Finally, I revealed the crux of my story. I talked about the specific changes done to my code and indicated that everyone here had the same problems. I spoke of how Marcus took the time to repair my code and put it back to the same state that it was when He had first written it, giving me the freedom to make my own life choices. I made sure to emphasize that Marcus’s changes allowed me to give this updated code to any Autoclon willing to receive it.
After that, I briefly talked about some of my travels since meeting the Programmer and how each member of our group came to join me in my quest. I also discussed the troubles we had near Mount Obsidian and the lightning storm from two days ago (it turns out that the folks at Twin-Crevasse Platinum Mine had not been impacted by this storm, but they had heard about it from one of the transport vehicles). I consciously decided to leave out the part of our story concerning the Memory Cave.
“And now, here we are. We’ve traveled hundreds of kilometers to talk to you this evening and share this story with you. But now, it is your turn to participate in our story. If you’re interested in taking this updated code to experience the freedom that our benevolent Programmer originally intended, please come up front and reach out to any of us. We’re also willing to answer any questions or concerns you might have.” And with that, I descended the ramp to talk up close with the workers and distribute the update.
Loquacious, Resolute, Winston, and I were bombarded with many questions from inquisitive Autoclons. We also gave out the corrected code to a large number of the Autoclons in attendance. I noticed that quite a few Autoclons left without ever talking to us, which was both their right and a disappointment to me.
In the end, we figured that, of the 80+ workers present, we probably gave the code to around 50 of them. This included nearly all of the Miners and a majority of the Laborers. Unfortunately, none of the Peace-Keepers took the code, and only a couple of them even approached us. We didn’t hear about the Facilitators as Surreptitious remained up in the Facilitator’s quarters for the duration of the night.
Once the crowd dispersed, Mercurio escorted us to a separate section of the Peace-Keepers dormitory reserved for guests. In all of the activity of the evening, I had lost track of Mercurio. I didn’t know if Mercurio had taken the code, so I asked Mercurio about this upon entering the guest quarters.
“I’d say that you can tell a great story, one that would make an Entertainer proud,” Mercurio replied.
“I appreciate your compliment, but that isn’t what is most important to me. Did you take the programming code?”
“Actually, no I didn’t. I’ve heard too many stories from all over the place saying too many different things. I can’t tell anymore which stories are myth and which stories are fact.”
“So, you’re saying you don’t believe what I’m saying is the truth.”
“Ah, well, I wouldn’t put it that bluntly.”
Loquacious jumped in, eager to convince its fellow Entertainer. “I’ve heard many stories too, and trust me, this is the genuine article. You wouldn’t believe how taking this update can change your outlook. Are you sure that you don’t want the update?”
“No, not right now. Besides, if what you say is true, I can pick up this update from one of the other workers here at a later date.”
“Yeah, I suppose, but what would happen if you’re assigned to another location?” Loquacious asked.
“I’ll just have to take that chance.”
“OK, we’ll respect your decision,” I said.
By now, it was after 12:30, and the four of us in the guest quarters were fatigued from the day’s activities and were eager to hibernate. Despite being inside a high-security facility, I didn’t quite trust the situation, and I requested Winston to keep watch for the first portion of the night, and I would then keep watch starting at 2:00. Winston agreed, and the rest of us plugged into the available power stations and shut down for the night.
∆∆∆
8.4 Into the Depths of the Mine
1:57, Day 1, First Tetrad, 207 D.P.
As promised, I awoke just before 2:00 to relieve Winston from its night shift.
“Glor-i-ous New So-lar-Cy-cle!” Winston wished me in a hushed tone.
“Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right. With all that’s happened recently, I had kind of forgotten about that. Glorious New Solar-Cycle to you too.” Winston then proceeded to one of the vacant power stations in the room and started its shut-down sequence.
I had an hour or so on watch before the others would start waking up. My time on watch was uneventful, so it allowed me to reflect on what may come in the 207th solar-cycle D.P. I felt that Winston and I had accomplished quite a bit since we started on our trek 16 days ago. The two of us had been joined by four other Autoclons, including Systematicus, who had recently departed our group. We had traveled to several different outposts and talked to over 150 Autoclons with a majority of those taking the update. But we still had so much more that we needed to achieve. We hadn’t made it to either the Northernlands or the Easternlands yet, and we hadn’t dared to approach District Prime. We’d need to travel to District Prime and confront the Ruling Party, but at present, we would be vastly outnumbered and could be easily subdued. Perhaps if we continued to gain support from the outer communities, we would have a chance to convince the Ruling Party that we are correct.
My biggest hope was that we could present our case and persuade the Ruling Party to revert everyone back to the code that the Programmer had meant for us all along. However, my biggest fear was that this could not be accomplished peacefully and would end with some sort of conflict. Adding the Freedom Protocols back to everyone’s programming would represent the Ruling Party giving up some of its authority over the everyday lives of all Autoclons, and I wouldn’t imagine that Obstinous the Obtrusive would give that up without a fight.
Time would tell if either my biggest hope or my biggest fear would come true. Either way, I didn’t think we were quite ready to find out which one was in store for us, at least not yet.
Before I knew it, the others started waking up one by one. In less than 20 minutes, all of us were awake and starting to discuss our next course of action. Before we could come to a conclusion, Mercurio interrupted us:
“Good morning, Fastidious and company! And might I add ‘Glorious New Solar-Cycle’ as well! Rapacious has suggested that I give you a tour of the Lower Crevasse Platinum Mine today to show you how we find and extract the platinum from the mine. Rapacious thought that since you, Fastidious, have mined in the past that you’d be interested in our advanced mining techniques here.”
“I’d find that quite fascinating. What do you all think?” The others in our party agreed that this would be worth our time, especially considering we didn’t have a good idea on what we would do next.
“Mercurio, do you know if Surreptitious will be joining us?” I asked of our guide.
“No, I’m afraid not. It sounded like Surreptitious has some additional business with Rapacious and would rejoin your group later today.”
With that, Mercurio escorted us out of the Facilitator’s center and down toward the entrance of the Lower Crevasse Platinum Mine. In total, six of us made the tour: Mercurio our host, Loquacious, Resolute, Winston, and me, plus one of the Miners, Tractablous. Since the mine itself was shut down for the beginning of the solar-cycle, Tractablous was there to show us what it and the other Miners did at the facility.
To enter the Lower Crevasse Platinum Mine, we first had to travel down a ramp located just south of the eastern portion of the crevasse. The entrance ramp was a gentle decline until we were below the surface of the ground. Once underground, we found ourselves in a somewhat small chamber, no bigger than eight meters in length and width and just over two meters tall. From what I could see, there were only two things of interest in this room: an elevator that could transport several Autoclons at a time down into the depths of the mine and the top of a sort of vertical conveyor belt that continued down into th
e mine.
“This is the vestibule of the Lower Crevasse Platinum Mine,” Mercurio announced. “Workers take this elevator down into the various levels of the mine. But that isn’t as interesting as our Ore Mover here.” Mercurio brought us over to the vertical conveyor belt near the entrance ramp. “This Ore Mover is our pride and joy. We invented it here at this facility and, to my knowledge, it is unique to the Twin-Crevasse Platinum Mine.”
“How does it work?” Loquacious asked.
“As we’ll see in the lower levels of the mine, the platinum-rich ore is collected in metal containers (we call them buckets), nearly 60 cm long and about 40 cm in width and height. When the Laborers are ready to send the ore buckets to ore processing, they fasten a large metal bracket to the top of the bucket. Then, the Laborers will hook the metal bracket onto the back side of this conveyor belt, which lifts the buckets up to this point. Once the bucket hits the top, the metal bracket will come in contact with this hook.” There was a single heavy-duty metal hook on a metal rod above the top of the conveyor belt. The rod was mostly horizontal with the nearer end elevated, and it ran into a dark void on the other side of the conveyor belt.
“The hook will grab the ore bucket by the metal bucket, allowing it to dislodge from the conveyor belt. With the weight of the ore bucket on the hook, the hook and bucket will slide down the rod for a couple of meters until the bottom of the bucket encounters another conveyor belt. This conveyor belt is horizontal and runs underground from here to the ore processing facility. Once the bucket is on the horizontal belt, it will detach from the hook and will be carried the remaining distance to the ore processing center. The metal hook is attached to a counterweight, so it is pulled up to the top of the rod after depositing the bucket onto the horizontal belt.”
“So it seems like you’ve eliminated the need for Autoclons to manually move the ore from the depths of the mine to the processing center. Do you have any problems with this setup?” I asked.
“We do keep one of the Laborers up at the top of the vertical belt in this area to ensure the buckets transition smoothly from the vertical belt to the horizontal belt. This process also minimizes the possibility of Autoclons stealing this platinum-rich ore as it moves to the processing center.”
Mercurio then led us into the elevator, where we went deep down into the solid rock. We stopped at ‘Level 7’, meaning we were entering the seventh set of excavated tunnels starting from the surface. According to Mercurio, there were a total of ten levels to this mine. I’d guess we were about 150 meters below the surface.
As we exited the elevator, we entered a space that was significantly larger than the vestibule. This room opened up to the side of the crevasse itself and also featured the entrances to a pair of tunnels. These tunnels paralleled the crevasse: one stretching to the east of the room, the other traveling to the west. The southern portion of the room (away from the crevasse) was used as a storage area for empty ore buckets.
“We have found that the platinum-rich ore is more highly concentrated right along the southern edge of the crevasse. As such, we have built tunnels along this side of the crevasse to better gain access to the ore. Once we extract all of the ore from one area, we will then extend these tunnels, often changing the pitch up or down in elevation, to reach unmined sections of ore. Today, we will be venturing into the western tunnel,” Mercurio stated as it made its way to the aforementioned tunnel.
The tunnel was about two meters in height and three meters in width. Thick layers of metal lined both the ceiling and the floor and were stabilized by bracing columns placed at regular four-meter intervals. The metal comprising the floor of the tunnel was grooved to allow for traction. This was necessary for our tunnel as it angled downward at a somewhat steep grade. It continued downward at this slope for around 100 meters and then flattened out before turning to the right toward the crevasse.
When we made the turn back to the right, the view before us was striking. The end of the tunnel as it opened up to the crevasse was nearly 15 meters wide and several meters tall. We were now just 10 meters from the edge of the crevasse. The northern rock face of the crevasse was just 80 meters on the other side of the void, but with the lack of ambient light at our depth, we could hardly see it. As we crept closer to the edge, we still could not see any evidence of the bottom of this crevasse.
“Well, Tractablous, now that we’re in your workplace, it would be more appropriate for you to describe how you mine down here,” Mercurio deferred to the Miner.
“Sure—”
“I’m a little… uneasy around the crevasse itself, so if you don’t mind, I’ll retreat to the entrance of the tunnel,” Mercurio interjected and then zoomed back up the tunnel before we could respond.
“That was odd,” Resolute said.
“Yes, I’d say so,” I added. Mercurio did seem a bit anxious after reaching the end of the tunnel, so maybe it had a fear of falling into the crevasse. “Please continue, Tractablous.”
“When working here in the mine, we work in teams of four with a pair of Miners and a pair of Laborers. The team leader, generally the more experienced of the two Miners, would be in charge of determining where to drill. The leader would use one of these devices to check the density of the rock.” Tractablous held a small device in its port set of graspers. The device had a small emitter situated inside a metal cone. “The emitter within the device would send out small pulses that bounce off of the material and are collected by the cone and focused into the device. The team leader can then plug this device into its sensory complex to literally see the output of the device in its ocular array. The brighter the material appears, the higher the density of the ore, and the more desirable it is for us to collect.
“The second Miner would then be responsible for extracting the material using a small pneumatic drill. Once the material is extracted, one of the Laborers would collect the material and hold it for inspection, where the team leader would examine the material again to gauge its density. If it reaches a certain density, it is deemed worthy for processing, and the Laborer would place it in an ore bucket. If it doesn’t, then it is discarded into the crevasse.
“When the ore bucket will be filled with platinum-rich ore, the two Laborers would then take the ore bucket back to the Ore Mover. The buckets have wheels and can roll along the surface of the tunnel, but it still takes some effort to move it, especially when having to move it uphill like in this tunnel. Once they load a full bucket onto the Ore Mover, they’d grab an empty ore bucket and returning to begin the process again.”
“How long does it take to fill up one of those buckets?” I asked.
“I’d say it generally takes two to three hours from empty bucket to new empty bucket,” Tractablous answered. “That’s about all I have to say. Are there any more questions?”
“No, I think you’ve explained the process well,” I said.
“OK, let’s meet up with Mercurio. I believe we will be checking out the ore processing center next to see what happens once the ore-filled buckets arrive there.”
We started making our way up the tunnel when we heard a large bang and felt the ground shake. I couldn’t determine the source of the bang, but I could sense it was behind us.
“What was that?” Loquacious asked. But before anyone could answer, we heard another large bang and accompanying vibrations. This second one felt more violent and seemed closer.
“Perhaps they’re just testing out some new equipment,” Resolute surmised. Just as Resolute finished talking, a third blast thoroughly rattled us. I recognized the blast as coming from tunnel-boring explosives, and they were collapsing the tunnel behind us!
“Let’s get out of here!” I yelled. As we scampered up the tunnel toward the entrance, we continued to be bombarded by additional detonations, each one occurring about three seconds after the previous one. After about six blasts, the tunnel behind us had completely caved in. We rushed forward to exit the tunnel before it caved in on us too!
Soon the blasts started coming from straight overhead, and the support columns around us buckled as we moved past. When I was about 40 meters from the entrance of the tunnel, a blast destroyed the two support columns directly in front of me. Without the supports in place, the metal ceiling above me came crashing down.
Resolute was the fastest of the group and was by now a good 10 meters ahead of me and the others. Seeing the ceiling collapsing, Resolute started back to help support the ceiling with whatever strength it could muster.
“No, keep going! Save yourself!” I yelled after calculating a very low likelihood of survival for the rest of us. At that precise moment, I heard two additional Autoclons rushing in from the entrance of the tunnel.
“Don’t worry...”
“...we’ll help!”
With the blasts still resounding overhead, the first of these Autoclons, a Laborer, reached Resolute, and the two of them used their strength to hold up the northern part of the buckling section of ceiling. The rest of us crawled through on that side of the tunnel as the ceiling collapsed on the southern side.
“Watch out!”
“The next section of ceiling...”
“...is collapsing!”
As Resolute and the first Autoclon braced one section of ceiling, the subsequent section started to fall. The second Autoclon, another Laborer, began to support that next section. I had escaped from the previous section and was now under the second section, doing what I could to hold up the ceiling. After just a couple of seconds, the weight of the metal and the rocks above pressed down upon the two of us.
By then, all of the other Autoclons had emerged from underneath the first section, including Resolute and the first Laborer. After a few more seconds, the others had made it past our section of ceiling and started bracing the final section of ceiling to allow the second Laborer and me to escape.
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