Commencnce maintenance (open)

Tiny Tin was wandering the lower ward, repairing what faults or damage he found while the scanners on the unit continued to run constantly checking for issues in the superstructure, or in the smaller structures, he would repair the separate hab units that others used just as much as the city itself picking up scrap parts where he found them and adding them to his supplies that he used to fix larger issues. He was a regular site in the lower ward, in fact he was almost exclusive to this area as he found the most damage and needs of maintenance were down here, he had once ventured elsewhere in the city and had found that his services where not as required, and he was often called a "lower ward drone" in the other parts of the city.

To that end he assumed that was his new designation inside the city, and so he wandered the lower ward doing his duty to protect and repair, quite often some would call him by the designation carved into the side of his body, a name he took care of, He figured it was good to have people comfortable with his presence, though when he first reactivated he tried to stay behinds the scenes like he had always done, but he found that caused people to worry so he switched his tactics and it seemed to work much better as some even helped him gather supplies for his efforts.

As he walked by what was some sort of attempt at a cafe in the lower ward he waved to the people sitting at the bare like structure there all of whom waved back as he stopped and started to fix one of the stools that looked like it had been damaged, he also fixed the coffee machine while he was at it before moving on, the people waving to him and the one running the place thanking him. Currently he was simply doing his duty, eventually he would have to return to his own hanger for a recharge and supplies check with the generator. But for now he continued his rounds.

I was walking back from a long day at 'Mementos,' it was rare for customers to come in but when they do the requests were no easy task. I had my trusty Magnum Opus slung across my back, the only line of defense protecting my shop and home. Just getting back from the shop, I had my work attire on with machine oil and dirt smeared all across it.

As I navigated the tight streets of the slums a strange machine chugged into view. I immediately pulled out my work goggles and began to line magnifying glasses over my eyes to observe the contraption from afar. "Tiny... Tin?"I mutter as I read the carving on its body. I think I remembered rumors swirling around about a strange robot cleaning the streets, although it's completely pointless as everything that gets fixed or tidied up gets ruined an hour later. What surprised me the most is the fact that no one has tried to salvage the thing for parts yet. Being one of the stranger more inanimate things I've come across I just stood there, observing, waiting for it to come closer.

Tiny Tin noticed someone stopping in the street, well it wasn't odd but the work goggles were a tiny bit out of place, however a quick scan showed he had no weapons ready so Tiny Tin continued his rounds, though as he passed a small home a woman came out "Oh Tiny your making your rounds? here..I don't need these...but..could you fix my door please?" the woman asked him as she handed him a large pile of scrap metal.

Tiny Tin looked to the woman and nodded "I am here to assist" he said as he took the scrap and placed it into his storage bay, then he looked to the woman's door, and he started to do the repair work she asked, it was simple really a hinge change and a and repairing a metal fracture along the body. but after a few moments of welding and screw-driving he finished and she thanked him before Tiny Tin continued on his way walking near the man that had been watching him "Greetings Inhabitant...is there something that you need?" he asked as he assumed he needed some form of help if he had been watching him this entire time.

"No I'm fine but uuuh what are you?" I ask as I circle the machine, trying to get a full scope of its features. It didn't look extremely futuristic but it seemed to have a conscious or some sort of AI which was a surprise in itself. The repairs it did were meticulous and people around here seemed to have gotten used to its services. Weird as with the Slum's ever changing landscape it would have to be able to navigate extremely well to maintain a single area. That being said I didn't know much about its patrol path or what its primary objective even is. "So what planet are you from Tiny Tin?"

"This Unit is Designated a "Lower Ward Drone" however it has been given the Designation "Tiny Tin" by the inhabitants" he answered as he gestured to the scraping on the side of his body, as he explained, and the person circled around him getting a good look at him, he waited though to see if it in fact did need something, though eventually it asked a second question, one that was a fair bit odd "This unit is from this planet" he said simply as he looked to the man, still waiting for any other requests from him, he had a lot of ward to cover, as he took care of the whole place, he had to wonder were the other Lower ward drones were to help with the maintenance, but maybe he was the only one as the others were used to maintain higher wards? that would fall in line with an increase of population. it was a thing like this that made him remember he needed to find his sibling units.

"Uhh, you see I live over there" I say gesturing to my right... "Somewhere" I mutter, hoping to god that things didn't get moved around again. However, throughout the years as more places get stacked on the bottom levels of the slum become more stable as a result. As such, at this point, my home didn't move around as much as before. "The thing is I've lived here for a couple years and I'm pretty sure that we don't have drones in the lower ward that assist residents... Because we mostly don't have anything down here." I say as I put my hands on my hips. The fact that he said 'planet' also bugged me, not many people consider this place a planet it's more of a 'thing' or 'place' as it sure as hell didn't follow any rules that celestial bodies are supposed to.

Tiny Tin looked in the indicated direction, leaning every so slightly to see past the man before returning to a normal standing position, though once told he resumed looking at the man as he started to explain that this place had no Drones and to that Tiny Tin found very odd as he was such a drone, perhaps it was the lack of contact with him that made this man think there were none? if so that would simply change by meeting him and so Tiny Tin Addressed the statement.

"This unit is the only Unit assigned to the area, as such This unit must do all Maintenance work alone, Apologize if this Unit has not been able to make it to your sector for duty, It will endeavor to reach the indicated sector as soon as possible" he stated as he assumed the man was actually filing a complaint for lack of service. "Is there any immediate Maintenance needs in the indicated area that need attention?"

I tilt my head sideways, how sentient is this machine? It seems to have prime directives inputted into it and operates purely on a need to know basis. How does it even manage to map out a sector when things could change at any moment? Either way, I didn't really have a lot of time at the moment to figure this out, Junction was preparing for a jump soon and I had to get my home in order to prepare for the inevitable shitstorm- wait a minute. "Oh yeah, do you do house calls? I got a couple things that could use your attention" I ask, might as well take advantage of the situation.

Tiny Tin listened to the mans request and he nodded "But of course, as maintenance and the well being of the residences are my priority this Unit can help with Domicile repairs if required...are you in need of services?" he asked as he looked at the man, his normal route could always wait domicile repairs were far more important as improperly repaired homes could cause harm to the occupants, and thus was a matter of safety of the populous so he was ready to go help if required.

"Yeah, I warn you it's a doozy though," I say as I begin leading Tiny Tin in the general direction of my home. Then another thought came to me as I continued to lead the robot towards my dwelling. "So Tiny Tin could you tell me what 5 times 10 is? Could you also tell me the colour of my hair?" I asked while I got a notebook out from my bag.

The small robot nodded as he started to follow the man, if he required aid that was to take precedence over his rounds, as it could be finished quickly and then he could return to his previous location to continue his planned route through the more active part of the slums before returning to the outer area and continuing repair work to make it livable out there. However as they walked the man started to ask rather odd questions, however Tiny Tin didn't ask why he was asking them, he simply answered the questions the man had.

"Five times ten is Fifty, and your hair color is black" he answered as he looked to the male, as he seemed to be taking notes "is there a reason for such questions? Do they have meaning to the help required?" he asked as he followed, as he was trying to figure out what the help needed may be, if it was something such as maintenance of an object of the home itself that would be easy to handle, if it was something more abstract that may be a bit tougher, but he would still try his best to be of assistance.

"Oh don't worry about my questions, I'm just trying to make conversation," I say with a smile as I begin scribbling down his answers in the notepad. I titled the entry with his name, 'Tiny Tin,' and began to list my findings. "Able to interpret factually complex questions and understand the meaning behind them" I write as I continued from where I left off. "So out of curiosity what would get to our house faster? Us on foot or someone else in a bike? Also just another random thought but how can we be sure that air exists?"

Tiny Tin continued to follow the man, being told that he was just making idle conversation, and so he accepted that answer, it seemed the man preferred it to silence and he had noticed that others tended to as well so he simply continued walking with the man, deciding to answer his questions to ease his mind if that was his need for it. His next questions where ones most people would look at him strangely for, but Tiny Tin only answered them factually.

"That would depend on the accessibility of the location in which your domicile is in, if the area is harder to reach by bicycle, then we would arrive faster, if the place is easily accessible by both then the bicycle would arrive sooner, this question is further expanded by the type of bike in question, is it a two wheeled land bike or a hover bike? however assuming we are remaining at the same transportation limit assuming a wheeled variant of bike makes sense, so my answers to the differing terrain stand" he said as he answered the question to it's fullest.

The second question was far simpler to answer "Air is a chemical combination of various gasses, the existence of air can be found by use of scanners that detect these gasses and measure their concentration to determine if the air is breathable by human life, Air also requires an atmosphere or containment measures to prevent it from simply dissipating in a vacuum" he answered as they continued to walk but then he decided if the man walked to talk he could at least ask questions back, though questions were not on his mind as he decided to ask a riddle "What has nether Hinges, key, nor lid....but golden treasure inside is hid?" he asked a riddle he had gotten from a literary source in his data banks.

I smile, excited as Tiny Tin answered both questions meticulously. I began furiously writing down notes again, Has a high level of logic and reasoning and is able to understand more abstract concepts. I was surprised as the robot asked me a riddle in return, actually noting that I was trying to make conversation and adding its own input. I record my findings as I gave it my best shot, "I don't know it's kind of subjective, I would guess gold ore?" Turns out riddles were not my strong suit. I begin to recognize my surroundings better as we neared my home. "So Tiny Tin, if your life was about to end what is the last thing you would want to do?"

As they walked the Small robot took his answer and ran it against the answer of the riddle, as they did not match, and the man had made his guess, according to the rules laid out in the literature he had failed the riddle and could no longer make any guesses, so he was to be told the answer, With that Tiny Tin walked with him and before he could answer the man asked him another question, a question that was rather odd to be honest as technically he had died once before, at least his shutdown had been akin to what a living creature would call death.

"Find my sibling units..." he said so suddenly it even surprised him, even the tone of his voice sounded sad, but rather then dwell on it he then proceeded to let the man know the answer to the riddle that he failed "The answer to the Riddle was an egg" he said to him as he continued to walk with the man.