#candybot

~~~~~~~~~~

The underground caverns were hot and humid, mostly silent save for the rhythmic noise of metal on stone. Occasionally a cart would roll by, wheels squeaking on the quickly-laid track. The only light came from candles scattered throughout the mine, placed as far apart as possible without leaving those in the mine without sight entirely, both to help with the temperature and the task at hand. In the darkness, it was possible to see the faint green glow of the carts' loads. With some practiced it was possible to see an even fainter green glow emitting from the rocks. The glow was much harder to see when someone brought a lantern down, washing the mine in yellow light. When that happened, most of the miners stopped working- without being able to see the glow, they could be digging out ordinary rock. Besides, lanterns meant visitors, who were a pleasant diversion. As the other miners looked over toward the light, squinting and waving to each other in the heightened visibility, one continued to work, chipping away at the rock in front of him with a small pickax. The visitor looked around- the other workers did seem happy enough, and the mine was sufficiently productive. A report would not be too difficult to make. If there were any improvements that could be made- well, bonuses were always nice. After a time of checking with the other miners, the visitor made his way over to the one still working. The visitor noted that the man's clothes were soaked, even more so than the other miners' from the work in the heat and humidity. "Hello, sir. Are you enjoying your work here for Dandy Candy Company?" The miner turned, setting the head of his pickax against the stone floor, but did not respond.  The visitor blinked. The miner's shirt an jacket had covered most of his body, and he had been distracted by the other miners, but now that he could see the, err... 'face'... "Ah, I take it this is the... mining machine?" Another miner, who had been digging nearby before the visitor arrived, grinned. "He's rather good for getting through particularly tedious spots. Good for heating food as well. As far as we can tell, he's enjoying his work plenty." The visitor had recovered from his initial surprise to some extent. "I was lead to believe that a mining machine would be stronger than a man." He looked at the small pickax held by the digging machine, then at the larger one the nearby miner was using. "And if he is running on the candy ore- is he worth keeping here?" "Oh, that- he digs out almost what he eats, and he'd get more if we didn't make him go through lean sections for us. Set him to work at night, and when we come back in the morning, we can start in on the exposed ore." "The information I was given about his energy input-" "The recommended amount of ore? It's absolutely wrong. If you give him that much, he heats up enough to make it dangerous for the rest of us, between raising the temperature in here and burns should anyone touch him. At least we found him some clothes to keep the steam from getting anywhere. He might not be able to lift a full sized pickax, but with a little work he does fine." At the visitor's frown, the miner continued. "Well, he is increasing our efficiency, even if only slightly, we like having him around, and we did get permission do to any modifications necessary.” The mechanical digger turned its head slightly, rapidly exhaling steam. “Although he is more efficient if he keeps working.”

“Oh. ...of course.” The visitor looked at the mechanical digger. “...how do you get it to resume work?”

“He’s got some simple commands we can give him. Mine, please!” The miner pointed in the direction the digger had been tunneling previously, and it resumed its task. “Anyway, don’t worry about him- unless you want to increase his efficiency somehow. Taking him away isn’t going to help us or the company.”

The visitor looked around. A few other miners were nodding. “And... if it breaks?”

The miner snorted. “We have a repair kit already. Someone came out and looked him over a while back- I don’t know why you didn’t get that report. If you DO want to help us, though, a better way to get fresh water down here during the day would be good-“

~~~~~~~~~

About a month later, a number of additional supplies arrived for the miners in the weekly package. As well as a number of pipes and some schematics for how to lay them between a spring and the mine, there were a few extra jeweler’s tools, a thick coat, and a note.

“This coat should help with both the heat and steam output and the energy use by the digging machine being tested. The prevention of heat loss will likely enable an increase in raw production, as well. A repair kit has been included, as we have no record of one being sent to your site.  We are looking into additional processing functions, in an attempt to make it easier to use. Best of luck, and thank you for helping us test this prototype!