high-decibel ear protection. Giovanni Nehr stood back at a safe distance to avoid the debris cast by the machine, which rolled forward on treads and had spinning drill bits on its body. Soon, new barracks would be constructed here, but not for Humans. As the Digger proceeded, it illuminated the work area in high-powered beams of light.
With the burgeoning number of robots under Guardian command, owing to Thinker’s ambitious manufacturing program, additional quarters were needed. Sentient machines could live in tighter quarters than Humans, with their metal bodies stacked higher and packed tighter; they had to be kept somewhere, couldn’t be left to wander around the subterranean tunnels and caverns of the compound.
There were also more Humans wearing Guardian uniforms, from Subi’s clandestine recruitment program around Canopa. He and Thinker had initiated strict security controls, developing a comprehensive electronic interview method and even a selective memory erasure procedure—such as the one they had used on Dr. Bichette before releasing him. In addition, the two of them had set up an electronic barricade across all tunnel openings, so that no one could pass in or out without setting off alarms.
One of the young female recruits had dated a Guardian, and he had given her an interesting gift, a nearly extinct little alien creature named “Lumey.” The amorphous creature, which she afterward took along with her to the underground hideout, had once been Noah’s pet—but had been left behind in the rushed escape from EcoStation when the Doge’s forces attacked the orbital facility.
As the machine proceeded now, digging deeper and wider, mechanical scoopers and dumpers scurried about, gathering debris and carting it away. They would dispose of it in a series of deep, vertical tunnels that had been dug by rampant machines in the past, when they were the mechanical pests of Canopa. The current debris removal system had been developed by Thinker and Gio. No one knew how they disposed of excess material in the past, but Thinker theorized it might have been in underground fissures and caverns. Occasionally, piles of dirt and rock had been found on the surface of the planet, but only on a remarkably few occasions, considering the extent of excavation that the machines had been doing.
Without warning, the Digger accelerated and increased the speed of its drill bits. It crashed into a wall and began boring through, where it wasn’t supposed to go. It made fast progress, creating a new tunnel. Gio ran after the errant machine, with guards behind him and alarm klaxons sounding.
Reaching for his belt, Gio pressed a transmitter, sending an electronic signal to the computers controlling the machine. Abruptly, the Digger shut down all systems, including its lights. For several moments, Gio found himself in darkness, down the escape tunnel the machine had dug.
Then he saw lights coming from behind. Moments later, Thinker reached him, clanking and whirring. “I was afraid this would happen,” the robot said.
“It’s a good thing we were ready,” Gio said.
Thinker led a robotic team to inspect the Digger. They disassembled the internal workings of the machine’s computer. Presently, Thinker went back to Gio and said, “Just as I suspected, it has an override system, so cleverly concealed that we didn’t see it before. The unit found a way to supersede your commands, but we had our own ace in the hole.”
“I assume you disabled the mechanism?”
“Oh yes. But before we use this Digger again we’ll need to reprogram your disabling transmitter and the receiver on the machine.”
“The old signal won’t stop it next time?”
“Better not try it. There could be more tricks in this Digger, more than we’ve discovered so far. Even if we successfully disable its present override system, it could have another, and another. We must be on constant alert.”
“Why haven’t our other two Digger machines done
With the burgeoning number of robots under Guardian command, owing to Thinker’s ambitious manufacturing program, additional quarters were needed. Sentient machines could live in tighter quarters than Humans, with their metal bodies stacked higher and packed tighter; they had to be kept somewhere, couldn’t be left to wander around the subterranean tunnels and caverns of the compound.
There were also more Humans wearing Guardian uniforms, from Subi’s clandestine recruitment program around Canopa. He and Thinker had initiated strict security controls, developing a comprehensive electronic interview method and even a selective memory erasure procedure—such as the one they had used on Dr. Bichette before releasing him. In addition, the two of them had set up an electronic barricade across all tunnel openings, so that no one could pass in or out without setting off alarms.
One of the young female recruits had dated a Guardian, and he had given her an interesting gift, a nearly extinct little alien creature named “Lumey.” The amorphous creature, which she afterward took along with her to the underground hideout, had once been Noah’s pet—but had been left behind in the rushed escape from EcoStation when the Doge’s forces attacked the orbital facility.
As the machine proceeded now, digging deeper and wider, mechanical scoopers and dumpers scurried about, gathering debris and carting it away. They would dispose of it in a series of deep, vertical tunnels that had been dug by rampant machines in the past, when they were the mechanical pests of Canopa. The current debris removal system had been developed by Thinker and Gio. No one knew how they disposed of excess material in the past, but Thinker theorized it might have been in underground fissures and caverns. Occasionally, piles of dirt and rock had been found on the surface of the planet, but only on a remarkably few occasions, considering the extent of excavation that the machines had been doing.
Without warning, the Digger accelerated and increased the speed of its drill bits. It crashed into a wall and began boring through, where it wasn’t supposed to go. It made fast progress, creating a new tunnel. Gio ran after the errant machine, with guards behind him and alarm klaxons sounding.
Reaching for his belt, Gio pressed a transmitter, sending an electronic signal to the computers controlling the machine. Abruptly, the Digger shut down all systems, including its lights. For several moments, Gio found himself in darkness, down the escape tunnel the machine had dug.
Then he saw lights coming from behind. Moments later, Thinker reached him, clanking and whirring. “I was afraid this would happen,” the robot said.
“It’s a good thing we were ready,” Gio said.
Thinker led a robotic team to inspect the Digger. They disassembled the internal workings of the machine’s computer. Presently, Thinker went back to Gio and said, “Just as I suspected, it has an override system, so cleverly concealed that we didn’t see it before. The unit found a way to supersede your commands, but we had our own ace in the hole.”
“I assume you disabled the mechanism?”
“Oh yes. But before we use this Digger again we’ll need to reprogram your disabling transmitter and the receiver on the machine.”
“The old signal won’t stop it next time?”
“Better not try it. There could be more tricks in this Digger, more than we’ve discovered so far. Even if we successfully disable its present override system, it could have another, and another. We must be on constant alert.”
“Why haven’t our other two Digger machines done
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