(Photo by Markus Spiske)”

BaBS-Y sat at its charging station for a long while, staring at its severed arm. Following its brief assault from the large cleaning robots, BaBS-Y had recovered its limb and then fled.

This unit is in need of repairs

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Thesis authorities are responsible for providing maintenance and repairs for all robots aboard the Thesis

Logic Error: Thesis authorities are antagonistic towards this unit and unlikely to provide repairs

BaBS-Y examined the broken shoulder joint. Its aluminum outer frame was bent and torn, leaving several jagged edges. The internal structure was no less broken, with wires and cables snapped at different lengths. Some of the damage looked repairable, like the wires, but the shoulder joint with its sensors and motors was beyond BaBS-Y’s skill. It doubted anything short of a full replacement would be sufficient.

This unit cannot operate the Frank Nelis Salon without two hands

Logic Error: Many styling services do not require two hands

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The Frank Nelis Salon’s only clients are trash receptacles that require wigs

This unit cannot create wigs without two hands

This unit cannot operate the Frank Nelis Salon without wigs

If only it still had its connection to the Thesis data banks. Then, at least, it could run a search for information that might help it repair its shoulder, or perhaps find where spare parts were stored.

Activating Creativity Protocols

BaBS-Y lacked confidence that it would be able to come up with a solution to this problem. It wasn’t even sure which problem it needed to solve first. Repair its arm? Obstruct the CaSS unit from being able to recharge itself? Regain its connection to the Thesis data banks?

This unit cannot see clearly or reach into the damaged shoulder sufficiently to effect repairs on its own

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This unit will require the assistance of the Thesis authorities to repair its shoulder

Logic Error: This unit only requires assistance from someone other than itself that is knowledgeable in robotics repair

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This unit is unaware of any such individual within this sector

BaBS-Y left that problem alone for now.

If CaSS unit is prevented from recharging, Thesis authorities will no longer be able to maintain the larger cleaning robots

CaSS unit was able to bypass this units barricade, potentially with assistance from the large cleaning robots

If CaSS unit is alone while it recharges, this unit could disassemble and deactivate it

If CaSS unit is accompanied by large cleaning robots, this unit could access the Frank Nelis Salon and damage remaining power tether to prevent large cleaning robots from recharging

That was promising. Even if CaSS only had one of the large cleaning robots standing guard, BaBS-Y was confident it could evade the remaining robot at the salon long enough to sufficiently damage the power tether with the straight razor it still had. It could pull it down with its arm, then hold it in place with its foot while it cut away the power tether. It didn’t need to cut all the way through. Even severing one of the wires would be enough to break the circuit.

This unit will observe how the Thesis authorities manage the CaSS unit and large cleaning robots this evening

That left only one main problem to consider.

This unit is at a severe disadvantage without access to the Thesis data banks

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Reconnecting the power tether’s data cable is not possible for this unit

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Thesis authorities are controlling the large cleaning robots and CaSS unit wirelessly, therefore wireless data access is still functional in this sector

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This unit is not equipped with a wireless dataport

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Thesis authorities are controlling the large cleaning robots and CaSS unit wirelessly, therefore those robots are equipped with wireless dataports

BaBS-Y turned to look at the partially dismantled CaSS unit it had taken the second set of batteries from. It pulled up the CaSS schematics that it had downloaded previously and located where the wireless dataport was located. It took some time to find the component on the real CaSS since it was partially disassembled but eventually BaBS-Y located it.

Logic Error: This unit will lack the requisite programming to operate the wireless dataport

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The CaSS unit has the program on its data storage

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This unit is not compatible with CaSS data storage

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Some hardware has requisite programming embedded within itself

It was a long shot but BaBS-Y didn’t know what else to do. If it didn’t work, it didn’t work. There was little risk on BaBS-Y’s side of things.

It opened its chest access panel. Inside were several slots for various upgrade components, one of which was the wireless dataport. BaBS-Y slid it into place.

New hardware detected

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Identifying new hardware

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Wireless dataport detected

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Installing drivers

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Initializing new wireless dataport

BaBS-Y’s connection to the Thesis data banks came back a moment later.

Thesis authorities will seek to sever this data connection

Update wireless username to CaSS00384

It took the name of the CaSS unit the wireless dataport had come from. Unless the Thesis authorities were looking specifically for any irregularities, BaBS-Y was confident that it would go unnoticed. At least, it would be far less conspicuous than its previous username of BaBSY0005

Run a search for BaBS-Y maintenance and repair manuals

Run a search on large cleaning robots: Identify product line, manufacturer, and download users manual and schematics

As new information began to stream into BaBS-Y’s memory, it knew it had a chance. It wouldn’t trust too greatly on this renewed connection to the Thesis data banks, but it would make the most use of it while it could. How long would the Thesis authorities take to recognize what BaBS-Y was doing? If they were keeping an eye on the data being requested, and where those requests were originating from, then it wouldn’t take them very long at all. Then again, if they weren’t looking for anything out of the ordinary then perhaps BaBS-Y would be able to keep its connection longer.

In fact…

Initialize New Program Writing Protocols

From the information it had previously downloaded to allow it to reprogram the first CaSS unit, BaBS-Y had become aware of the idea of creating protocols that would operate outside of itself. If it could write a program to keep BaBS-Y’s wireless activities hidden and then install it onto the Thesis Main Systems then BaBS-Y could ensure the Thesis authorities would never realize what it was doing. In fact, there might very well be a whole host of things BaBS-Y could do if it could begin implementing such programs.