The light momentarily blinded me, so I didn’t immediately see the creature, but a second or two later I got a glimpse of what had been lurking in the darkness.
It was a robot.
And it scurried back in fear.
“Bloody hell!” Kira exclaimed. She had her blaster out and aimed at the bot, which actually appeared to be cowering.
“Calm down!” I shouted. “It’s just a bot.”
“I know what it is, Jannigan. It just scared the shit out of me!”
“That might have actually been me. I accidentally tripped on something in the dark.”
She shook her head, then turned to the bot. “Identify yourself.”
The bot replied in a synthetic voice, “Identifier UIY-2249, personal property of Dr. Roanna Griffin of Marlington University, research unit GL-1.”
It looked like a little Tensor series utility bot to me. It stood less than a meter tall and had three legs, or more specifically, two legs and one arm that also functioned like a leg, but had a claw-like appendage at the end. The bot’s “head” was a round, saucer-like unit that bristled with optical sensors. These were the glowing eyes I had seen.
“Are you a Tensor unit?”
“Yes, sir, I am. A Tensor series 6. My manufacturing date was May 25th, 2363.”
Hmmm. Not too old, yet from the bot’s scuffed-up paint job, and more than a few dents and scratches, it looked like it had seen a lot of use.
“Tensor 6, huh?” Kira asked. “Where is everyone?”
“My research group has departed from this location.”
“Then what are you doing in here?”
“It appears that I have been left behind,” the bot said.
“Left behind?” Kira asked. “Elaborate.”
“Eight days, eleven hours ago, I was dispatched to check on a perimeter scanner at location—”
“Less detail, please,” Kira said. “Explain why you believe you were left behind.”
“Of course. I was instructed to not to return to base for twenty-four hours after evaluating the perimeter scanner.”
“Is that unusual?” I asked.
“Very,” the bot replied.
“Maybe they forgot about you,” Kira said.
“Unlikely,” the bot said. “I believe it was intentional.”
“Why?”
“My further instructions were to wait at the base for two hundred hours and if I did not encounter any non-Mayir personnel, I was to travel to Ganga Kos and transmit a message to Marlington University’s security department.”
“Hold on there, TenSix,” I said. “Back up a second. Are you saying that if you encountered Mayir personnel, it would trigger your instructions to travel to Ganga Kos?”
“Yes. The secondary condition for triggering the action was time based. Specifically, two hundred hours or more must pass.”
“How many more hours are left?”
“Fifteen.”
Kira and I looked at each other.
“That’s a very bizarre set of instructions,” I said.
“Yeah, I’m still trying to figure out the Mayir thing. It’s almost like whoever programmed this bot—what did you call it?”
“TenSix.”
“It’s like whoever programmed TenSix wanted it to wait around until they returned.”
“Well, until someone returned. Someone who wasn’t a Mayir.” I addressed the bot. “Was that the intent, TenSix?”
“Yes, I believe Professor Griffin was fearful that the Mayir might discover her message intended for the Marlington University security department.”
“So Griffin was the person who gave you your most recent instructions?” Kira asked.
“Yes, I am Professor Griffin’s personal property and am directed chiefly by her.”
“Personal property,” Kira said. “That’s a little weird, isn’t it?”
“Wait a second, why are you telling us all this?” I asked TenSix.
“I do not understand the question,” TenSix said.
“How do you know we are not Mayir?”
TenSix tilted his saucer-like head in a way that made it seem like it was pondering the question. “You are not Mayir.”
“I know that,” I said. “But how did you know that?”
“I observed you while you ate, fornicated, and slept.”
“What?” Kira gasped.
“Also, I ran a genetic profile of you from saliva samples I collected from your eating tools.”
“Is that even allowed?”
“You are on private property, leased by Marlington University,” TenSix said. “Would you like me to recite the terms and conditions you agreed to when you entered the premises?”
“No, that’s okay,” I said.
“How may I address you?” TenSix asked.
“I’m Jannigan Beck and she’s Kira Lark.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Beck and Ms. Lark.”
“My father’s Mr. Beck. You can call me Jannigan.”
“Of course, Jannigan Beck.”
“And I’m not Ms. Lark,” Kira said. “I’m Dr. Lark.”
“Very good, Dr. Lark.”
“Now that we’ve all been introduced to each other, how about you tell us about this message.”
“It is private.”
“Given that you’ve established that we are not Mayir, can you provide us a summary of the message?” Kira asked.
“Of course I can, but I will not.”
“You’re not going to get anything out of it,” I told Kira. “My buddy Hoedi’s family had a Tensor 5. They’re stubborn little buggers.”
We continued to question the little bot for another half hour or so, but it was clear that we weren’t going to get much more information. Still, I was intrigued by this secret message. And, obviously, someone on the Marlington team was concerned about the Mayir. It made me wonder if the researchers had been taken against their will. I asked Kira for her take on it.
“Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t have a lot of experience with bots like these.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, Oeri doesn’t really believe they add much.”
“Really? Bots are a tool. Like any other tool. How could they not add anything to your work?”
She shrugged. “It’s kind of a bureaucratic company.”
“Yeah, most are.”
“Well, I don’t have a lot to compare it with.”
A thought occurred to me. It was probably crazy. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“You said before that you thought you might have made a mistake. Working for your parents and all.”
“I don’t work for my parents. Well, I guess, in a practical sense I do, but, officially, my supervisor is a Senior Team Lead back on Devariin. What’s your point?”
“Ever consider leaving Oeri?”
I could tell that the question took her off guard. She didn’t say anything for a few moments.
Then she said, “I think about it now and then. Not seriously, though. I put in a lot of time on this project. What else would I
