for it to say something.
Izabela breaks the silence: “I just wanted to apologize on behalf of all of us if the guards were making you uncomfortable at all. I know that they aren’t the most well rounded bunch out there, but we make do with what we have.
Jefe interrupts: “That’s quite rude, those two guards were crucial in getting my people here and should be talked about with some respect. Sure they don’t always make the right call but their heart is in the right place. We need all the help that we can get right now, so what do you have to share with us Dre?”
“I agree with both of you to a certain extent, but you do need more protocols around this camp. That’s what made the Automatons utmost effective at working together but that's neither here nor there. I’ve come with some news surrounding the structural integrity of this camp”.
Kronos rolls his eyes and in a defensive tone says: “What’s the matter with the structural integrity of this camp? I've inspected most of it and it seems to be up to code. None of our walls have collapsed”.
Dre doubles down on its statement: “That is none of them have collapsed yet, there are a couple points within the camp that if they aren’t reinforced properly could cause a cave in and collapse parts of the camp if enough force or weight is placed on the ground above”.
Dre goes on to flip its palm upwards and towards the middle of the table and has the 3-D stereoscopic projector light up and displays a holographic blue print of the camp with eight marked spots of where to place the additional support beams and the type of support beams that would be required. Everyone watches in awe yet again as the robot turns itself into a projector in a matter of seconds. There’s a vivid red image of everything that Dre had inspected including the people it met.
Dre continues: “Now you see there are several different types of support beams that need to be used depending on the severity. There’s the straight up beam which is easiest to put up, there’s a triangular beam with a beam in the middle that is used in some more worrisome places, and there are two pyramid like support beams that need to go up for maximum weight distribution. I will show you why each has to go in each place”.
Dre then begins to run a simulation on its hand displaying the differences it will make between no support, the support that he placed and the result that each will bear on the rest of the camp. Dre also shows the above ground and what would happen if it were to be bombarded with energy or simply have too much weight placed on it as well. As Dre plays the simulation all the leaders watch attentively aside from Kronos who’s hesitant about all the changes as he was in charge of the structural integrity of the camp and its infrastructure. Up to this point the camp was in good condition with minimal accidents and created an atmosphere of safety. But after a couple simulations Kronos got over himself and decided to pay attention as well as to what was being shown, and end up agreeing with some of the additional measures that would be proactive for the camp. Kronos remembers his engineering practice and how it is always more important to be proactive than being reactive when it comes to the safety of structures. After the final simulation Dre looks around the room as everyone is looking at it to see what kind of trick the robot would perform next.
Dre asks: “Any questions?”
“Can you transfer over the blueprint as well as the simulations?” - asks Kronos reluctantly.
“Yes of course just put the projector over my hand I’ll transfer it”.
Em asks: “Does the type of material matter or can it be a composite of multiple materials?”
“For structural integrity you want the sturdiest materials available for the highest rate of success and to make sure it serves its purpose”. -Dre and Kronos answer at the same time.
Em nods her head and thinks about the statement without saying a word.
Kaner asks: “What is the probability that any of those simulations were to occur?”
Dre analyzes for a moment and answers: “Individually about 1 percent but as a collective it could be about 10 percent probability and the worst part is you don’t know which one will falter. The big issue is that the camp covers a big area and you can’t simply place one support beam in the middle for weight distribution and bearing the load but must have multiple smaller supports to make the camp safer”.
Kaner nods his head and states: “Thank you for informing us Dre we will take into consideration what you told us and how we will go about implementing the plan”.
Dre shakes its head, stands up and as it's about to leave Anker calls after the Automaton: “Can you help us figure out the best place to launch a jail break in the colosseum?”
Kaner interjects: “Anker we just discussed this! This was not meant to be known by the public yet, we haven’t even coordinated with the other bases yet! It’s okay Dre don’t concern yourself with such matters yet we will ask you when we have more details figured out and when we have a more organized course of action”.
Dre replies on its way out of the tent: “Okay sounds good”.
As Dre leaves the robot hears bickering coming from inside the tent, but this does not concern it and meddling in others business is a recipe for disaster. Dre walks past the guards which don’t say a word to it and avoid making eye contact with Dre. After which Dre retraces its steps and goes around the camp still pondering on the idea of human nature. It’s something that hadn’t been recorded accurately in Dre’s database that made Dre think what other things are inaccurately portrayed in the database. For one the humans are capable of a lot of good and bad, as well as to be clever and stupid. There’s a broad spectrum for where people can end up and how they can behave. Which made Dre wonder where his companion Razzo ends up on the spectrum, and how large the sample size needs to be to truly decide where they lie as a species. Whilst all this thinking Dre passes the guard that was waiting for him without reacting.
As Dre passes him the guard says: “Took ya long enough and not even a hello? You’re an odd bunch as a species, not great at communicating”.
“Apologies, I was trying to understand the human process of how you make decisions and come to a rational understanding of the flow of thinking”. - Dre replies, zoning back into what’s around it.
The guard laughs as he gets up and walks over to Dre: “That’s the thing, humans aren’t rational beings most of the time we act very illogically. Humans often turn to their emotions to make decisions rather than the rational side of their brains, this is something that has puzzled many of our own scholars for thousands of years”.
Dre stops for a moment and hesitates: “Well how have you been able to survive as a species for so long despite acting on emotions, that seems to be a recipe for disaster, no?”
The guard turns back to Dre and waves at the Automaton to not slow down, as Dre catches up to the guard the guard lets him in on why humans have been able to succeed for so long.
The guard tries to explain: “It’s because we’re all so different and we work together to accomplish our goals, we don’t all think the same and aren’t programmed such as Automatons to think in a certain way. So one may see things one way and another may see it differently, the biggest struggle for us as a species has been effective communication between all the aspects to make sure that we are heard. Hope that clears it up for you!”
“That’s a very profound way of thinking about it. Why are you a guard and not one of the leaders? Also apologies for not asking but what’s your name?”
The guard chuckles again: “Before all this nonsense occurred I was actually a organizational behavior psychology professor so I studied humans working together. Unlike you I cannot become an expert in all subjects but I can master one and become quite distinguished in it.”
“Well I’m not an expert in everything, I’m still learning about humans and more complex creatures”.
The guard adds: “That’s okay we’re meant to always be learning! And the reason I’m not one of the leaders is I was never approached for that role to play in this community and they needed more guards so here I am! The name’s Desai by the way”.
Dre smiles: “Well nice to meet you Desai. What you’re saying does make a lot of sense based on what I have seen. It still isn’t entirely believable to me based on the information that’s recorded in my database”.
The guard shakes his head: “You’ll see the more time you spend with us, then you will readjust your outdated definition”.
Dre thinks about the information that was provided to it by Desai and concludes that the right thing to do would be to have more data to make a final decision. The two of them continue to make their way throughout the camp and now Dre notices how the environment once again gets worse and worse. As the environment gets worse the humans also get more depressed and defeated and Dre notes in its dictionary that the environment can also impact humans. All this information is still a lot to process for Dre to make a final verdict of who exactly humans are but it’s better at learning new possibilities for the ways things can be than staying rigid in the ways of its programming. The two of them continue on throughout the camp and as they get closer to the tent they see Razzo playing around with a small energy ball the size of a fist. He twirls it around in his hand, compacts it with two hands then stretches it out again, and as he notices the two of them coming he quickly takes it with one hand and smears it into the ground.
The guard directs a stern message at him: “Be careful with putting excess energy into the ground, we don’t want to create an energy field here. You see what happened with the light post, kids must’ve been messing around with energy balls again, just be careful with what you do with it because it’s no toy”.
Razzo nods his head and replies quietly: “Oh I already know…”
Dre walks over to Razzo and Razzo stands up to face the Automaton. Dre nods its head at him and he nods his head back signifying that they’re on the same page and everything that happened before is in the past. Even with the barrier of different species and being worlds apart some simplistic concepts never change such as the simple head nod.
The guard looks at both of them and says: “So let's figure out what we’re going to do?”
Dre and Razzo walk over to the guard and huddle up like a team getting ready to eschew a new plan.