Oh, wow. I'm tempted to panic, but I can't bring myself to worry in such a sight. It's not every day that you see trees in shades of purple and a magical land. For a moment, my only regret is that my footfalls aren't light enough to disturb the glass - wait a second - I look around for more disturbances in the glass surface.

Then, I look over at the cone-shaped thing that is moving. Does it appear to be mechanical or organic from here? I want to approach it, but focus my footfalls to be a gentle as possible to avoid breaking the glass anymore.

In reply to Krillis (msg # 7):

The glass does break under your feet, but your care makes it a lot less.  You approach the mechanical cone shape, and as you get closer,  you can see its engaging in repetitive actions.

I continue to approach the mechanical, cone-shaped, moving object in the distant. I focus on how large the object is, if it's manned, and what kind of motion it's making.

If it is manned, who or what is manning the machine?

If it is unmanned, does it appear to have a particular power source that I can tell from where I am?

Four feet tall, two wide at the base.  It is vacuuming a ten foot square, except for two notches in the side of the farthest side which are one foot square where it does not vacuum.  It shudders at it moves.  There is dust all over its once white exterior.

There is a metal antenna on top that sparks occasionally.


It is unmanned.

"Hey there, little fella." I announce, approaching it. I pat it on the top part, near the antenna but being careful not to be so rough as to damage it. "Looks like you and I are in something of a weird situation."

I am talking to it more for my benefit than due to expecting a response. It's a coping mechanism to stay cool - I manage it better when I talk through it.

Does the thing vacuum the same 10 square feet over and over again or is it 10 square feet at a time?

Assuming it doesn't do anything that I wouldn't expect a machine to (like respond), I hang out with it and hope that it either has a place it's programmed to return to or has an owner who will eventually come and check on it.

In reply to Krillis (msg # 11):

It stops when you address it.

"Greetings, Human.  I need repair.  It has been 342 cycles since my last repair.  It is a weird situation, indeed."


Same ten square feet over and over.


After a bit, you recognize what looks like the foundations of a room at the edge of its cleaning zone.  If the foundations had totally decayed into ruin from many, many decades....or more.

My skeleton attempts to leap out of my skin when the robot responds, and I can feel my heart rate rise. It takes a couple of breaths, but I slow it down and hope that the robot doesn't notice the sudden change.

"Greetings." That is the only reply I can muster before I gather myself mentally. The robot has been here for 342 cycles...years or days. Either way, that has been a while since a human has come and checked in on this particular machine. Waiting for help seems to be out of the question.

First, I want to ask the robot its name. "What should I call you?"

Then, I will proceed to communicate using whatever designation it gives me for a name, model, etc... "Do you have any information on the most recent history? What happened around here, and what is the glass all around us on the ground? Has it always been this way?"


I check myself finally to see if I'm dreaming, but realize quickly that I'm not. I remember my dreams frequently and have lucid dreamt in the past. There's no way that this is one of them...

In reply to Krillis (msg # 13):

The robot does not seem to notice.

"My owner called me 'CleanbotOne'.  I am a Near Corcidian built, Hammler Company, Small Household Self-Aware Robot for Light Use, Model #32."

"I do not pay attention to aspects out of my job.  No, it has not always been this way.  My last recording of Sir Vilhel Tejer, my owner may enlighten. I do hope so."

A panicked male voice with an odd accent speaks.

" Gasp. The rebels are bringing it down.  Lykon City is toast. No, Susie, no, get the boy and run. I'll meet you at the shelter, if...I love you.
"What should I do, Master? Can I help?" Its the voice of the bot but more clear.
"What? Uh, just clean this room until I get back." Door slams, and the sound of blaring sirens fills the air."

After hearing everything that CleanbotOne has to say, which is very unsettling, I decide to focus on the task at hand. While I need to find out what happened in more detail and find a safe place to be (out here in the open feels less safe by the minute), I can at least help this robot out and maybe it can help me, too.

"So, you do confirm that your programmed name is CleanbotOne, a Hammler Company Model #32 owned by a Sir Vilhel Tejer. Good, that saves me the effort to continue searching for you. Sir Vilhel Tejer willed you to me via his last will and testament before his timely demise. You are actually my property now, but I am not entirely sure that I understand your functions. Can you please review them for me before we head out to seek shelter?"

In reply to Krillis (msg # 15):

"Excellent, new Master." The robot sounds relieved.  "I am a Light Housekeeping model, tasked with cleaning of the house, cleaning of apparrel, minor mending, cooking, food presentation, nutrition optimization, tending of small garden plots or decorative stands, accompanying a human in shopping, or chaperoning of young females, or serving as a caddy.  In extremis, I  may act as a defender if ordered by my master.  However, my combat capabilities are limited to  non-lethal sonics."

"Master, I must report that I have severe degradation of my vaccuuming function, and my mobility function is significantly degraded as well.  My speed over interior unobstructed space is limited to three mph.  In general, I suffer degradation from ten to thirty percent of all functions."

"Excellent, indeed. Please refer to me as 'Mr. Wright' instead of 'Master'. Additionally, I will begin referring to you as Jeeves. Please reorient yourself to the new names. Now, we need to get to business of locating a suitable place to thoroughly check and repair you."

I look over Jeeves and sigh. He is certainly not in good shape, and that will have to be addressed eventually, but we'll need to settle this shelter problem first.

"Jeeves, we need to find shelter appropriate for a human. I'm afraid that your old home will not suffice. I was considering looking into travel to find something appropriate. Can you please tell me if you can navigate to any of the following: the nearest city, Lykon City, a neighbor's house, or the shelter that the late Sir Tejer referred to in your last interaction? I'm afraid I have become lost and am unfamiliar with the terrain here."

After I get this information, I open it up to Jeeves, "Do you have any other ideas about where a human could find shelter for the night, and maybe even gather some information on where we are?"

In reply to Krillis (msg # 17):

"Mr. Right, righty-ho, my name is Jeeves.  Lykon City is the nearest city." And it spins to face the craggy mountains in the midst of the glass. It pauses. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Near Corcidian seems to have impacted on the former location of Lykon City.  Are my optical sensors working correctly?"

After that it tells you that it does know the route to the shelter for the Tejar Extended Family and Associates.

"I stand corrected. Your optical sensors do seem to be working well."

I take a mental note of the phrase 'New Corcidian' to ask Jeeves about on our walk. "Can you lead me to the shelter now? Unless there is some hidden cache of repair materials for you around here somewhere?" I look around for good effect.

If he does mention some hidden cache, I might look into actually trying to repair some simple parts for Jeeves; otherwise, I want to go ahead and start walking to the shelter at a speed slightly slower than Jeeves claims to be capable of moving.

In reply to Krillis (msg # 19):

"Thank you, Mr. Right."  And it leads you farther away from the Glass Valley.  After a bit, you can tell that the pasture land you're walking over is a former roadbed.  Jeeves takes you on a zig-zag course, following the paths of ancient streets, even when it would be simpler to just cut across a now empty lot.

You come to a white wall, thirty feet tall, and thick.  Its marked by cracks and impact craters but not nearly broken.

"West 72nd Street Gate is set to Lock Shut." And now that hementions it, you can see the outlines of a forty foot wide gate by thin lines in the wall.

I make no comment about Jeeves's course as he follows the former streets. It's strangely reassuring to see him follow the old rules, and it could be helpful information in the future. I wonder how far out his maps go - he might know about more shelters if this one is a bust.

"This is an unfortunate roadblock for us, Jeeves." I look around the wall to see if I can see any more creases - for a human-sized entrance instead of a larger one. I'm hoping for a way for people to get in in case they accidentally get locked out in case of emergency. No promises that I'd be able to get in that way, but it's worth a shot. At the same time, I ask Jeeves, "Do you know of another way in or is there a way for you to access the controls remotely to unlock the gate?"

Regardless, I realize that Jeeves might have issues about being left alone by his owner, so if I run into a situation where I need to enter a space that he needs to wait outside, let me know, because I will want to reassure him that I will return.

In reply to Krillis (msg # 21):

You spot a set of seams for a human sized door in the middle of the greater gate.

"The secondary portal has defaulted to Open on Request after no requests in 99 cycles." Jeeves sounds a bit surprised.  "Stupid door."

"Not stupid." A voice from the gate replies.
"Dumb as a doorknob." Jeeves snaps back.
  The door slides to the side, and you see a forty foot long white walled square sided tunnel leading to a white wall at the end.

I smirk slightly when Jeeves makes the joke. The smile originates less from how funny the joke and more from the fact that Jeeves is actually capable of it.

I invite Jeeves to follow me, and I proceed down the now-open path. "Jeeves, are you aware of the layout of this place? Additionally, do you have the capabilities of sensing human-sized lifeforms outside of visual range?"

In reply to Krillis (msg # 23):

"I have a basic level map.  Also, I have low power, extremely short range sonar which enables me to locate my human masters in the Tejar Household while in another room.  Also, as you had asked about Near Corcidian.  The name is because Lord Corcidian gave his asteroid in two parts, one larger part, called Far Corcidian, and the smaller part to the younger son, which was moved to near Lykon City, and hence became Near Corcidian."

You come to the end of the passageway, and the door on the end opens up.  Following down more roads, with some signs of surviving foundations, you come to a metal circular 'door' in the ground.  Its of brass.  On it reads 'Tejar Extended Family Shelter.'  Its half open.

It is concerning to see the door already opened. Perhaps they've already evacuated this spot and deemed it unsafe. But, at the very least, this could mean potential shelter while I try to figure out where I am and how to get back home.

If Jeeves can join me down the manhole, I invite him to come. Otherwise, I instruct him to rest up here while I go down to check things out. I want to reassure him that I will be back, be this the case. He's been abandoned before, and I don't want to cause him undue psychological strain - I know he's a robot, but still... it had to be rough to be alone for that long when his master said that he'd be right back.

In reply to Krillis (msg # 25):

He can manage stairs, even stairs covered with dirt and sand.  You descend and glowing spots on the walls appear that shed light.  Its no tech you're familiar with as it looks like a painted circle on the wall.

You come down fifty yards, and leave the dirt behind.  A five foot thick wall of the white wall material is open.  Entering it, you see a large common room dotted with tables and chairs, and non-functioning robots.

Glowing on the wall is a sign 'Tejar Clan Security Bunker." Two dozen doors line the walls.  And two main passageways, one on the the left, and the other on the right lead off from the room.

These walls are concrete.

As I walk these halls, I can't help to recall the Fallout games I have played and wonder if there's some sort of connection.

Once we're past the five-foot-thick wall, I ask Jeeves to please see if he can identify any lifeforms in the area. If he can, I want to call out to see if anyone is there. If he cannot, rather than picking a direction at random, I will look around to see if there's any map or indication of where these passages actually go.

A map on the wall of some ancient plastic shows a A hall, B main hall (which you're in), and a C hall.  Most of it is sleeping quarters and storage chambers.

"Down the right hall, I sense a Kreggor Company, modified bioform." Further questions reveal that its a six legged wolf that glows green at night.  "It is approaching at low speed."

Sounds like we're being stalked by some kind of wolf, then... They're normally pack animals, so hopefully we can win it over. I consider taking one from Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, but decide that might leave me too vulnerable. Instead, I want to improvise a weapon from something nearby. Preferably metal and hefty enough to pack a punch. Then, I back away from that direction with Jeeves. Hopefully, this will buy me some valuable time to get more information.

"Jeeves, is this wolf generally hostile towards people? Is there any way to command it or are we going to have to fight it off?"

In reply to Krillis (msg # 29):

"Kreggers were biological house defense systems and pets.  They would have command words hardcoded into their DNA.  I..."

He pauses.

"Von." And the Kregger comes out wagging its tail even as you pick up a small table by its single leg.  It walks up to you, and rolls over on its belly.

"You  have to have a calm, authoritative voice, in the octave of B, with no rise or fall of your voice, and the code word..." Jeeves explains.  "This is what the Tejers were as a class, Von's."

Its a long, thin beast with gray black fur with green tints in the fur.  It has a wolf like head larger than normal.

I've never been good with singing certain notes or anything like that, but I have matched pitch before.

Where I have shined, though, is practice training my dog, so I know how to give a command with the tone that I expect it to be done without being aggressive.

I try to match Jeeves' pitch and say, "sit" while I snap my fingers to give a non-verbal and verbal cue for the trick. At this point, I'm just trying to make sure he'll respond to my commands as well. It wouldn't hurt to have more company.

If the bioform ends up being docile with me, I command the dog to join me while we explore the facility in the direction the bioform came from.

OOC: Did it seem Jeeves referred to its name as Von? I didn't follow why the dog responded to that word.