The image on the map was vague, a rectangular shape with what were either wheels or tracks. A half-track vehicle then, odd how it would still be functioning when everything else was either flattened, abandoned or lost. There was almost a small blip next to it but I ignored it for now.

[System, that vehicle a priority? Hello?]

[My minimap located a vehicle, is it necessary right now? Or should I task it as a future job?]

Useful for clearance purposes and general jobs. Either that or a transportation vehicle. Mining vehicles were built to last so it would make sense that despite most of the surrounding area being a wreck it was still decent enough. I now understood why the system had told me about the risk of scavengers in the vicinity, materials and supplies just lying around for anyone to pick up for a song.

There would be a way in which all the vehicles would also be operating autonomously but given the amount of damage around here, I would be surprised if that didn’t turn out to be another mission. Having a helper or assistant around to take on some of the responsibility ought to make the situation move forward a little faster.

I’d be coming back to that vehicle in time. Even having a helper to get it up and running or repaired on my behalf would be even better. The broken-down robot if it could be repaired then I’d be one step closer to…something.

I wasn’t entirely clear exactly why I had to keep working so hard, it wasn’t my entire operation. The job role came with a salary of sorts, but it was in the amount of time in a restroom. Yeah. Experience points? Who came up with that? If there had been a god involved and a guaranteed offer of reaching heaven or the Elysian Fields then I’d be more likely to get around it.

Nah, I’d ask Vincent again for the whole reason that I was working so hard. My robotic mining body got on with the whole steady walking routine without my active participation. In the same way, that after an exhausting day of work your body arrive at home without any consciousness memory about it. The power of unconsciousness. Oh right. Mr Campos. I had a question I was going to ask it.

[Vincent? System? What is your end goal exactly here? I mean my end goal for this whole thing. Also, why did you call me a freak?]

<….the other guy would have been a better fit. Stupid family values.…Yeah, it'd laugh about it. No we don't need to wake it up right now. Just be happy we're both awake. Yeah, your posters are nice. I've got my own. You can keep them to yourself.>

[Wait, what other guy? The one that you were talking to earlier? Posters? I'm awake right now.]

I paused. A small scratch at the back of my mind bothered me again, it had done so before when I had first woken up in the Mind Palace, but it fled as a rabbit ran away when it saw a fox. Stupid scratch. Then it began to dig harder and hurt so I tried to focus on the voice of the Campos system instead.

[No…]

Ignoring the now cynical and frustrated tone from a voice that would have formed if I had been suffering from severe schizophrenia, I found my legs and body had brought me back to the mining drone that would have been the same make and model as my current form except for being broken into two pieces and missing a few other essential parts.

It made for a sad sight, all banged up and covered in deep scratches. Covered in rocks with a missing arm. Not the best place to die and be left but still it was something. I would be able to bring it back from a state of non-existence, it would be something worthwhile.

Bringing up my status window I saw that a few functions had been deactivated to conserve power.

-Power Supply (Battery Pack 97% Charged – Fully Functioning)

-Drill Unit (7% Damage -Temporarily offline)

-3D Scanner/Detector Lenses (Screen – 8% Damage)

-Mechanised Shovel (7% Damage -Temporarily offline)

-Drone Arms/Legs (0% Damage, Fully Functional)

-Internal Ore Processing Unit (4% Damage -Temporarily offline)

-External Mechanical Tool Set (10% Damage -Temporarily offline)

I’d be needing to use them and given that I now had a functioning base of operations my standard operating procedure ought to be clearing and securing the immediate area. Help for that would be facilitated through this dead robot that I’d bring back to life.

[System, I’d like to reactivate key functions now.]

The rest of the parts that made up my body I just knew were part of me. In the same way that a human body would respond without consciously about it and the of aches and pains I felt the minor damaged parts of me just ache a tiny bit. No. T

his was wrong. I wasn’t breathing right now but damage translated into clear signals for me body? No. Robotic forms were meant to be impervious to biological concerns.

[How am I able to feel pain?]

[Emergencies?]

[FINE.]

The system could be a real jerk sometimes. Not like I had directly asked for this, I appreciated the help, but I never asked for it. Nor wished to be stuck inside this new form. Make do the best with what you have ultimately when life gave you livers you needed to make liver juice. No, that didn’t sound quite right. Focus. Concentrate.

By focusing my attention on the functions that I wanted the energy drain would increase or decrease in speed depending on which function was turned on.

Like a container of water that you could use fast or sparingly. I’d make sure this time to give myself enough time to head back and grab a spare battery park.

Any longer-term solution would be a better idea. Solar power, kinetic power or another modified energy source would be more effective and simply allow me to get a lot more done. In my current state, I felt like an astronaut on board a space station connected with a tether for outside repairs or spacewalks. Lose the tether then you lose your connection with safety, just replace that with a battery pack and you’d have a degree of safety.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Recalling what Vincent said a while back about the threat from scavengers; there had been materials in the Mind Palace that I had read through for the second time I went there.

Poison pill through overcharging a battery pack and rigging it to explode. It would make anyone reconsider trying to steal resources from me. My base, my storage area. Nobody else was going to access it. Even upper management.

The Overmind…could….could…huh. I was unable to finish the word. What was the word?

[System, does the Overmind have direct control over my actions or yours? I don’t like the idea of being a puppet on a string. Hello?]

[Fine. Do your own thing and I’ll do mine? Hoho!]

I made a funny joke, and nobody is alive to hear it! Robotic humour at its worst.

[Enough. To work! Orders are orders.]

My response was just a purely electronic signal sent out. This whole time I have no idea if anything that I had said was being broadcast by speakers. Imagine the horror of a robotic form walking along and performing random actions in complete silence.

[A tool. I’m a living being. Aren’t I? Or a tool?]

[Yes godly Campos. Really?]

Current Objectives: Repair/Locate Additional Mining Drone.

-Reward: 2 Hours in Mind Palace, 50 XP

Failure of Objectives: N/A>

Activating my physical system status I checked out the two things that I quickly needed.

-Mechanised Shovel (7% Damage -Turn online? Y/N)

-External Mechanical Tool Set (10% Damage -Turn online? Y/N?)

Turning on the mining shovel and external tools caused a shift in my body. It was the same as making a conscious decision to stand up. You thought and the body reacted immediately. Twin dark-bladed shovels came out of the sides of my hands with a sliding sensation, useful then. Either as weapons or as digging tools. They were around half a metre each in length and although a tiny bit scuffed still perfectly serviceable.

I needed either a massive mirror surface or remove my head to examine my body. The last time that I observed my current form from the outside was my first time waking up in that room after picking up a toy model of this little robot drone with yellow and black stripes.

My hands were formed into claws at the ends of my arms with smaller parts barely visible to my lenses, lower feet formed a pair of bolts to allow me to grip the rocky surface better.

If the busted-up starter mining drone was any indication of me then I was currently viewing the world through a range of small lenses with one main one in the middle of my rectangular face. It was a sensory array, not eyes. I had no eyes, but I could observe. No ears but the voices and screams came to me. All I needed was a heart to care for. No, mission. Focusing on my mission. My orders. Yes. Yesyes.

A perfect reminder to me to heavily limit my awareness of this new drone when I had it up a running. I recalled that I had wanted to put in a safety protocol in case, if the drone had a power pack on its back the same as me then I’d be the first to rip it out before it turned on me. In the words of the mighty Campos System, this was not my reality. Dangerous new worlds.

Reaching down I began to clear away the rubble that covered the broken robot by digging through the stones on the side and then piling them up. I felt as though I should be doing this with greater care and precision, at least out of respect for the wrecked form in front of me. One day if I wasn’t careful that would be me. Or worse.

Slowly picking up rocks and using the shovels to slide away the larger parts to clear a larger area the now scratched form gradually opened up to my now non-scratched lenses that passed for my human eyes.

After a few pointless minutes of shifting stones, I had a clear view of the robotic mining drone in front of me. The damage to the main body wasn’t quite as severe as I had originally thought, the amount of debris had caused minor damage. Pathetic. No, sad. How did the old joke go?

[May you rust in peace.]

I spoke out not caring if the system was monitoring my mental health or whatever passed for it now. The joke sounded like a frail attempt at a veil of sanity. I felt a faint connection with the poor soul that was broken, must be the residual sympathy of this machine. If it was a machine, for all I knew I had killed a sentient being by entering this form.

[Hey there, mind if I steal your body for a test drive? Heheheeeee.]

I spoke out loud surprised that the System hadn’t responded. I guess that it was busy with an important task as I was. Now, that it had been dug out of the ground I shifted my weight a little bit grabbed the lower half and pulled it out of the rocks into a clearer area.

The scratching noise on the ground and small sparks coming off didn’t sound pleasant to my sensors in this form but I guess it was just how my mind would translate deliberate damage. Unpleasant experiences such as smells, taste of touch were how a biological body would protect itself. Nerve endings and sensation would translate the same way in this robotic form. This would certainly explain why I had been able to ‘experience’ so many physical sensations despite being a mind inside a body.

[Damage. A person with no physical sensation of pain would suffer extreme damage. Vincent? Am I right? Hello?]

No response. Busy then trying to sort out all the paperwork I imagined. Still, it would help a lot if the pain thresholds could be altered. A human mind in a robotic form needed a few snagging issues to sort out.

I ought to ask later if customisation was a thing, even a new paint job would help me differentiate myself from this damaged poor mining drone in front of me. Broken in half, missing one arm, and just overall busted up.

Turning my attention towards the external toolset I was half expecting a Swiss army knife-style toolset to come out. The type where you can select your tools from a massive range. A repair style kit full of various items and gadgets designed to fix my present form.

Instead, a release mechanism opened on the sides of my arms and these tiny robots just scurried out. I sensed them with my 3D scanner before I managed to visually check them out.

[Uh, hi there. Ah, you’re a swarm. Lovely. Not at all creepy. Thanks for your efforts. Carry on working fixing then. I don’t suppose any of you can talk? No?]

Tiny black beetle-like creatures that skittered and shuffled along, a few of them moved slower than the rest though. Right, of course, tiny fixing robots. I was just expecting them to come out of a can or a portable toolbox, not my body. It felt slightly eerie in a way but my main goal was to make these little buddies do some repairs, so I’d have a new slave to boss around.

[System you still busy searching for important clues? I might need a helping hand here. Just in case these repair bots aren’t working the right way.]

If there had been tumbleweed rolling along the ground right now or the sound of cicadas in the air showing that it was completely silent then I would not have been surprised. There must be some noise filters on this body which can get turned on and off.