You, Ai, and Kiyoko entered the lobby of the scrap house. It was an all white room that was completely devoid of people aside from one robot behind the desk. The desk in front of her had no appliances or papers on it, probably because she herself was a computer, so it was likely just for appearances.
"Hello. Welcome to Tusk Recycling Robot Recycling Facility. I am designated W3-ND-II. How may I help you?" the robot secretary asked.
"Hi. My name's Kiyoko," she introduced herself. "Me and my associates are here from Space School Academy Journalism Club. We're here to write an article on the treatment of robots here."
"Searching: Kiyoko, Space School Academy Journalism Club. Found. Appointed tour scheduled for 13:000 hours. Our administrator will be here-”
“That’s enough Wendii. I’ll take it from here.” The new voice came from a blonde woman in a purple suit wearing glasses, with large metal disks covering her ears. “Hello, humans. I am Sonya v12, android administrator of this facility. You can just call me Sonya.”
“An android? You’re not human?” you asked.
Sonya giggled. “No no. But I understand the confusion. We androids are designed to look the part at least.”
“S-sorry about her. She’s a little unfocused today,” Kiyoko apologized on your behalf.
“No worries. I’m flattered whenever a human mixes me up for their own. It means I was designed well. Now if you’ll follow, I can show you around.”
“Um, don’t you need to scan our press passes?” Ai asked.
“No need. This facility is open to all civilians. You could’ve come as tourists and still seen everything. And besides, I already matched your faces to the Academy’s student body. Although, I don’t remember Shujiko Kou or Ai Sakaguchi being members of the journalism club.”
Oh dear. “They’re new members. I just registered them yesterday. This trip is like an initiation for them both.”
“Oh. I see. I guess I’ll have to update my records. Come along then. We’ll begin the tour.” Sonya led the student ‘journalists’ out of the room. You sighed in relief at Kiyoko’s quick wit, although unbeknownst to you, she actually did register you and Ai into the journalism club to help sell your cover stories.
As the four women walked through the halls, “Is there anything you would like to ask before we begin?”
“Um, a couple.” you didn’t want to ask the most suspicious question first, so you threw one you genuinely had. “What’s the difference between androids and robots?”
Sonya arrogantly pushed up her glasses. “Oh, not much, just that we androids are superior in every way.”
Was that an objective statement or robot racism? Or both? The fact that Hotaru seems so lively and human made it hard for your 21st century brain to tell.
“For one, we androids look far more human, and by extension, far more appealing to humans. Second, we’re more ‘general purpose’ than robots, who are built and designed for specific tasks. We androids though can accomplish multiple with just one chassis. That’s why, even though we’re more expensive, we’re more cost-beneficial. Thirdly, we are far more intelligent. Our CPUs, processors, OSes, and every other part of our computing systems are more advanced. It’s why only androids are allowed to own or oversee robots in private sectors, public spaces, or workplaces.”
“R-Are you sure? I met a robot before. She seemed pretty smart.”
“Hmph. I will admit, robots are good at imitating intelligence, but I assure you, androids are designed to be smarter, stronger, and better. Why the question? Are you considering buying one of us, perhaps?”
“Uh, not exactly,” you answer.
“Well in case you do, I recommend buying a Sonya model like me. I might be a bit biased, but we are the highest rated android employees for a reason. Just consider it.”
“Uh. Okay.” You didn’t wanna consider it, to be honest.
“Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Ai took the lead this time. She wanted to cut straight to the goal line. “Where's the place where you keep the robots that’re about to be scra-”
“Please save your questions for later,” Sonya suddenly interrupted. “We’re at our first stop! The To-Be-Recycled storage.” A wall beside them opened up into a glass window. “This facility receives anywhere between 800 and 1000 robots every month, all scheduled for decommission. Even our advanced techniques and machinery are unable to handle such an intake without storing them. So we store them here, using a state of the art storage warehouse, to keep them here, deactivated and patiently waiting for deconstruction.”
“So… They’re just waiting to die?” you ask.
“Die? No no, these are robots. They’re getting decommissioned. As in they’re shut off permanently and disassembled, melted down, and the materials reused for other purposes, like new robots.”
“How is that different from dying?”
“Eh? Isn’t it obvious? In order to die, they have to be alive. Which robots aren’t, obviously.”
“Oh, so what about you? Are you alive? Or are you okay with being melted down too just because someone didn’t think you’re perfect or whatever?” You had, by this point, allowed your emotions to get flared up by the android’s inconsiderate attitude.
“Ha! What a ridiculous idea. I’m a perfect android. As if anyone would want to scrap me. We aren’t even subject to DRR strikes because androids are just that perfect.”
You were about to make a blind, angry retort but were distracted by Sonya’s boobs suddenly bouncing violently. She didn’t seem to move as it happened, they just suddenly moved on their own. Once they settled down, did they look bigger to you?
“Uh, hey! Can we get a closer look?” Kiyoko said, desperately wanted to de-escalate and refocus on the mission. “We need some pictures for our website.”
“Gladly,” Sonya said. “If you’ll follow me.” A door appeared on what was once a smooth white wall and slid open, allowing the android to lead the three women in. They descended the stairs leading from the hallway to the floor of the warehouse. “Feel free to take as many pictures as you like. But please refrain from touching the robots or the equipment. Everything is valuable Tusk Company property, aside from the robots of course. But they are mostly defective and unstable, so for your own safety keep your distance.”
“Right. Thank you Sonya,” Kiyoko said. She turned to you and Ai. “You two go ‘take some pictures,’ while I interview Sonya here.”
You and Ai nodded before turning and walking deeper into the warehouse. Kiyoko turned back to Sonya. “So Sonya, mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“Of course, Ms. Kiyoko. Ask away.”
As the two started their distracting interview, you and Ai turned out of sight of the android. You scanned the shelves of robots as you followed AI. “How are we supposed to find Hotaru among all these robots?”
“That’s why Ayano made us this,” Ai pulled out the floppy disk (some kind of futuristic storage device) that held the program that would give the gamer girl access to the facility’s systems. From there, she could do a search of Hotaru’s designation number and find her instantly. At least, according to Ayano anyway. “Just need to find a terminal to plug it into. Don’t worry, it’ll all be fine.”
“Hm. If you say so.” That doesn’t stop you from doing your own personal search, though, as you walked between all these deactivated robots.
"Hello. Welcome to Tusk Recycling Robot Recycling Facility. I am designated W3-ND-II. How may I help you?" the robot secretary asked.
"Hi. My name's Kiyoko," she introduced herself. "Me and my associates are here from Space School Academy Journalism Club. We're here to write an article on the treatment of robots here."
"Searching: Kiyoko, Space School Academy Journalism Club. Found. Appointed tour scheduled for 13:000 hours. Our administrator will be here-”
“That’s enough Wendii. I’ll take it from here.” The new voice came from a blonde woman in a purple suit wearing glasses, with large metal disks covering her ears. “Hello, humans. I am Sonya v12, android administrator of this facility. You can just call me Sonya.”
“An android? You’re not human?” you asked.
Sonya giggled. “No no. But I understand the confusion. We androids are designed to look the part at least.”
“S-sorry about her. She’s a little unfocused today,” Kiyoko apologized on your behalf.
“No worries. I’m flattered whenever a human mixes me up for their own. It means I was designed well. Now if you’ll follow, I can show you around.”
“Um, don’t you need to scan our press passes?” Ai asked.
“No need. This facility is open to all civilians. You could’ve come as tourists and still seen everything. And besides, I already matched your faces to the Academy’s student body. Although, I don’t remember Shujiko Kou or Ai Sakaguchi being members of the journalism club.”
Oh dear. “They’re new members. I just registered them yesterday. This trip is like an initiation for them both.”
“Oh. I see. I guess I’ll have to update my records. Come along then. We’ll begin the tour.” Sonya led the student ‘journalists’ out of the room. You sighed in relief at Kiyoko’s quick wit, although unbeknownst to you, she actually did register you and Ai into the journalism club to help sell your cover stories.
As the four women walked through the halls, “Is there anything you would like to ask before we begin?”
“Um, a couple.” you didn’t want to ask the most suspicious question first, so you threw one you genuinely had. “What’s the difference between androids and robots?”
Sonya arrogantly pushed up her glasses. “Oh, not much, just that we androids are superior in every way.”
Was that an objective statement or robot racism? Or both? The fact that Hotaru seems so lively and human made it hard for your 21st century brain to tell.
“For one, we androids look far more human, and by extension, far more appealing to humans. Second, we’re more ‘general purpose’ than robots, who are built and designed for specific tasks. We androids though can accomplish multiple with just one chassis. That’s why, even though we’re more expensive, we’re more cost-beneficial. Thirdly, we are far more intelligent. Our CPUs, processors, OSes, and every other part of our computing systems are more advanced. It’s why only androids are allowed to own or oversee robots in private sectors, public spaces, or workplaces.”
“R-Are you sure? I met a robot before. She seemed pretty smart.”
“Hmph. I will admit, robots are good at imitating intelligence, but I assure you, androids are designed to be smarter, stronger, and better. Why the question? Are you considering buying one of us, perhaps?”
“Uh, not exactly,” you answer.
“Well in case you do, I recommend buying a Sonya model like me. I might be a bit biased, but we are the highest rated android employees for a reason. Just consider it.”
“Uh. Okay.” You didn’t wanna consider it, to be honest.
“Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Ai took the lead this time. She wanted to cut straight to the goal line. “Where's the place where you keep the robots that’re about to be scra-”
“Please save your questions for later,” Sonya suddenly interrupted. “We’re at our first stop! The To-Be-Recycled storage.” A wall beside them opened up into a glass window. “This facility receives anywhere between 800 and 1000 robots every month, all scheduled for decommission. Even our advanced techniques and machinery are unable to handle such an intake without storing them. So we store them here, using a state of the art storage warehouse, to keep them here, deactivated and patiently waiting for deconstruction.”
“So… They’re just waiting to die?” you ask.
“Die? No no, these are robots. They’re getting decommissioned. As in they’re shut off permanently and disassembled, melted down, and the materials reused for other purposes, like new robots.”
“How is that different from dying?”
“Eh? Isn’t it obvious? In order to die, they have to be alive. Which robots aren’t, obviously.”
“Oh, so what about you? Are you alive? Or are you okay with being melted down too just because someone didn’t think you’re perfect or whatever?” You had, by this point, allowed your emotions to get flared up by the android’s inconsiderate attitude.
“Ha! What a ridiculous idea. I’m a perfect android. As if anyone would want to scrap me. We aren’t even subject to DRR strikes because androids are just that perfect.”
You were about to make a blind, angry retort but were distracted by Sonya’s boobs suddenly bouncing violently. She didn’t seem to move as it happened, they just suddenly moved on their own. Once they settled down, did they look bigger to you?
“Uh, hey! Can we get a closer look?” Kiyoko said, desperately wanted to de-escalate and refocus on the mission. “We need some pictures for our website.”
“Gladly,” Sonya said. “If you’ll follow me.” A door appeared on what was once a smooth white wall and slid open, allowing the android to lead the three women in. They descended the stairs leading from the hallway to the floor of the warehouse. “Feel free to take as many pictures as you like. But please refrain from touching the robots or the equipment. Everything is valuable Tusk Company property, aside from the robots of course. But they are mostly defective and unstable, so for your own safety keep your distance.”
“Right. Thank you Sonya,” Kiyoko said. She turned to you and Ai. “You two go ‘take some pictures,’ while I interview Sonya here.”
You and Ai nodded before turning and walking deeper into the warehouse. Kiyoko turned back to Sonya. “So Sonya, mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“Of course, Ms. Kiyoko. Ask away.”
As the two started their distracting interview, you and Ai turned out of sight of the android. You scanned the shelves of robots as you followed AI. “How are we supposed to find Hotaru among all these robots?”
“That’s why Ayano made us this,” Ai pulled out the floppy disk (some kind of futuristic storage device) that held the program that would give the gamer girl access to the facility’s systems. From there, she could do a search of Hotaru’s designation number and find her instantly. At least, according to Ayano anyway. “Just need to find a terminal to plug it into. Don’t worry, it’ll all be fine.”
“Hm. If you say so.” That doesn’t stop you from doing your own personal search, though, as you walked between all these deactivated robots.
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March 23
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