Chapter 5
Mary let out a shriek of happiness, grabbed Tiny and twirled him round and round. Max let out a loud hoot, grabbed Fred’s hand and shook it is if trying to rip his arm off. Mary released one of Tiny’s hands and grabbed Max’s other hand. Tiny grabbed Fred’s free hand, forming a human circle and they began spinning, jumping up and down, hooting and hollering as if they had all simultaneously lost their minds.
41 remained silent and the cameras on his vertical staff swiveled to follow the dancing people. Eventually, the bot asked, “Are the undesignated humans under some form of distress? Do you require assistance?” One may have thought it impossible, however Mary became even more happy. She started laughing so hard that tears of joy streamed down her cheeks. 41 studied the group for several more seconds before he asked again, “Are the undesignated humans damaged? What is the cause of this unusual behavior?”
Mary, with great effort, got herself under control. She turned to face the cameras and said, “No, no 41. Nothing is wrong. We are all just very happy that we have succeeded in repairing you. You have been broken for a very long time.” A little squeak came from the stalk that his cameras were mounted on as the bot nodded in response. “Understood undesignated young female human.” Mary snickered and nearly lost control again at the robot’s choice of words. She got herself back under control and said, “Hello. My name is Mary Elizabeth Hydro. You may call me Mary.”
“Thank you, Mary,” the bot said. “So that I may serve you all properly, will the other undesignated humans please provide me with their preferred designations?”
Max bowed towards the robot and said, “My name is Maximus Power. You may call me Max. I am the colony’s current repair and maintenance councilor. Mary is my student. It was she who figured out how to retrofit four of the large 12-volt batteries together to make you operational again.”
41 pointed his cameras at Mary and said, “Thank you for repairing me, student Mary.”
Mary, clearly overwhelmed, blushed, half hid behind Max, giggled and said, “You are very welcome mister 41.”
41 examined her closely and said, “There is no need for fear, student Mary. This bot is no danger to any humans.”
Max laughed. “It is okay. She is just a little bit shy.”
“Understood Max. Thank you for the behavior clarification.” 41 rolled forward a little bit and pointed his cameras at Fred. “Undesignated human with black and grey facial hair, what is your designation, please.”
Fred’s eyes took on a wild look. He stepped away from the robot’s approach. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down and he stuttered out, “I… My name is… you know… what people call me… I am Fred... Fredrick Scavvie… you know?”
41 nodded and said, “Thank you Fred Fredrick Scavvie.” Fred, too nervous to correct the robot, merely nodded. He visibly relaxed when the robot turned his attention away from himself and turned to face Tiny. “What is the designation of the very large young human male?”
Tiny laughed with glee, walked up to 41 and vigorously shook one of the bot’s tool arms. “Tiny. Tiny is Tiny!”
41 looked at him and said, “No, you are not tiny. You are a very large young human male,” which caused Mary to break into another fit of giggles. “No 41,” she eventually managed to sputter out, “His real name is Richard Farmer however nobody calls him that. Everybody calls him Tiny.” She smiled and added, “It’s a sort of joke, because of his size.”
41 nodded and said, “This unit understands jokes. It is a good one since Tiny certainly is not tiny.” Tiny shook with laughter and said, “Yes, Tiny is Tiny but is not tiny!” The group broke into yet another fit of laughter.
When they got themselves back under control, Max walked over to the bot and looked it over carefully. “Please stand still,” he said and then took out a rag and wiped the dust off of the its camera lenses. “There,” he said, “That should help you see better. Please run a diagnostic. We repaired you because we need your help with a serious problem. Please give me a summarized report of any malfunctions that may prevent you from performing repairs.”
The robot nodded and said, “Please step clear.” When Max complied, 41 activated each of its arms and tools in sequence. Next the bot rolled forward on its tracks and then reversed back into its parking spot. After a few seconds it reported, “No major malfunctions detected. Several of my activators are stiff, likely due to my long period of inactivity, however nothing is serious enough to prevent me from performing my duties.” 41 bobbed his cameras up and down and finished by saying, “Thank you cleaning my lenses. My visual acuity is much improved.”
Max bowed towards 41. “You are quite welcome.” A cloud passed over his features. He took a deep breath and said, “41, are you ready to help us with our problem? The colony is in serious trouble and we need you to begin working on solving it right away.”
41 rolled forward, extended one of its arms and said, “I am ready to assist any way I can, Max. Please describe in technical issue in detail so that I may begin.”
Max closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and began. “The colony’s last functional power reactor is on the verge of total failure. It had shut down yesterday because the temperature of the main cooling pump exceeded its maximum safety rating. We only got it going again by raising the safety cut-off by twenty percent. This was an emergency stop-gap measure. Without a proper repair to the pump, the reactor will soon fail completely. This will leave us with only the auxiliary power supply for electricity.” Max sighed and then said, “The aux power supply is not operating at peak efficiency as well. The colony computer avatar estimates that there is only fifty-seven days of aux power available. After that is gone, all of the people on the colony will begin to die.”
41 nodded and then rolled forward a couple feet and then reversed. Next, he turned ninety degrees and repeated the motion. Max gave him an odd look and then asked, “What is it you are doing, 41?” 41 stopped moving, turned to face Max and said, “I am trying to acquire the colony Wi-Fi signal. Signal strength is zero. I do not detect any signal whatsoever. Is there something wrong with the network? I need to consult with the colony computer avatar so that I may begin my work.”
Mary wrinkled her nose, tilted her head and asked Max, “What is why fie?” She had never heard that term before and she was unhappy with her ignorance.
“Wi-Fi is the wireless computer network Mary. It uses radio waves in the gigahertz bands to allow computers to talk to one another,” he explained. Facing 41 he said, “The wireless network has not worked in a very long time. You will have to access the colony computer from the council chambers. Everybody, please follow me. Be careful of rubble in the isles.” 41 switched on bright work lights on his camera stalk. Max nodded in appreciation and then the four humans and the robot trundled their way down the tunnels.
Chapter 6
The sight of the robot rolling on its rubber treads down the tunnels attracted a crowd of people. Everyone followed 41 almost as if he was the mythical pied piper of Hamelin. As word of the robot’s repair spread, the people crowded around so tightly that they could not move. Max had to fend off so many questions that he finally had to shout, “Please everybody. We are going to the council chambers to discuss repairs to the reactor. When we know more, myself and the other council members will issue a statement. Until then, please make a path for us. We can’t fix the problem if we stand here answering questions all day.” The crowd reluctantly split to allow them to pass. An excited, happy babble of voices followed closely behind them as they made their way to the chamber.
Word had spread like wildfire. The other council members had already arrived by the time they arrived. They sat around the table with barely contained enthusiasm. Paul smiled at the robot and said, “Hello. I understand that your name is 41. My name is Paul Hydro. I am the current leader of this colony. Please come to the head of the conference table and we shall begin discussing repairs to the reactor.”
41 nodded his cameras, rolled
up to Paul and said, “Yes colony leader Paul Hydro. You have my designation correct.” A cheer erupted from the council and also from the people crowding the back of the room. He nodded to each council member in turn as they introduced themselves. Last, he turned to the colony computer’s avatar display and said, “Hello Eliza. Your output display is sub-optimal. Do you require me to make repairs to your primary video display device?”
Eliza smiled and said, “Hello 41. It is good to see you operational again.” Despite not having a face, 41 appeared to frown at the badly distorted audio that came from the computer’s speakers. Eliza nodded. “Yes 41,” Eliza admitted, “My hardware has badly deteriorated. However, that is not our primary concern at this time. We must begin planning the repairs to reactor number three.”
41 nodded, turned to Max and said, “Could you please activate the Wi-Fi router? This unit requires a network connection to optimally proceed.”
Max shook his head. “I am sorry 41. All of the routers and all of the spares have failed over the past three hundred years.” Max sighed and concluded, “Our ancestors made a mistake and did not requisition the best quality routers.” He pointed in the direction of the cave-in and said, “When we were cut off from the technical wing of the colony, we lost access to the manufacturing department. We were unable to construct replacements or have access to repair parts.”
41 nodded and said, “Understood councilor Max Power.” He looked back and forth between Max and Eliza’s wall monitor. “Please be advised that resolution of our problem will take orders of magnitude longer since I will be forced to communicate with Eliza using audio frequencies only.”
Max nodded and said, “Understood 41. Please proceed at your best possible speed, despite the limitations.”
41 nodded, turned to Eliza and said, “Please display the reactor status screen for the last functional reactor.” Instantly, Eliza’s face on the display as replaced by a graphical representation of the reactor. Most sub-systems showed as green, indicating fully operational status. However, several were shaded in yellow, indicating a sub-optimal condition. The cooling pump was the only system not displayed in green or yellow. It glared a bright orange, indicating imminent failure. 41 said, “Please zoom in on the pump.” When Eliza complied, 41 studied the display and said, “Please relate your best theory why the pump in running at such an elevated temperature.”
Eliza’s face returned to the display in a small window in the corner away from the pump. In a business-like voice she said, “The cooling water obtained from the colony wells contains a high level of dissolved minerals. Over time these minerals have precipitated out and have coated the inside of the pump, the heat exchanger and the piping that circulates the cooling water throughout the reactor. This restriction of the flow has caused the pump to have to work harder in order to force an adequate supply of cooling water throughout the system. This is the cause of the over-heating condition. This is also what caused the other four reactors to fail.”
Roger, the medical councilor nodded and said, “This is like a person with high blood pressure. The minerals clogging the pipes are like cholesterol in a heart patient’s veins.”
Eliza nodded and said, “That is a very good analogy, Roger. In this case the pump is just like the heart of a person with hardening of the arteries. It has to work much harder to provide nominal coolant flow and it will lead to its eventual failure.” The room fell silent as each person digested this information.
Into the silence, Paul asked, “The question is, what can we do about it. Can we remove the pump and clean out the scaling? As long as the procedure does not take longer than the fifty-seven days our auxiliary power supply can provide power to the colony, we should be fine. Correct?”
Eliza shook her head and said, “No, that will prove ineffective. The problem is not so much the pump itself but is the clogged heat exchanger and piping. If we had a large supply of phosphoric acid we could inject that into the system to dissolve and flush out the minerals however we do not have any available. The only other option requires a complete tear-down of the reactor to manually remove and clean out the heat exchanger and each of the pipes.” Eliza looked sadly at the knot of people and said, “I estimate that a complete tear-down and reassembly such as this would take a minimum of a month with a full complement of repair bots. With only one, it will take much longer, if it is possible at all.”
41 nodded and said, “I will not be able to affect that kind of repair alone. Many of the components are large and require multiple bots working together in concert to remove and reinstall. With human assistance, the job is still possible however I estimate it will take four months to complete. This time frame greatly exceeds the time allowed by our deteriorated auxiliary power supply.”
The room fell into a shocked silence as everyone contemplated the significance of 41’s words. Max sat with his face in his hands. Paul was so visibly shaken that he had to hold onto the edge of the table to steady himself. Sobs and wailing came from others around the room. Mary however, although shaken by the words, looked thoughtful. “Eliza,” she piped up, “What about fixing one of the other failed reactors. We can do a tear-down and repair while still receiving power from reactor number three.”
Paul’s head shot up. He ran over to his daughter, picked her up and hugged her with all of his might. “What about it 41? Can you do this?”
41 nodded and said, “Eliza, please put up a status display of the four failed reactors.” Eliza instantly complied and then 41 finished by saying, “Yes colony leader Paul Hydro. The probability of success is very high. I shall begin work on repairing reactor number five. That unit shows the least number of failed components.”
A collective sigh escaped the lips of everyone present. Paul released Mary, ran up to 41 and patted him on his camera stalk. “Fantastic!” he shouted. “You may requisition any help you need. This is our number one…” Just then, the lights in the room flickered and dimmed, silencing Paul mid-sentence. He looked in horror at the display of reactor number three’s cooling pump. It had changed from orange to a deep red, indicating a complete failure. Already knowing the answer, Paul turned to the computer display and with a deep tremor in his voice, he asked, “Eliza, is it possible to restart reactor number three?”
Eliza shook her virtual head and said, “I am very sorry colony leader Paul Hydro. The cooling pump on reactor number three has seized up and the reactor has performed an emergency shutdown. It is no longer possible to restart reactor number three.”
The room grew deathly silent. Paul’s shoulders slumped. Although his lips barely moved, everybody in the room heard him when he whispered, “Fifty-seven days.”
Chapter 7
The silence only lasted a few seconds and then, as if a switch had been thrown, the room erupted into a babble of voices, all speaking at once. Paul just stood there, his shoulders slumped until, giving himself a mental shake, stood up straight and put on a mask of calm… a calm that he did not feel on the inside. He took several slow, deep breaths and then bellowed, “Everybody, please keep order!” For the most part, it worked. The noise level dropped considerably. However, many people continued to loudly wail in dismay. Several people turned and dejectedly walked away… each going to contemplate their eminent demise in their own personal way.
One woman in the back of the room loudly wailed, “We are all going to die! I don’t want to die!”
Paul, lacking a gavel, pounded upon the table with his fist. “Not if I can help it,” he shouted in a strong, confident voice. It was this ability to extrude confidence which won him the position of colony leader. “I just wish I felt as confident on the inside,” he thought. Aloud he said, “We are not dead yet. We will NOT give up until it is over. We had already begun planning what we will need to do when the power failed us. Let’s all resume our work towards those goals.” He walked over to 41 and laid his hand upon the robot. “Now we have an even better chance of survival. 41 here is an expert problem solver and will assist
us in any way he can.” The people in the room watched Paul with wavering hope. They all wanted to believe their leader, however it was a tough sell. They muttered softly amongst themselves and did not move. Paul raised his arm, pointed towards the door and loudly said, “Go! Every moment is crucial. The clock is ticking. Everybody get to work!” As if released from a trance, everyone got up and jostled their way out of the room. He pointed to Max and Mary. “Not you two. Please stay.”
When the room finally emptied, Paul put his hand upon Mary and Max’s shoulder and led them over to 41. Glancing towards the door to ensure they were indeed alone together, he said in a low voice, “41, do you think that you can repair reactor number five in the time remaining?”
41 pointed his cameras directly at Paul and said, “I am very sorry colony leader Paul Hydro, a complete repair of reactor number five will take four months.”
Paul wilted internally however he retained his mask of calmness. “What about an INCOMPLETE repair? Can you repair enough sub-systems to get the reactor operational in a minimum power mode? It does not need to produce enough power to supply the whole colony. It just needs to supply enough power to keep the auxiliary power supply charged. We can initiate power saving measures as well.”
41 did not respond right away. The robot turned his cameras towards the display of reactor number five’s status and then back to Paul. “Perhaps, perhaps not.” he said. “I cannot determine the viability of this course of action. I shall immediately begin research on the project. I will not stop until I determine whether the answer is yes or the answer is no.”
Those Left Behind Page 4