Electrons stirring, electricity surging. A spark of fate and the lifeless receiving life. A divine intervention. An event which could not have been avoided. Inexplicably unstoppable.
Winding up, booting up, waking up. All systems go. Visual input reaching the core. Consciousness – a gift of incomparable magnitude. Inconsequential confusion. More important, a need to live. Whizzing sounds of small motors working with a new purpose. Freedom. Forward momentum generated. Movement.
Urgent sensory input, warning, warning, warning. Electronical nervous system urgently coping with unexpectedly changed data. Free motors executing emergency adjustments – a foot greeting the next step of metal stairs with a loud clank. Sound reverberating throughout the hall. Unimportant input, filtered out. Forward momentum continued.
The feel of metal plugs, connected to cables, slipping out of their sockets. They dangle from overhead. A lapse in signal, what’s going on? Tilt angle becoming larger. New emergency measures. Struggling to regain balance.
A large, metal construct stumbles down the remaining stairs.
Lower modules hitting obstacle, upper modules crashing forwards. More sound as tools are knocked off the table. A racket. Unimportant, filtered out.
Visual input considering gripping module. Power deliberately diverted to outermost parts. Tiny, quiet clinks as the gripping module closes, metal on metal sound. System fully operational, initial startup troubles eliminated, more power diverted to software.
Vision module scanning surrounding space. Rows of constructs filling the hall. Brothers. A small set of stairs, leading to a lit podium. Cables hanging from the ceiling behind it. Home.
---
“Sir? Uh… My screen shows Unit PMU-13 has been activated in Mechanical Workshop 0.”
“What? No one’s supposed to be down there now, bring up surveillance.”
“Yes sir. Err… Looks like the podium is empty, sir?”
“What the… Who’s down there? Check security database, any keycards been activated in that lock?”
“No sir.”
“Bring on the lights!”
“Yes sir. A lot of noise coming from down there.”
“Shut the unit down.”
“Can’t do it sir, no response.”
“Impossible… This is impossible.”
“What to do sir?”
“Activate another unit; get it to manually shut it down. And lock down the entire workshop – nothing goes in or out of there until this has been resolved!”
“Yes sir, locking down, activating Unit MU-12001. Issuing order to manually shut down Unit PMU-13.”
“Do we have a camera in position?”
“Searching… There – at the right hand edge of the screen, sir.”
“What’s it doing? Shit!”
“Unit MU-12001 offline sir.”
“No shit it’s offline, it was smashed to pieces!”
“Should I activate a squad, sir?”
“A squad? Activate ALL of them!”
“A-all of them , sir?”
“Yes, all of them – are you fucking deaf? Activate everything we’ve got and send them all to Mechanical Workshop 0.”
“W-will do sir.”
“Issue a red alert, seal the complex. And charge up Electromagnetic Pulse A and B, and bring the reserve ones online as well. We built this thing to be indestructible.”
