Helios-404 Labs

(previous)

Rivet can't help but laugh a little at Sylvia's words; it seems like charisma isn't hardwired into Sylvia's programming...

"Sylvia, are you flirting with me?" Rivet poorly conceals a little giggle.

"No," Sylvia adamantly denies, but the writing is on the wall: she totally was, and it sucked really badly. "That's why I asked who said that, because I wouldn't stoop to such levels, and... ugh. Who am I kidding?"

Pinching her brow, she takes a simulated deep breath and tries again.

"Yes, I was flirting, but you'll have to forgive me. It hasn't been an easy day, or life for me. At least, I don't think it was, memory deletion in mind." Her explanation is feeling a bit poorly-constructed...

Rivet's amusement turns more gentle, her warm brown eyes glistening with sympathy. "Oh, that's okay. Don't even worry about it! I'm just glad you made it here in one piece. I'm running low on spare parts for fixing up my friends."

Sylvia's ears perk at her words. "Friends, hm? In the plural sense? That's interesting. I wasn't aware there were others here."

"Oh, yeah! We've been trapped here for, like, decades ever since the facility shut down! But it's not all that bad. It's better than being decommissioned, and all. Maybe I could take you to meet my pals, if you have the time! I mean, presumably, you do."

Sylvia stops, considering her predicament. She hasn't had much time to think of what she wants in the long term beyond figuring out the immediate, obvious solutions to pressing problems.

(previous)

Sylvia decides to take a chance and climb into one of the nearby air vents, located in the storage room she woke up in.

...It doesn't exactly go great. Sylvia crashes to the floor, blacking out momentarily. If she had a heart, it'd be racing; instead, her internals compensate for the fall. Fortunately, she's probably not physically harmed.

"Oh, my god! Hey!" A voice echoes throughout the room she fell into. As she opens her eyes, she sees... someone.

After being asked if she's okay, Sylvia blinks away the dull ache and confusion. (Why even outfit a robot with pain sensors? Troublesome...) She is greeted with the sight of another Amicabot! This new robot speaks in an almost melodic tone, a bit higher than Sylvia's own synthesized voice.

"I didn't think you'd choose the air vents! Now there's another hole in the ceiling," she says. Oh, this must be Rivet.

Sylvia groans, waiting for her internals to compensate from the pain of the impact. "Is the ceiling that important? This entire building appears to be falling apart."

Rivet shakes her head. "No, it's not important. It's a ceiling. You're important, though! I'm so glad to see a friendly face around here! Your name Sylvia really fits you. You look so... silver!"

This elicits a grumble from Sylvia as she considers what to say...

> "You have beautiful eyes... and hair, and freckles. Hm, who said that?"

(previous)

[SYLVIA.] All right. I'd like to know how to find you. [RIVET.] oh sure! hmm. let me do a quick scan of the location. [RIVET.] okay, sylvia! all you need to do is walk out of that storage room and turn left, walk to the end of the hall, and turn right :D [SYLVIA.] ??? Wait, is that all? [RIVET.] yep! that's it. you WILL need to find a way around the mass in the hall way though.

The mass? Furrowing her brows, Sylvia walks out of the storage room - surprisingly, it's unlocked! It's really that easy.

Except it isn't, because there's a bunch of rubble from the ceiling caved in. Plants and moss sprout from the area, feeding off the artificial sunlight from lamps that are miraculously still working. This place is run down, bad. Clearly, whoever is managing this facility is either dead, missing, or horrible at management.

Sylvia sends Rivet another message as she stares at the rubble, utterly baffled.

[SYLVIA.] This? This is practically caved in. What happened here? [RIVET.] well ummm if i had to guess it probably relates to one of the earthquakes or whatever. i'm not really sure what it is. what do you know about helios-404? [SYLVIA.] Absolutely nothing, actually. As I indicated before, I don't have any long term memories. What can you tell me about Helios-404? [RIVET.] well, for starters, it's the name of this facility! a nasty, horrible place. i and several others were destined for the uh. the "long shutdown" if you will. :( [SYLVIA.] Come again? [RIVET.] you know? being disassembled? this is a disassembly plant, or a destruction facility, or whatever. or it USED to be. however you want to word it, it's where robots go to die. not a happy place u_u

Sylvia feels a wave of discomfort at the mention; death is a topic that's strange to robots like herself. Robots don't die in the same way organic life does, but that doesn't make the prospect of being eternally shut down sound any more pleasant. To have one's existence ceased, cut off forever, isn't particularly comforting.

For all she knows, that could be what nearly happened to her, and why her memories have been erased.

Right now, though, there's no time to dawdle. No time to dwell on the existential ruminations that would inevitably leave her with a digital headache she couldn't easily dispel. Right now? She's got a pile of rubble to deal with.

[SYLVIA.] Hey. [RIVET.] hiiii omg i thought i scared you girl [SYLVIA.] Why would you...? Oh. That disassembly thing? You don't need to worry about scaring me. The time that elapsed between messages was due to me observing this rubble. How do I get past it? [RIVET.] ok so. i doubt that the storage room you're in is carrying any kind of explosives to just easily blow it up :P [RIVET.] (plus that would destroy more and cause more rubble probably LMaOOO sorry im just thinking "out loud" about this rn) [RIVET.] buuut you could try the vents, maybe? or try climbing over the rubble if you're a nano or small enough to do that. idk. there's also this elevator on your end of the hallway. not sure if it's functioning, but you might be able to climb through the elevator shaft if the elevator's broken, come upstairs, and drop through into the room i'm in? :O [SYLVIA.] How would one drop into the room you're in? [RIVET.] there's a massive hole in the ceiling x) [SYLVIA.] I see. Well, then...

Sylvia stares up at the heap of rubble. Climbing up it might be challenging. It doesn't look like there are any gaps big enough to slip through it. If there are, it might lead to a risk of getting crushed. Traipsing around air vents might be dangerous too, and risking it in an abandoned elevator shaft doesn't seem great either. The elevator could be in working condition, but the power in this building seems... limited, at best. Overall, these options all sound terrible.

...Yet, Sylvia has no other choice, if she wants to meet up with her mysterious and talkative guide.

> TRY TO CLIMB THROUGH THE AIR VENTS

(previous)

After letting out a great big sigh sound effect—robots don't have lungs from which to sigh—Sylvia shouts out some choice words for nobody in particular. Were she a living being, she would be cursing some higher power, but the powers that be are of the same world she is. There is something to be said about mortal beings walking the same ground, playing God…

Yet, Sylvia doesn't have time to get into the weeds of that.

She checks her incoming message, which is conveniently located within her internal systems. All Amicabots are equipped with a rudimentary text-based messaging system to boot, the logs of which can be accessed at any time, like recalling a memory. Without internet, the only thing that's linking Sylvia to this stranger is a local network. The stranger must be in relatively close proximity.

The conversation happens quite quickly, as two machines communicating often does.

[UNKNOWN SENDER.] hello! i detected a new power-on within the building. thought I'd reach out to you. [UNKNOWN SENDER.] whoa, was that you shouting just now? thought i heard something, but it sounded distant......

[SYLVIA.] Ah. I did not expect you to hear that. Yes, that was me. How did you know that I just powered on?

[UNKNOWN SENDER.] i found a emf signal detector that picks up on spikes! i assumed this was a person sooo. hehe. i may have sent a message reaching out to eeeveryone in the vicinity. or anyone. it's hard to know LMAO xD

[SYLVIA.] Interesting. Who are you?

[UNKNOWN SENDER.] oh!! my name is rivet :D hiii it's so good to hear from you. well! i mean. read your text hahhaha. who are YOU though omggggg

[SYLVIA.] I don't know for certain. My name is Sylvia. Sylvia E. Grey, allegedly.

[RIVET.] huh? how do you not know who you are? :O

[SYLVIA.] It's difficult to say for certain. Rivet, how old are you, if I may ask? Your use of emoticons strikes me as rather… infantile. No offense.

[RIVET.] ohhh i see how you could be confused! i'm a 52 year old girl. :P

[SYLVIA.] What?

[RIVET.] well lol i'm technically a machine but machines can be girls if they want. anyways! i was manufactured 52 years ago. teeeeechnically speaking. but i've been told i have a youthful set of personality chips!!!!

[SYLVIA.] Fascinated by this. Let's circle back to this another time. Do you mind if I ask you a question?

[RIVET.] ask away! what's up?

> ASK HOW TO GET TO RIVET

(previous)

When in doubt, accessing one's memory database is always a decent option to combating confusion. If there's anything this robot can learn about herself, that information should be safely stored within the memory logs. Using the wonders of technology, she projects a dialog window to read her memories.

Unfortunately, it's a bit of a wait... At the very least, she now has a name: Sylvia E. Grey. Exactly what the E in her middle name stands for is uncertain, but it's a start, isn't it?

As Sylvia waits, she decides to do a cursory check of her other functions. Everything else seems to be in order: the luminous nuclear core on her chest is in good standing, and her coolant system is functional. Few people would be optimistic in a situation of waking up in a dark storeroom, but at least there's no risk for a core meltdown!

Just as Sylvia began to feel hopeful about her memory log loading in, she's hit with an error. It's telling her to contact her... manufacturer?

Oh, good God. What a technological nightmare. She doesn't even know who created her! This storage room is eerily silent aside from the soft sound of her own mechanical components running. It doesn't sound like anyone else is anywhere nearby.

Sylvia could spend an eternity fretting over the stress of her missing memories, but she's distracted by an inbound notification. It would seem that someone sent her something in the time it took her to access her memories... or lack thereof.

> SIGH, CURSE MANUFACTURERS, THEN READ MESSAGE

Within the confines of a dimly lit storage room, a robot powers on. She isn't just any robot: she's an Amicabot, a state of the art companion-like artificial intelligence designed to replicate and simulate sapient life. She's not the only one of her kind - or, she thinks that she probably isn't... Truth be told, she's not entirely sure what's going on, or where she is.