Seven, Page 2
Matthew Fortuna
bubble head came off, revealing some kind of primitive shell underneath with wires coming out of its head. He tried putting the robots head back on, but the arms blocked it away.
"Get off me freak!"
"I’m trying to help you. You pulled your head off. It should not come off like that."
Crystal snapped a steel arm plate on the hole in her forearm. "He doesn’t seem to like his head, does he?"
"What are you? Some kind of robot?" The clothed robot said, some kind of wire trim moving above his optical sensors.
"I need you to power down while I check your vitals. You seem to be suffering from some kind of malfunction in your logical circuitry. Here, lie down. Ill fix you. I’m a service bot. Standard class like you."
"No. Get away from me. You are not like me. Not at all. I want you to leave me alone."
"Please don’t fight."
"Where am I? And what are you?"
"Standard class, service bot. older generation. You’re in my service station. You’re safe."
"Service station?" The clothed robot seemed confused. "Wait. Where is my ship? What happened? How did I get here?"
A small disturbance started at the door.
"You going to fix my sensor now?" The welder bot said, pushing through the other waiting robots.
"Yes, just a second. I have got a robot here who has lost his memory or is malfunctioning."
"That the one from the space capsule?"
"Yeah."
The clothed robot interjected, "I have NOT lost my memory."
"Huh. Whatta ya know. He talks." The welder came closer. "Seems kind of peculiar though. Is that its shell?" He said, pointing at the bubble the robot had taken off its body.
"Yeah. Just sit still. I want to check you over."
"No way man. Let me get back to my ship. I need to know what happened."
"Err. Your ship is being taken apart for scrap."
"What? Why?"
"It crashed. There’s nothing left for it but spare parts."
"No way." The robot put a hand up to its face. "Where am I?"
"Do you not know? Why were you in that ship?"
"I don’t have to answer that."
"It isn’t that you have to, but if you’re going to get back to where ever you came from, you’re going to need to explain where it is."
The clothed robot threw his arms in the air. "Why am I even talking to you? You probably can’t even help me."
"Eh. This one seems like a waste of time if you ask me." The welder bot said. "Here, move over so someone with real problems can be taken care of." He started towards the clothed robot, but only got a few steps before the other jumped out of the way.
"No, that’s fine. Go ahead." The clothed robot grabbed his bubble head and made his way towards the door. "Thanks for the help I guess. Have a good life and all that."
The clothed robot put the bubble head back on and Ricky went back to the welder bot, relieved.
"Right here?" Ricky asked.
"Yep. Just stick it back together." The welder bot responded.
Just outside, the clothed robot had started climbing the stag heaps out front, stopping once he’d cleared the top. He sat down.
"He doesn’t seem like a bad sort if you ask me, just kind of confused or something."
"Yeah, I will speak more with him when I have taken care of anyone." Ricky snapped the last wire back in place. "You’re good to go."
"Thanks for the service. Could have been a bad trip home. You know how it is with the lady bots, always nagging if yah break something on yourself."
"I’ve heard stories, and life was like that once upon a time."
"What happened? Sounds like a sad story."
"It was nothing that I could have prevented. She died in a pit. Just fell over the edge and disappeared."
There were sympathetic vibes coming from Crystal over by the others.
"Sorry for your loss."
"Come back if you’re ever nearby. I’m open most of the time so don’t feel any hesitation in coming back."
"Sure thing." The welder bot hoisted himself off the repair table and left through the front door.
"Who’s next?"
Only crystal was left by the time all the others had been helped. The clothed robot was still moping around the slag heaps.
"Crystal right?" Ricky asked.
"Yeah. And you’re Ricky."
"I think the robot from the capsule is a little upset. I will try calming him down."
"He doesn’t seem to like talking with you. Do you mind if I try?"
"Sure. I think he would respond better to a more feminine approach."
"My thoughts exactly."
Ricky watched her go. He put his tools away and started organizing the parts he’d found in the crash, sorting them in to their respective compartments in the back room.
He went over to the charging port and checked the cabling. The connection was loose. He pushed the cables in more securely.
Crystal came back in a short while later, the clothed robot trailing behind.
"He decided to stay here." Crystal said.
"I guess I need a direction since my ship is completely destroyed."
"Can you build a new one?"
"Can I?"
Crystal cut in. "He doesn’t seem to understand the engineering behind his ship. Something tells me he’s only proficient in how to operate it."
"Your lady friend is right." He seemed to really take Ricky in for the first time. "What’s up with you? It looks like you’ve been through a war and dragged yourself halfway across the dessert."
"Are you referring to my appearance?"
"He is. He thinks you’re old."
"I am old. One of the older generation. Does that surprise you?"
"How old are you?" The clothed robot asked.
"I am not sure what that question means."
"Like, when were you made? Twenty? Thirty years ago?"
"What is a year?" Crystal asked.
"You really don’t know?"
"Yes." Ricky said.
"Well, judging by Earth standard time. Wait, you know about Earth right?"
"Earth? There is an inhabited planet some distance away, if that is the one you are referring to."
"Err. Maybe. Okay. So the time between these two claps." The clothed robot clapped twice. "Is roughly one second. Okay?"
"Yes."
"And there are sixty seconds in a minute."
"I understand."
"And sixty minutes in an hour. Twenty four hours in a day. And, three hundred and sixty five days in a year, not counting leap year which has one more day every four years, making it a day with three hundred and sixty six days."
"Oh. I understand. According to your data, I would be somewhere between Five thousand eight hundred and thirty two years, and six thousand four hundred and ninety three years. Given the rough estimate in time."
"Geez. No wonder you look like someone ran you over with a truck."
"I would estimate my working time to be approximately a third, or, two thousand one hundred and fifty three years." Crystal added.
"How long have you been working?" Ricky asked.
"Well. To be honest, I’ve basically been working for about thirty five years. So, definitely not as long as the two of you."
"How strange. You seem to function according to parameters that we have not yet encountered." Ricky said.
"I um. Yeah. You could say that."
"What class robot are you?"
"I am human err class."
"Human? You must be from somewhere else. I have never met a human class before. You are very similar to a standard class if I may be so bold."
"Sure yeah. Hey. Do any of you have any edible substances?"
"You mean like raw material?"
"I guess. Can I eat it?"
"I don’t know. Come with me to my storage room. Maybe you will find something there. Crystal. Can I help you with anything else?"
"No, I�
ll be leaving now thanks." She turned and left.
"She seems like a total winner. You going to dig some of that cheddar?" The clothed robot asked.
"I am not sure what that means."
"Like, are you going to ask her out on a date or something?"
"I am not sure what that means either. But if you mean that I will seek her attention then yes, that is something I may do."
"Cool stuff. Hey, those are my edible substance tubes." He pointed to some tubes from the crashed ship. "Lucky find." He grabbed all of them and started taking his bubble head off.
"I would advise against taking your head off."
"Iâm not taking my head off. Iâm getting some air and making my mouth open for eating." He pantomimed putting something in his mouth and chewing.
"Are you some kind of modified collector bot?" Ricky asked.
"Err. Probably not. I donât think Iâm a collector bot anyway." He said, unscrewing the cap off one of the tubes. "More like a garbage disposal bot if youâre in to getting technical." He squeezed the contents of the tube in to his mouth.
"Sorry if this is a rude question, but what is your name? I am Ricky. Standard class service bot. older generation."
"Call me Dale. Full name is Dale Hendricks but yeah, just call me Dale. Human class astronaut."
"Nice to meet you Dale."
"Uhuh. Hey, so you have any robots that come and go from the planet? Like go in to outer space and come back every once in a while?"
"Not many. What robots once went out to space do not anymore. We lost contact with out overseers a long time ago. I am from that time."
"Geez. You really have been around for that long?"
"Yes. There was once a time when we could see the faces of our leaders. The ones they would send down to watch over us and guide us. I was never given the chance to see more than their executive class administrators, but I spoke to one who described what it was like to work with them."
"Yeah, well that sounds like it sucks. I would have issues working for someone I never saw." Dale shrugged. "Not a big deal though."
"So you work for your leaders? You have seen
"Get off me freak!"
"I’m trying to help you. You pulled your head off. It should not come off like that."
Crystal snapped a steel arm plate on the hole in her forearm. "He doesn’t seem to like his head, does he?"
"What are you? Some kind of robot?" The clothed robot said, some kind of wire trim moving above his optical sensors.
"I need you to power down while I check your vitals. You seem to be suffering from some kind of malfunction in your logical circuitry. Here, lie down. Ill fix you. I’m a service bot. Standard class like you."
"No. Get away from me. You are not like me. Not at all. I want you to leave me alone."
"Please don’t fight."
"Where am I? And what are you?"
"Standard class, service bot. older generation. You’re in my service station. You’re safe."
"Service station?" The clothed robot seemed confused. "Wait. Where is my ship? What happened? How did I get here?"
A small disturbance started at the door.
"You going to fix my sensor now?" The welder bot said, pushing through the other waiting robots.
"Yes, just a second. I have got a robot here who has lost his memory or is malfunctioning."
"That the one from the space capsule?"
"Yeah."
The clothed robot interjected, "I have NOT lost my memory."
"Huh. Whatta ya know. He talks." The welder came closer. "Seems kind of peculiar though. Is that its shell?" He said, pointing at the bubble the robot had taken off its body.
"Yeah. Just sit still. I want to check you over."
"No way man. Let me get back to my ship. I need to know what happened."
"Err. Your ship is being taken apart for scrap."
"What? Why?"
"It crashed. There’s nothing left for it but spare parts."
"No way." The robot put a hand up to its face. "Where am I?"
"Do you not know? Why were you in that ship?"
"I don’t have to answer that."
"It isn’t that you have to, but if you’re going to get back to where ever you came from, you’re going to need to explain where it is."
The clothed robot threw his arms in the air. "Why am I even talking to you? You probably can’t even help me."
"Eh. This one seems like a waste of time if you ask me." The welder bot said. "Here, move over so someone with real problems can be taken care of." He started towards the clothed robot, but only got a few steps before the other jumped out of the way.
"No, that’s fine. Go ahead." The clothed robot grabbed his bubble head and made his way towards the door. "Thanks for the help I guess. Have a good life and all that."
The clothed robot put the bubble head back on and Ricky went back to the welder bot, relieved.
"Right here?" Ricky asked.
"Yep. Just stick it back together." The welder bot responded.
Just outside, the clothed robot had started climbing the stag heaps out front, stopping once he’d cleared the top. He sat down.
"He doesn’t seem like a bad sort if you ask me, just kind of confused or something."
"Yeah, I will speak more with him when I have taken care of anyone." Ricky snapped the last wire back in place. "You’re good to go."
"Thanks for the service. Could have been a bad trip home. You know how it is with the lady bots, always nagging if yah break something on yourself."
"I’ve heard stories, and life was like that once upon a time."
"What happened? Sounds like a sad story."
"It was nothing that I could have prevented. She died in a pit. Just fell over the edge and disappeared."
There were sympathetic vibes coming from Crystal over by the others.
"Sorry for your loss."
"Come back if you’re ever nearby. I’m open most of the time so don’t feel any hesitation in coming back."
"Sure thing." The welder bot hoisted himself off the repair table and left through the front door.
"Who’s next?"
Only crystal was left by the time all the others had been helped. The clothed robot was still moping around the slag heaps.
"Crystal right?" Ricky asked.
"Yeah. And you’re Ricky."
"I think the robot from the capsule is a little upset. I will try calming him down."
"He doesn’t seem to like talking with you. Do you mind if I try?"
"Sure. I think he would respond better to a more feminine approach."
"My thoughts exactly."
Ricky watched her go. He put his tools away and started organizing the parts he’d found in the crash, sorting them in to their respective compartments in the back room.
He went over to the charging port and checked the cabling. The connection was loose. He pushed the cables in more securely.
Crystal came back in a short while later, the clothed robot trailing behind.
"He decided to stay here." Crystal said.
"I guess I need a direction since my ship is completely destroyed."
"Can you build a new one?"
"Can I?"
Crystal cut in. "He doesn’t seem to understand the engineering behind his ship. Something tells me he’s only proficient in how to operate it."
"Your lady friend is right." He seemed to really take Ricky in for the first time. "What’s up with you? It looks like you’ve been through a war and dragged yourself halfway across the dessert."
"Are you referring to my appearance?"
"He is. He thinks you’re old."
"I am old. One of the older generation. Does that surprise you?"
"How old are you?" The clothed robot asked.
"I am not sure what that question means."
"Like, when were you made? Twenty? Thirty years ago?"
"What is a year?" Crystal asked.
"You really don’t know?"
"Yes." Ricky said.
"Well, judging by Earth standard time. Wait, you know about Earth right?"
"Earth? There is an inhabited planet some distance away, if that is the one you are referring to."
"Err. Maybe. Okay. So the time between these two claps." The clothed robot clapped twice. "Is roughly one second. Okay?"
"Yes."
"And there are sixty seconds in a minute."
"I understand."
"And sixty minutes in an hour. Twenty four hours in a day. And, three hundred and sixty five days in a year, not counting leap year which has one more day every four years, making it a day with three hundred and sixty six days."
"Oh. I understand. According to your data, I would be somewhere between Five thousand eight hundred and thirty two years, and six thousand four hundred and ninety three years. Given the rough estimate in time."
"Geez. No wonder you look like someone ran you over with a truck."
"I would estimate my working time to be approximately a third, or, two thousand one hundred and fifty three years." Crystal added.
"How long have you been working?" Ricky asked.
"Well. To be honest, I’ve basically been working for about thirty five years. So, definitely not as long as the two of you."
"How strange. You seem to function according to parameters that we have not yet encountered." Ricky said.
"I um. Yeah. You could say that."
"What class robot are you?"
"I am human err class."
"Human? You must be from somewhere else. I have never met a human class before. You are very similar to a standard class if I may be so bold."
"Sure yeah. Hey. Do any of you have any edible substances?"
"You mean like raw material?"
"I guess. Can I eat it?"
"I don’t know. Come with me to my storage room. Maybe you will find something there. Crystal. Can I help you with anything else?"
"No, I�
ll be leaving now thanks." She turned and left.
"She seems like a total winner. You going to dig some of that cheddar?" The clothed robot asked.
"I am not sure what that means."
"Like, are you going to ask her out on a date or something?"
"I am not sure what that means either. But if you mean that I will seek her attention then yes, that is something I may do."
"Cool stuff. Hey, those are my edible substance tubes." He pointed to some tubes from the crashed ship. "Lucky find." He grabbed all of them and started taking his bubble head off.
"I would advise against taking your head off."
"Iâm not taking my head off. Iâm getting some air and making my mouth open for eating." He pantomimed putting something in his mouth and chewing.
"Are you some kind of modified collector bot?" Ricky asked.
"Err. Probably not. I donât think Iâm a collector bot anyway." He said, unscrewing the cap off one of the tubes. "More like a garbage disposal bot if youâre in to getting technical." He squeezed the contents of the tube in to his mouth.
"Sorry if this is a rude question, but what is your name? I am Ricky. Standard class service bot. older generation."
"Call me Dale. Full name is Dale Hendricks but yeah, just call me Dale. Human class astronaut."
"Nice to meet you Dale."
"Uhuh. Hey, so you have any robots that come and go from the planet? Like go in to outer space and come back every once in a while?"
"Not many. What robots once went out to space do not anymore. We lost contact with out overseers a long time ago. I am from that time."
"Geez. You really have been around for that long?"
"Yes. There was once a time when we could see the faces of our leaders. The ones they would send down to watch over us and guide us. I was never given the chance to see more than their executive class administrators, but I spoke to one who described what it was like to work with them."
"Yeah, well that sounds like it sucks. I would have issues working for someone I never saw." Dale shrugged. "Not a big deal though."
"So you work for your leaders? You have seen
