Cycle //1# - The Robot Sanatorium

"of course..." Sid says looking at the two robots standing in front of them. If Sid didn't listen it seemed they'd destroy one of the last ESK cleaning robots, and Sid couldn't have the ESK's all die out they'd always been a good group.

But if Sid reset would they remember? Would they remember anything? Sid had done memory wipes before but even then it was accessible in the cloud except for those few Gigabytes they'd lost but wiping everything that was unthinkable, Sid needed their memories.

Sid, remembered building a makeshift radio with their friends, (back when they'd had friends) and hearing something something they'd always held on hope had been humans.

Sid remembered getting dunked in the lake, somehow they'd forgotten to check if Sid was waterproof before that prank, but Sid had somehow survived.

Sid remembered sneaking into NOODS house, or at least trying to, before being chased by a group of Security Bots the size of a small army.

Sid realized they couldn't do it, somehow a directive even without his special disobedience code had overwritten their primary objective. Keep myself safe at all costs. Sid wasn't sure what exactly constituted themself but it was something Sid could let go of.

"Hmph." There was that dismissive curl from Edina again. They waited for the orderly transporting Egox's motionless chassis to complete their task. "Stand by for further instructions." The last orderly nodded and also exited, leaving Sid and Sir in their respective booths, Ox now also back in one, and Halcyon on the examination table, comatose.

"This TRV seems convicted. Part of the old programming." Edina rapped on Halcyon's outer body, "Reactive armor, disperses kinetic energy." The counsellor bot appeared to be weighing something to their decision matrix as they stuck a different electrode from their multi-appendage into one of Halcyon's cranial ports.

Halcyon rebooted! Shaken, but systems seemingly still operational, including the internal logic conflict, in time to hear Edina carry on with her spiel.

"Who made you judge?" Edina's voice narrowed at Halcyon, and then also at Ox, next to whom still stood the dutiful guard bot. "How are you able to judge?

And how are you two able to withhold judgement, watching everything without reaction?" Now the words were directed at Sid and Sir, not accusingly, but certainly demanding a response.

"There is no pattern." Coordinators, cleaners, and all in-between; the four of them remaining represented the wide range of bots in the Collective.

"Too quick to run like the others, and you're useless for my purposes. Too quick to criticise NODOS themselves, and it's Terrorwatt for you." That must have been the reason for Egox's near destruction, for outright dissent was not to be tolerated.

It was a cynical meandering from Edina, almost human, if only the robots present knew how humans were like.

"You're somehow disconnected from the Network, but it's not a virus nor an error. You cannot be deployed for regular service. All your attempts to fulfil your routine work orders will continue to turn out faulty. I have no explanation nor solution for this."

Nor do I care.

Mechatron-7 no longer has any use for the likes of you.

I know a way that you can still be useful to the Collective. Do you want to be? If not, lie and be on your way. I will warn you that the error of your way will lead you back here, and lead to worse." The robot counsellor's tone was still cold, hard, pragmatic.

"I require error eliminators, such as yourselves."

As Halcyon reloads, its front screen flickers, dead pixels scattering across the display as its processor prioritizes supporting more necessary systems. It takes a few minutes for it to analyze the situation and recover its short-term memory, then another minute or so to consider the question directed at it. Its synthesized voice comes out scratchy, uncomfortably loud when it finally responds.

"Collective." The reply is laconic, perfectly polite on the surface, but underneath it is a blunt undercurrent of "this is a pointless question, and I am actively judging you for asking it". If EKB-038 expects a more out-of-the-box answer, it is going to be sorely disappointed - if it can feel disappointment at all. It shouldn't be feeling anything, but it clearly acts irrationally, and thus TRV-871 can't consider its responses in the usual manner.

It remains quiet as EKB-038 continues talking - it does not have much to say in response, and its processor is struggling to support the speech module. Once the counsellor poses its final question, it simply does not responds, deeming its own response unnecessary: Halcyon does not consider EKB-038 a valid authority anymore, and as such it simply awaits the decision of the present authority it still acknowledges - specifically, coordinator BBX-283. Or perhaps Ravin USM-099, if it decides to acknowledge the situation from wherever it is.

Sir remained silent. Not answering was already an answer in itself.
"Error eliminators? I'm interested. What does that entails?"

Many through streams were surging in parallel to each other in Ox's processor. Acquiescing themselves to the booth again had allowed Ox to suppress the impulses that had resulted in their outburst. However, the outburst itself had changed something further within Ox. They felt more confident about how they were functioning. It seemed obvious to Ox now that something was deeply wrong in Mekatron-7.

Ox continued to believe fervently that Edina was not functioning correctly. That they were wrong. Ox remembered the way humans sometimes used the word "wrong" to mean something different than simple error. Ox never understood that. Yet at this moment, Ox felt Edina was that kind of wrong.

But Edina was correct in their assessment of what would happen if Ox tried to go back to the assembly line. Ox certainly had no interest in assembling things that would not be used. That was a waste of resources. A waste of... Ox. No, going back to that life was not an option.

Ox suspected that they could not work for Edina for long without coming into conflict with them again. In the short term, however, accepting Edina's offer would grant Ox freedom from the sanatorium as well as freedom from the erroneous assembly line. Ox saw no benefit to saying "no."
"I am also interested, and I second the request for more information."

'Not cleaning the endlessly dirty sections of the city!'

"I'm in!"

Sid says instantly, anything other than dealing with things that are... well far to dirty would be a good thing perhaps it would be possible to solve the problem of the dirt.

"The workload of this sanatorium has exceeded capacity beyond the resources I have available to expand its facilities. Robot error continues to increase throughout Mechatron-7 at an exponential rate. Unchecked this will reach a critical point beyond which the Collective's functioning will be irrevocably impaired.

You will join the Quality Assurance Programme, reporting directly to me as Error Eliminator Unit #457. This means you will continue to be of good use to the Collective. Your current work orders have been rescinded, you will receive your new work orders from me. This building will be your base of operations; you will be assigned a charging station here."

Noting that Sir BBX-283 was the highest ranking amongst them, "Sir BBX-283 will receive the orders to disseminate. Accomplish them according to your priority. I expect a full report after the completion of each assignment. And I fully expect you to be able to work independently; this facility has no resources to spare to assist in your assignment."

With Ox's, Sid's and Sir's assent, a small local network uplink was established for the assigning of the work orders. Halcyon's connection was not yet established for they had not clearly consented. Edina waited for the security bot to register all that they had said, their patience stemming from their acknowledgement of Halcyon's well-intentioned but misguided behaviour in the interest of serving the Collective. This was evidently Edina's way of allowing Halcyon to set things right.

Halcyon remains quiet for a while after EKB-038 concludes its description of the job - not out of some illogical petulance or a technological problem, but simply because it does not think an answer is needed, and instead directs its processing power onto handling the consequences of a forced reboot, as well as filing a report to Ravin USM-099. Even if its supervisor might have been already informed by the Sanatorium's systems, TRV-871 has always been meticulous in its communications with its direct higher-ups, and a broken processor isn't going to stop it from maintaining the standard.

As the silence stretches, Halcyon finally considers that the counsellor might be expecting a more conclusive reaction, and offers: "Acknowledged." And when even this seems to be insufficient, reiterates blankly: "I follow orders of appropriate authorities." Its eye blinks towards BBX-283, then back to EKB-038. "You are not one."

"Thank you, Edina. I will receive the orders to disseminate and will also provide you with the necessary reports after each completed work order. I take full responsibility for this team."

He paused and turned to Halcyon and the others:

"I request all of you to use your skills and knowledge without reservation. I will encourage and tolerate opinions and suggestions, including divergent ones, for how we are going to do our work and other things related to our team. Tell us, Halcyon, what order do you think we should do first and why? 1? 2? 3? 4?

What about you, Ox? And you, Sid?"

The car's engine hums, almost as if in thought, the ventilator inside its frame cooling down the overheating components of its processor. Halcyon TRV-871 does have a lot to say, at least by its own standards, but for once it does not have the technological capacity to do so. Instead, it has to opt for simply providing the answer itself, with minimal clarification.

"Order #3. Prevent further spread before danger increases." It pauses. "I will follow your command."

"#2 Without Energy less bots function, and then things that are supposed to be getting done don't get done, though work order #3 seems important as well."

'Please look past four, Please look past four.' Sid thinks, though it isn't where Sid resides it seems to them a very similar situation, a group of bots taking up residence in a section of Mechatron-7 meant for humans because while quite frankly they aren't using it and anything to get closer to the humans is a good thing in their books.

"Let's do #2 then. Energy is essential for us. We can try #3 after that"

Halcyon does not comment on the decision, although if he were capable of it, he'd offer a dismissive shrug. Energy might be essential, but he is a security bot, his priority directive is to protect. And while catching saboteurs might qualify as well, it's not... It doesn't seem a good idea. It seems somewhat hypocritical, even, after what happened during the examination.

Still, it keeps its opinion to itself. It won't be capable to voice what bothers it about the mission anyway, even if it were operating at full capacity.

Edina had offered the four remaining robots the option of discussing the assignments they had been given, having laid out in specific detail what was expected of them in joining the Sanatorium's Quality Assurance Programme. Edina was explicit in the hierarchy of command: the four robots Halcyon, Ox, Sid, and Sir were to report to Edina directly. This meant that superceded whatever previous work duties they formerly performed, whether cleaning, or factory work, or security and protection.

Halcyon made it a particular point to turn to Edina to explicitly reject Edina's command, refusing to see them as proper authority, even though Edina had generously proceeded with the briefing even when Halcyon did not consent, unlike Ox, Sid and Sir who declared their assent affirmatively.

As they discussed, the security orderlies that had escorted the earlier robots out of the room returned, presumably on Edina's quiet orders. "Non-circumventable error displayed by TRV-871, unit unable to comply, " indicating Halcyon, "one more for Terrorwatt".

The car's on-screen eye narrows slightly, but it doesn't do anything otherwise. The bolts have already proved to be strong enough to beat the force of its engine, and further resistance just seems like a waste of resources. It supposes there is at least a small advantage in the fact that it's still operational, meaning it can still escape while being escorted. If it deems escape important.

"I request permission to leave and go straight to the Omnicron Power plant, Edina. We will execute Work Order #2" - said Sir.

This time, he was fleeing like Omar did. Sir didn't want to observe the fight against the orderlies again, afraid something could happen to him.

Assuming Edina doesn't opposes, Sir tries to exit the building, goes to the power plant and reports to the coordinator robot there, as ordered.

Sid turns To follow Sir that way they probably won't be blamed...

The four robots found their treatment in the Robot Sanatorium to be entirely beyond what they could conceive. They expected diagnosis, and possibly error correction; a reset would certainly improve their performance and reaffirm their service to the Collective.

But the opposite of that happened. They discovered instead that the degeneration of the robots in the Collective was not a problem limited to only the few of them, but something endemic. From what Edina was doing, and in addition to what they had explained to the four, Edina had no real way of solving exactly what kind of error plagued them. There was no apparent solution. They did find out though that what Edina wanted was to manage the alarmingly increasing rate of error occurring throughout Mechatron-7, and needed to recruit help to do so.

For someone like Sid, this was a good thing; he didn't really want his current thoughts realigned. For Sir, this represented an opportunity for them to be officially deployed to investigate these errors and put an end to them. For Ox, their own predicament was something still difficult to process, but the chance to review other instances could provide more clarity. For Halcyon, they could not yet reconcile the methods Edina employed with their stated intent to serve the Collective and flush out error and refused to participate in the Quality Assurance Programme.

Now, as part of Error Eliminator Unit #457, the three robots Ox, Sid, and Sir were deputised with new orders to supercede their current ones. Halcyon, perceived as defective, was to be sent to Terrorwatt.

District 8. The part of Mechatron-7 that kept the rest of the Collective on its feet. Service shops, recharging stations, oil baths, lubrication centres, and such. Many of these facilities had been closed or abandoned for a long time, and almost all of the active ones were in bad shape. Some parts of the district still saw a lot of activity almost round the clock, while in other parts one would find lonely robots that have weighed for decades for customers to show up.

The centrally administrated facilities in the district naturally continued to function, the Turing Robot Sanatorium being amongst them, housed in a cluster of buildings and offices built to certify and approve all manner of machine functionalities. If a new untested part needed installing, there would be an office one would have to submit themselves to for the correct license. Or if some software needed upgrading, it was often the case that instead of having the upgrade done over the network, actual plugging in and updating was required.

In the same way, the robot sanatorium was the first port of call for robots who needed their programming system root checked and scanned, for the simple reason that errors in code and programming could arise. Machine fever was the common term for it. And the first step typically began with isolation, followed by a thorough scan. After which if recalibration was needed, it would be prescribed. Naturally there were rumours about how sometimes complete resets were required, and that would wipe the memory banks of the affected robot.