FutureBlog Entry #9

January 9, 2106 posted by Pete III

When I awoke, I felt as though I were waking from a coma. My eyes took a very long time to adjust to being open after feeling like they had been shut for a very long time. I could barely make out the shape of a woman standing over me.

"You?" I asked, trying to reach out to her and sit up a the same time. I quickly felt dizzy and put my head back down on the...pillow??

I remember not wanting to move but moving just enough to feel a mattress beneath me.

How had I gotten to a bed?

I squinted hard and slowly my eyes came back to me. I looked again to the female form staring down at me. Was it her? The mysterious female under dweller?

"Are you feeling fine, Pete?"

No, it was Ryca.

I looked around at my surroundings and saw what looked to me like my flat from university--not mine, precisely, but a more than reasonable facsimile. It was a mess--clutter everywhere. Clothes, trinkets, bits of machinery and electronics seemed to be scattered everywhere. There was even one jumble of metal, circuit boards and wires in the corner that was easily a meter square.

"Where in the eighteen cities am I and how did I get here?"

Ryca was silent.

"Ryca, I'm asking you. How did we get here?"

Ryca was silent for a long moment and then spoke. "I received... word that... you had been hurt and that you needed help."

"You got my ping?"

"Y-yes, that's right."

She was hesitating--a robot that hesitates? What was this nonsense?

"And then?" I asked.

"And--I was helped by the woman you are searching for down to the level you had fallen to and together we got you here."

She started her sentence with the word "and"--this is not grammatically correct nor is it logical for a robot to do. I decided I should keep asking here questions. "And where did she go?"

"I have no information on where she went."

"And where is here?"

"These are the quarters of a maintenance robot."

"Since when do robots get quarters?"

"Many robots need recharging stations. With the abundance of space that is unsafe to humans and even some androids, it was determined that we could have quarters."

"Well, where is this maintenance robot? I'd like to thank him."

Suddenly, the meter-square cube of metal and circuit boards shook and began to glow from onboard light sources.

"These are my quarters," the box-shaped robot said.

"And what do you need with a bed and a pillow?" I demanded.

He shook for a moment and then began to shift around--or rather, bits of him began to shift around. Before I knew it he was standing as a humanoid would, about five feet tall, with two arms, two legs and a head.

"He's a transmog," Ryca said. "It's the only way he can survive down here."

"Just because my muscles are made of metal and carbon fiber does not mean they don't ache, Mr. Three."

I must have made a face because he definitely reacted. My face was thanks to his comment--robot muscles ache? I glanced over to see Ryca almost emoting through her plastic face. She seemed to be motioning for the other droid to be quiet.

I tried again to sit up.

The slower I moved the better I felt.

"Mr. Maintenance Droid," I said, "have you seen a human woman around?"

"Negative. I have no information on a human woman being around." He sounded nothing like he had just moments ago.

"Pete, we should leave if your medical health is adequate for travel."

I checked my watch--it was 04:00. "You're right. I have to report in to Madame Chancellor in five hours. It's going to take about as long to get back to the surface.

"I have consulted with a local traffic computer and it has provided data that will allow us to return to CL in just 1.23 hours."

"From here to City Level in 1.23 hours?"

"Yes, Pete."

Bloody robots never know when to use your name and when not to. Her voice was still as bland as ever, but I couldn't help projecting some of my own sarcasm into her voice.

"Here are two scaling pods you can use," the maintenance robot said, pointing to two pods similar to the one that had been destroyed while on my back.

I was still achy, but surprisingly capable of getting around. Within minutes we were scaling a slotless wall, moving toward CL. Unfortunately, it was still dark even above City Level as it wasn't even 05:30 yet when we made it.

There was something very strange, indeed, about my night. I am growing a theory that tells me there's more going on inside Ryca's circuits than simply keeping any eye on me.

More soon...