#sidoopa

ED-E beeped back, brushing it off as a joke. The robot knew as much as they did that powering off and then powering on again was never that simple. ED-E might never turn back on. And then where would they be?

"If you overheat, you'll be gone for good. Power down," Tidy paused for emphasis, wondering when exactly ED-E became more of a someone instead of a something. "I promise, I'll bring you back, ED-E."

Tidy waited for what felt like eons, straining to hear the Fiends roaming the building beyond the ambient noises of an eyebot trying to keep itself afloat. Finally, ED-E played its power down tune and slowly lowered to the floor beside the courier, its lights blinking out one by one.

Relief washed over Tidy, but it couldn't replace the fear at being discovered. So they put a protective hand on ED-E's chassis and waited, breath erratic and jaw clenched.

---

The Fiends had gotten bored and left hours ago, leaving Tidy and ED-E's powerless body alone inside the building. But they still hadn't moved from the utility closet, not because the accommodations were stellar or they were enjoying the peace and quiet, but because Tidy's fears were realized.

ED-E was not powering back on and they were too weak to carry ED-E to safety.

Tidy had often thought about upgrading ED-E. They had planned to slowly learn each module and component that made the robot tick and make improvements as they went along, hardware, firmware, and software. But now it had to be different. Tidy needed to identify the problems, troubleshoot them, and then fix them with what was available nearby. No luxurious workbench or items that could be sourced over time. It had to be here and now.

Tidy sighed knowing that they had a long road ahead of them, but it was worth it for ED-E. 

Besides, they had done it once before in Primm and whatever Tidy knew then as a younger, more inexperienced version of themself couldn’t hold a candle to what they knew and were today.

---

The passage of time flows differently when troubleshooting. It was too easy to get lost in identifying the problem and finding the correct solution, not because it was fun to “win” and reap the rewards of hours of work, but because no one could anticipate the journey between problem and solution. It was exploration within a set of confines, learning just as much about yourself as you would about the environment and the systems that dwell within. Addicting, but safe. Nothing like exploring the wasteland. 

But this situation was on the other side of the bottle cap. Tidy was working against time. Tidy was working against the notion that the Fiends would come back. Or something worse. But mostly Tidy was working against the feeling that they would have to choose when to abandon ED-E to take care of themself. 

They were on their last bottle of clean water. Only trail mix that was heavy on the pinyon nuts had sustained them. Their eyes felt dry and heavy at the same time. The situation wasn’t looking great.

But they were so close to figuring it out.

A Programmer’s Digest lay open but discarded on Tidy’s lap in favor of their PipBoy. They had successfully downloaded ED-E’s boot logs and while it was not favorable to stare at text on the tiny PipBoy screen, the logs were infinitely more telling than any article or how-to column that any magazine or book could provide. Maybe with the exception of the Eyebot Duraframe users manual, if that even existed.

After multiple attempts at rebooting ED-E, Tidy noticed that it seemed as though ED-E was beginning to power up. Lights flickered, the hard drive and processor both came to life, it even sounded as if it was routing power to its plasma thrusters. But as quickly as the spark had come, it left. And the logs reinforced this theory. Something was preventing ED-E from completely booting up. Was there not enough power? Was it stuck in some recursive algorithm? A boot loop? Or maybe one of the system checks failed?

As Tidy scrolled through log lines, cryptic wording prevented them from understanding everything that occurred. Weird RobCo jargon. Or weird jargon from people who lived 200 years ago. It was anyone’s guess. But it was enough to see the timestamps and to see the designation of each log line - INFO, WARNING, ERROR, FATAL. Like a weird dance, Tidy followed their perceived steps of how each log line designated ERROR or even WARNING came to be. 

29-04-2282_22:05:55 - ERROR - Unexpected system state. In state CalibrationEnd but tesla cannon 423334 has not been calibrated.

29-04-2282_22:06:02 - ERROR - Position cannot be triangulated. Dumping data to log file: ./logs/duraframe_position/position.log

29-04-2282_22:06:48 - WARNING - Cannot establish outbound connection to RobCo auto-update servers. Please update this unit manually.

29-04-2282_22:06:49 - ERROR - Tesla Cannon custom configuration file is corrupted. Reverting to default configuration.

All of these messages seemed concerning, but not something that ED-E’s software couldn’t recover from. The log file continued, like the software was just moving on, content to resume its boot sequence. Tidy blinked away tiredness and the strain from staring at the screen for far too long. It would be easy to admit defeat here, rest their eyes, rest their mind. But they knew sleep would not come when the mind could still be occupied with possible solutions, so they pushed on.

It was one word they missed on their initial perusal of the log files. FATAL. It would’ve been so easy to find on a terminal, with a keyboard and mouse. But here in the wasteland, in the hollow shell of an old world, Tidy felt lucky for even seeing it at all.

29-04-2282_22:07:33 - FATAL - Plasma thruster position 1 misaligned. Damage to the hull imminent. Powering down. Please contact your local RobCo personnel if this problem persists.

This was the most concrete lead Tidy had seen so far, though the other issues would probably have to be addressed at some point down the road. But they could think about that after realigning ED-E’s plasma thruster. Which was something they had never done before, but could it be harder than plasma weapon maintenance? They were going to find out.

Tidy set to work rummaging around the room to find tools to open ED-E’s chassis. It was apparent that the utility closet they were in was not one for dismantling and repairing delicate machinery. All the screwdrivers that remained were too large for the job, so Tidy settled on trimming down one of their spare bottlecaps using a pair of tin snips they had found in a toolbox. 

It was a delicate process, one that Tidy’s hands were much too shaky for. They could only brace their arm on their bent leg and keep trying because this might be it. Just remove the lower chassis and figure out what a misaligned plasma thruster looks like then figure out how to fix it. That’s all. And don’t lose any screws. Physically or mentally.

One by one, the screws piled up neatly on Tidy’s duster until they were able to shift the rounded metal plate out of its place to reveal ED-E’s innards. They immediately felt elated by the small victory but also disgusted at what they saw. A mess of everything. Tidy was no stranger to seeing the insides of terminals or taking apart their weapons or using the insides of one thing to fix another. But this was something else, clearly designed around things they didn’t understand and maybe the engineers didn’t really understand either. 

But at least the plasma thrusters were clearly labelled 1 and 2. 

They kind of looked like toasters without the chassis flush with their vents. Toasters were familiar. Now it was just a matter of deciding what features number 2 had that number 1 did not. On the outside they looked the same. So that was good, Tidy reasoned. With a few more screws removed, the plasma thruster housings were off and a bunch of warning stickers sat in their place, faded with time but still clearly visible. As if the existence of plasma wasn’t enough of a warning on its own. 

But looking beyond the pale yellow warning signs, it was clearly evident what the problem was. Plasma thruster position 2’s exhaust columns were as straight as ever, a pinnacle of metalwork. Plasma thruster position 1’s exhaust columns were askew, to say the least. No wonder ED-E was prone to overheating. How long had the little eyebot been living this way? 

Tidy grabbed a set of pliers and tried to bend the metal back to its original position. Not as flimsy as they looked apparently. And getting any more forceful might result in broken exhaust columns, a situation Tidy didn’t even want to think about since the end was in sight. Defeat at their own hand was not an option.

But maybe less screws was an option? Removing some screws along the base could allow them to pivot the exhaust columns enough to realign them with the housing. And a well-placed piece of steel wedged between the alignment brackets could secure the new configuration in place, at least temporarily until they could get back to a workbench and Raul’s guidance.

With a rush of adrenaline, Tidy’s hands worked just as fast as their mind to put their plan into place and reset the housing and chassis. They hoped this worked. They didn’t have anything left to give after this. 

After everything was back where it belonged and three extra screws weighed heavily in Tidy’s pocket, they rolled ED-E carefully out into the quiet hallway. They paused to listen again for any signs of life beyond the scuttle of rodents and roaches. Nothing. With a final deep breath, Tidy pressed ED-E’s power cycle button. “This better work.”

Slowly and surely just as it had all the times before, the eyebot began its initialization process. Lights flickered, the processor and hard drive whirred to life, and the plasma thrusters began to calibrate. Tidy held their breath, afraid the outcome of this startup would be like all the other ones. But the plasma thrusters never powered down and neither did the rest of ED-E. After what felt like hours, ED-E played its startup tune. 

Success. 

“ED-E?”