Cycle //2# - Humanity Debunked

Work Order 2

The energy output of the Omnicron power plant in District 15 has fallen by 73%. Willful sabotage by units in the workforce cannot be ruled out. Report to the coordination robot in charge, Dudley DUD-642. Investigate, detain any malfunctioning robots and restore the energy output

Ox DUS-932, Sid ESK-467 and Sir BBX-283 made their way from Service Central in District 8 where the Sanatorium was, to District 15 where enormous power plants rumbled around the clock, struggling to produce the energy that the inhabitants of Mechatron-7 desperately needed. While some generators had been silent for years, a number of them were still running at full capacity; all of them connected to the gigantic dome of the central reactor.

Power plant Omicron sat in the southwest corner of the district, a loud, dirty metal construction adorned with a plethora of cables, vents and warning signs. Its external appearance did not bode well for its efficiency and output, but it was still regarded as a fully operational plant, at least until the latest output reports revealed a significant decline in productivity. A 73% decrease was enough to indicate an impending utter failure about to happen, whether from degradation or for some other reason.

As they approached the entrance doorway to the power plant, a guard robot trundled forward to stop them, for the trio looked too irregular a combination to be there in an official capacity. "Power plant Omicron. State your business."

"We are the Error Eliminator Unit #457, on our way to report to the coordination robot in charge, Dudley DUD-642. Please state his current location."

The guard bot appeared slightly surprised at Sir's declaration, but kept their approach professional. They were less taken aback by the fact that a H7 coordination robot was here to troubleshoot, but that the other two models, a DUS and an ESK, were likewise deputised to do so. Ox and Sid hadn't had a chance to run their clearance protocols just yet, but if they did, they would have discovered that their hierarchy status had been upgraded.

"This way please." The guard escorted the trio from the entrance through the engine hall, where they witnessed a large number of identical service robots toiling away at the their appointed stations. Much further in they skirted around the recreational area but didn't get close to see what was up. Finally they reached the control room, staffed by a handful of tech bots, at the far end of which, behind a huge console array stood a coordination unit, a small bot with a bulky cranial compartment and a compact undercarriage. "Manager, an Error Eliminator Unit wishes to speak with you."

Sid stands behind Sir, it's not that they don't think they're able to handle the situation it's just respect, nobody respects a ancient cleaning robot.
If Sid remembered correctly humans respected people more as they got older, perhaps if that was the case with robots Sid would feel more free to assist.

"Productivity is down," Sid says trying to think how Sir would approach the situation, "You've observed what's going on here. Can you propose any Viable Solutions."

Ox waits for Sir to speak, expecting that they will get a better reaction from the coordination bot. Instead, Ox scans the area, looking for anything obviously amiss or unusual.

Sir waits for the coordinator response to Sid's prior observation.

The coordination bot, Dudley DUD-642, was taken aback to be addressed by, of the three visitors, the cleaning robot amongst the trio. Protocol demanded their reply despite the great differential in their status, but they withheld their overt protest, though not their sarcasm.

"Error Unit? Perhaps you have come here to tell me how to do my job? By all means offer your solutions, I'm so grateful for the assistance." Dudley's antagonism was evident, it remained whether they would even be cooperative.

"Dudley DUD-642, we are an specialized error eliminator unit from the Sanatorium, working for the good of the Collective. We have the necessary skills to help you. Your energy output has fallen 75%. We have the authority to consider you defective, if you do not comply and cooperate. Do it now. Tell us what happened. Willful sabotage, by you, cannot be ruled out, unless you cooperate."

"They sent a top-tier unit to investigate?" Dudley continued his snide remarks when Sir stepped forward with an authoritative list of commands. It seemed Ox's inference that Dudley would be more cooperative in the face of Sir's instructions gave the plant manager too much credit, for he spoke to Sir the same way he did to Sid. "It would seem that NODOS is unhappy with our work here. Enough for you to overstep your authority in accusing me of possible sabotage without evidence.

I will be submitting my report on the inappropriately coercive measures you have displayed. But let it not be said that Omicron did not comply for the greater good of the Collective. Apex here will show you around the entire premises, and you may speak with anyone of the service robots here." Dudley called up a location map of the power plant to be transmitted to the three of them."Unless you need me to personally conduct the tour for you. Far be it for me to get in the way of your investigation." Dudley finished off with his parting shot, in mock offense.

Classifying Dudley as uncooperative, Sir waits to see if someone else wanna talk to the coordinator. Otherwise, he follows the guard.

Hearing how Dudley treats Sir, Ox decides there is no reason to stand on formality or hierarchy. They address the coordinator directly with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Do you have any suspicions about why the plant's output has fallen?" Ox asks. "Have you noticed anything unusual recently?"

"A power surge, most likely." Dudley looked as if they were taken aback to be addressed by an industrial bot, but ironically in this circumstance Ox, and Sid, had jurisdiction arising from their current appointment and also their raised hierarchy, Aongside Sir's rank, this meant that Dudley to reply to their question. Dudley sounded as if they were stuck between trying to brush off the investigators' concerns, and dismissing them as unworthy. "A technical glitch." The manager robot pointed in the direction of the terminals and screens of the control room they were in. But their answer sounded like they were clueless as to why the power output had fallen. Immediately Dudley's defenses went up again.

"Are you suggesting that my robots would go against my explicit orders and sabotage the work we all do here? Impossible!

Hearing Dudley's answer, Sir suspects these are similar errors from the ones in his own facility. Maybe there are sentient robots here.

He heads to the computers to check on the outputs and errors.

It was with a sense of familiarity that Sir approached the various terminals, even if these consoles were markedly different from the previous ones he had had to work with. As a top-tier unit, he was used to supervising the coordinator bots who managed control rooms, rather than operating them themselves. Dudley would be more able to interpret the readings from the consoles than he would. From the viewscreens, Sir could see every location of the entire facility, with various technican bots going about their duties. But Sir could not see any registered errors of the main reactor and its turbines, even though power output had indeed fallen.

Perhaps that would be much more up Ox's line of expertise when they got to engine hall and the reactor room, for the industrial bot was well programmed to evaluate the ins and outs of a operation line to see if there were any malfunctioning machines.

Sir waits for Ox or Sid's reaction

The whole place could do with some cleaning... Sid comments unhelpfully.

"Dudley, I could not see any registered errors of the main reactor and its turbines, even though power output had indeed fallen. What happened?"
After hearing Dudley's answer, Sir replies:

"For sure, Sid. Let's go to the Engine hall, I wanna talk to the workers. Maybe we can find someone that will give us some simple, clean answers there."

"A glitch, that's all." Dudley defensively replied, but Sir could tell the manager bot did not seem entirely convinced that that was the case either, but it was the explanation they resorted to, to explain away what they could not figure out. For the facts were apparent as Sir had understood them. "Sounds like you've got it all figured out." Dudley added snidely.

Sid's intuition was likely to be more trustworthy in this regard than Dudley's handwaving. The cleaner robot knew well when something was dirty; they knew how dirt and decay presented, what its causes were, and what was needed to fix such situations. All Sid needed was to bear witness to such dirt and they would recognise it. It was time to give the power plant a proper once over: Sir could talk to the workers, while Sid could ferret out what the malfunctions were.

The Engine Hall was a good place to start to investigate where the malfunctions might be, for it housed the generator itself that created the electricity, the turbine that powered the generator, and the transformer that delivered the energy. To speak with the power plant workers, they could be variously found either at their work stations, or possibly in the recreational area on their off-duty breaks.

5. Engine Hall

A large hall with a very high ceiling. Huge electronic and mechanical constructions whirr, beep and hum. Thick electric cables and water pipes
criss-cross the room, and human-sized robots will need to stoop, climb and crawl to reach all the areas. Four stairs lead up to a walkway, from which the top of the generator, the turbine and the condenser can be reached. Tall metal cylinders reach all the way to the ceiling.

A. Generator: A large spindle-shaped machine connected to the turbine that creates electricity. Small insect-like repair drones climb all over it, performing maintenance duties. A display shows the energy output of the machine.

B. Turbine: A huge, bulky machine that turns the hot steam from the central reactor into mechanical rotation, that is used to power the generator. There is an L-shaped walkway on top of the turbine, that is used for service work.

C. Deaerator: A massive pipe that bleeds off excess oxygen and other dissolved gases from the turbine.

D. Condenser: In this 20-foot wide metal cylinder, reaching all the way to the ceiling of Omnicron, the steam from the turbine is condensed back to water and pumped out. There is a walkway on the exterior of the condenser.

E. Transformer. A spindle-shaped machine that controls the delivery of energy from Omnicron to the rest of Mechatron-7.