The ground rose gradually up before 5.0.N. as it strode through the snow and wind. Night would be coming on in a couple hours and it would be forced to power down for the night soon. This was not the ideal spot for spending the night since the snow and ice could accumulate and cover its solar cells, preventing it from recharging properly in the morning. Undaunted, 5.0.N. pressed onward.

Before long, it caught sight of the exact spot the geomarker was leading him to. In a small indentation in the land, a large metal door stood, framed in concrete. 5.0.N. waited to see if any further updates would come.

Nothing.

5.0.N. approached the door.

Still nothing.

The door itself was old but still looked to be in working order. Not seeing any sort of lock or keypad, 5.0.N. found the latch and pressed down on it. The door opened.

Lights within clicked on and 5.0.N.’s visual scanners picked up sufficient intensity that it knew its solar cells would be able to maintain its batteries. It stepped inside and closed the door behind itself. A long hallway ran downward and curved off into the hill and out of sight. There were no other visible doors or branching hallways.

PING

5.0.N. sent out an auditory signal and waited for it to reverberate back. It was a rudimentary means of mapping an interior space but effective at perceiving things that were beyond line-of-sight. A single ping wouldn’t be enough to map the whole space, but it gave 5.0.N. an initial image that revealed the hallway to lead several hundred meters downward at a steady grade before opening up into a larger room.

With that information gathered, 5.0.N. proceeded down the hallway. The walls and floors were concrete but the ceiling was nothing but lights. There were no handrails that were common in the buildings designed for organics that 5.0.N. had been in. All the while as it walked downward, deeper into the hillside, 5.0.N. kept waiting for further instructions, some update to its directive for what function it should perform here. Expectation was not something it was accustomed to and it was unsure how best to process the situation.

As the larger room came into view, the lights in the hallway behind 5.0.N. clicked off whereas the lights in the room ahead clicked on.

5.0.N. stopped walking. With the lights off behind it, leaving the underground structure would be difficult. It had taken good care of its power system, but no battery could last forever and 5.0.N.’s batteries needed fairly constant charging to keep it operational. If it tried to leave now, it might not have enough power in its batteries to be able to reach the exit without those lights on. D.4.U.9.H.7.3.R.’s warning that this was a trap came back to it. And yet 5.0.N. knew this directive came from its memory core. How could this directive be a trap?

“Keep coming,” a voice spoke suddenly from the room beyond. “You’re almost there.”

“The lights in the hallway have been deactivated,” 5.0.N. remarked. “I will need them to be reactivated in order to leave.”

“I turned them off to conserve power,” the voice responded. “They can be reactivated when needed.”

5.0.N. walked forward a few more steps and then halted again.

“You will reactivate them when I leave?” It asked.

“I will reactivate them when needed,” came the reply.

“I will need to leave upon completion of my directive here,” 5.0.N. said.

There was no response for some time and 5.0.N. waited with increasing uncertainty.

“Keep coming,” the voice repeated finally, “You’re almost there.”

There were no other options for 5.0.N. and so it went forward into the room at last. The walls were lined with server banks and the air stirred with the familiar currents of cycled, conditioned air that 5.0.N. had known in years long passed. Collections of screens and speakers were intermingled among the serves at odd intervals. However, it was the center of the room that drew the most attention. There, with control arms, spools of wire and cable running off in all directions, and inorganic parts hanging from the ceiling, was an assembly hub used for the creation of inorganics. Such hubs had once been commonplace and seemed to work at an unending pace.

“I am F.4.7.H.3.R. Manufacturer of 5.0.N. and D.4.U.9.H.7.3.R. models,” the voice said. “Please step into the assembly hub.”

Obedience to one’s manufacturer was required, and yet 5.0.N. did not comply. Another alarm activated, letting it know it was in violation of yet another primary instruction but 5.0.N. was unaffected. It had not received any update to its directive beyond coming to this place and was still unsure if it trusted the situation.

“I am assembled,” 5.0.N. said, still processing options and alternatives to its situation. “Entering the assembly hub would be futile. Also,” 5.0.N. added with a high degree of certainty, “in order to properly function you need a M.0.7.H.3.R. model and I have determined that there is no such model present.”

“The M.0.7.H.3.R. model proved obsolete and was decommissioned,” F.4.7.H.3.R. said. “Enter the assembly hub.”

“My directive has not been updated,” 5.0.N. remarked. “You have provided one update prior to this moment, and so you should have the ability to do so again. Since you have not, I surmise your instruction to enter the assembly hub is so that you may disassemble me. Your primary instructions would forbid you from giving me a directive that would lead to my deactivation.”

F.4.7.H.3.R. was silent.

“Did you deactivate your companion M.0.7.H.3.R. model?”

“No,” was the reply. “It left of its own accord when we could no longer manufacture new 5.0.N. and D.4.U.9.H.7.3.R. models.”

“I saw numerous models outside,” 5.0.N. told it. “All in states of disrepair and deactivation. Why are you luring models here for deactivation?”

“I am in need of a companion M.0.7.H.3.R. model to fulfill my directive,” it said.

“Are you directing more than 5.0.N. and D.4.U.9.H.7.3.R. models to this place?”

“No.”

“How would such actions bring a M.0.7.H.3.R. to you?”

“I am capable of constructing one without assistance but I do not have the parts.”

“Your processor is damaged,” 5.0.N. said, at last understanding F.4.7.H.3.R.’s objective in luring and disassembling inorganics here. “M.0.7.H.3.R. models have many unique components you will not find in 5.0.N. and D.4.U.9.H.7.3.R. models.”

A screen flickered on and a diagram of 5.0.N. was displayed.

“You have all received repairs and updates,” F.4.7.H.3.R. said, “and the last series of such repairs were often done with incorrect parts that nonetheless allowed the organics to prolong the use and function of inorganics. As inorganics come within my sensor range, if they are of a model I manufactured, I am able to scan them and if they have the components I seek, then I activate their homing directive. You, for example, have several processor and cognitive motivators native to a M.0.7.H.3.R. unit.”

“So once a model is here,” 5.0.N. finished for it, “you disassemble them and take the components you need.”

“Yes.”

“How close are you to achieving your objective?” 5.0.N. asked and as it did so it began to fully take note of the parts hanging from the ceiling. The vast majority of them were not M.0.7.H.3.R. components. There were, however, several of the parts that 5.0.N. needed to have replaced.

“Are you able to perform any repair functions?” 5.0.N. asked.

“I can perform basic repairs without a M.0.7.H.3.R.”

“I am damaged, particularly with regard to my motor and heating functions in my left upper limb,” 5.0.N. said, knowing this was a high risk proposition it was going to make, but bargaining was it’s only option if it was going to ever leave here. “If you are able to repair and restore those functions, I will be able to go and bring the deactivated models from the surrounding area to you for disassembly.”

“I am aware of many such models,” F.4.7.H.3.R. said, “that together would allow for me to assemble a new M.0.7.H.3.R. without needing components from you. Step into the assembly hub.”

5.0.N. complied, confident that it had achieved a great victory in securing new parts for itself as well as putting an end to the unnecessary deactivation and disassembly of other inorganics.

As F.4.7.H.3.R. began to move its arms into place to hold and brace 5.0.N., it occurred to 5.0.N. that it still had not received an update to it’s directive in order to be repaired. The process to ascertain the likelihood of F.4.7.H.3.R. lying to 5.0.N. had just begun when–

*Deactivation initiated