Dead end? [Tiny Tin]

Great. Just great. If there was a place that would definitely make it high in the annoyance level rankings, it'd be the Slums. Just because of their ever-changing nature. How is one supposed to be able to navigate a place that can't stay the same? So many additions coming in with every realm hop were a pain to keep up with, to be honest. Which all came down to this current moment. On one hand, Ace was finally finished delivering all of the letters he had for today, even the messy ones...but on the other, he kind of wasn't completely sure where he was anymore. This lower place was such a maze at times man.

Geezus. Well, guess he would have to try to ask for help? Maybe someone could point him in a direction of a location he recognized. Once he found one, he ought to be able to make his way out of this labyrinth. Assuming he could find someone out and about somewhere nearby right now. ''Is anybody heree...?''

Tiny Tin had been doing one of his regular rounds of the area, fixing parts that needed repair, and collecting any scrap that could be useful in those repairs, some people in the slums had even given him piles of scrap in exchange for fixing specific things, and he would of course do the work even if he wasn't given the scrap, however the scrap did help him help others and to keep the paths repaired for the safety of the people that lived in this section, so it was that he was currently fixing an overhead walkway when he heard someone calling, and he finished his work before landing on the ground and walking in the direction of the voice.

It did take a bit of time for him to reach the turn that the voice was behind but as he turned the corner Tiny Tin spotted the man and started to walk towards him "Greetings Civil servant...how may I be of assistance?" he said as he walked up to the man and looked up at him waiting to hear how he could be of help to the man who seemed to be waiting for such a thing.

At first, it seemed that he wouldn't have much luck locating someone in this particular area, and he was about ready to try to just set off wandering on his own until he found a way out of here. Only to come face to face with...a boxy robot? Ace would blink a few times at the strangeness. Was that a resident of some mechanical race or just a man-made robot? Welp, that was a question he had no answer for. It seemed to be offering help though, so hey, maybe all would be good today?

Tiny Tin listened to the mans request as he nodded a bit "The streets here change constantly due to constant development, the streets are rarely the same twice, however sometimes they can get dangerous, this unit will guide you out, and act as protection if need be" he said as he looked to the boy, he seemed to be of mutant descent, but it wasn't for him to decide who was allowed to be a citizen of the ARK so he simply decided perhaps smarter more peaceful Mutants had been allowed to join? it made sense as he had seen quite a large number of them since his activation.

As he finished scanning the boy he turned and started to make his way down the street, though he was going as a rather slow pace, one that someone could easily out pace with a simple fast walk, though Tiny Tin was doing it for the reason of making sure he updated his map with his scans constantly, to keep his map up to date, and also to scan for any possible trouble.

''Yeeeah, that's kinda why I got lost in the first place. This place sure changes its structure a lot. There should totally be a map app for this or something.'' At least for the people that didn't call this part of Junction home, since it was honestly easy to take a wrong turn and find yourself in a place you've never seen before. Even more so when you don't traverse these streets daily to be able to pick up on the details of the changes the moment they happen.

That said, Ace would follow the strange robotic being for now, observing it with slightly curiosity. ''So, you live here in this area then?'' He assumed that would be the case if it knew the place so well.

Tiny Tin continued on the path, slowly progressing as the boy talked to him, "Many have tried, few have had the patience to stay long enough to finish, especially after they realized it would need updating every time a new construction was added, the census also rarely fully finishes down here." he said as they walked, thankfully Tiny Tin was here to help people he found, though sometimes others took advantage of the lost people from other wards, Though he supposed that was to be expected with the little the people in this section of Ark seemed to have, but it was more then likely due to the population explosion that they no doubt had, so it was up to him to at least improve living conditions in this section of the ARK as much as he could.

As they walked the boy asked if he lived here "This Unit has been designated a "Lower Ward Drone" As this is our Designation We tend to the Ward, Though we Seem to be the only unit with this designation" he said as he continued on, still fully unaware that Junction wasn't actually the ARK.

The winged demon would sigh faintly. ''Aw, shucks. Sure would have been useful for the visitors that don't come here every day.'' But he could see the issues with trying to make a workable map, yeah. Though, if someone did make the effort to create one that could always be added onto, it could perhaps work. Alas, it would require people to do regular scouting and all. Heh, no pain no gain, apparently.

Huh, though. Designated? Hmm. ''So you're kind of like a guard of this place?'' How interesting. He didn't know that was a thing. Though maybe this robot simply thought of itself as such? That was possible too.

Tiny Tin continued on his way as the boy continued to talk, it made sense however most people with the skill lacked the patience from what he had observed, and those that had the patience lacked the skills. He could easily do it himself, but that would take away from his maintenance duties that were quite critical to the area, and he couldn't let those responsibilities slide, being apparently the only one doing this work, his focus on the task was needed.

Then the boys second question came in and the robot seemed to nod "Guard, and Main caretaker, Maintenance is this units primary concern, as well as the well being of those that live here" he answered as he turned a corner and waved to a few people sitting around a scavenged radio set, who all waved back, though they eyed the boy with him they let him be as Tiny Tin continued on.

''Huh. Ain't this place plenty huge though? Can you really manage all that by yourself?'' Unless one was a superman, it sounded like a nearly impossible task to handle perfectly. The Slums were the area that got constantly expanded and all, which definitely made it the toughest one to keep in shape at all times. Plus, he'd bet there were a lot of people living here as well. While it was not the pretties place around, not everyone could find a place elsewhere in the city. And maybe some even liked it here. One can never know.

In any case, Ace would glance at the people they passed by briefly, though chose to not really do much, as he had to keep following his current guide. Wouldn't want to get lost even more, right?

"The sector is indeed large, however This unit is the only one assigned to this sector, no doubt due to population issues, and lack of maintenance personnel, however The work here is important to the stability of the city, This unit will do it's work to the best of it's abilities till the day it's use is no longer needed" The small robot said as he walked along taking another turn and once more waving at another group of people who where talking with each other. they waved back to him with smiles though they seemed wary of the boy with him.

Ace would tilt his head in mild confusion. ''That...doesn't really make sense. There are countless people in all of Junction. If someone really cared, they could surely find someone to help out here. It's not like everyone is busy 24/7....'' This was just odd. Did someone really assign the robot to do this job by itself, or was something else going on here? Frankly, he didn't really understand the logic of this right now. While he wasn't all that familiar with the Slums area, he doubted that it would just be all left in one being's hands if the work here was truly as important as this one was claiming it to be. Something just didn't seem to match up....Weiiiird. Nevertheless, he would keep following as he mulled over this a bit.

"more then likely maintenance in other areas are needed as well and the more sophisticated systems need more people to maintain them. This area while large and constantly under construction, has simple functionality, all faults and damage is easily repaired, This unit alone has already manged to restore functionality to over ten percent of the domiciles in the area as well a street lights and signs, several of the shops as well have been reconditioned for use". He continued to walk as he informed the boy about the repair work being completed.

"Another reason may be the inherent danger presented from working in this area, some locations are near collapse, while others have exposed wires with power running through them or gas being released into the air, these factors make the work highly hazardous to human and biological beings, This Unit does not have those issues, and thus work can progress even in conditions such as that" he clarified as he walked turning another corner, which the boy could easily have mistaken as them going in circles but it turned out he was leading him up a gradual spiral.

''Well...ten percent isn't a whole lot. And things can get destroyed all over again before you even reach at least half-way through...'' He wasn't sure how stable this place was, but nothing lasted forever. One could easily just get stuck in a loop of repairing the same few areas over and over again as they slowly degraded when left alone for a while. He would scratch his cheek in thought. ''But like...people live here too, right? If it was that dangerous, wouldn't it pose a lot of issues for the residents? And if it's in areas where nobody lives or goes to anyway due to potential dangers like that...is it really important to keep them in tip-top shape? If it was me, I'd focus on places that actually see real-time use by people.'' If it's so bad stuff is almost collapsing or spreading toxins all over...it'd make sense that everyone would just avoid those places by default. That said, he was too busy trying to think to notice whether they were going in circles or not. Besides, even if they were, he would be just as lost as before so not really an extra loss in the end.

As they continued to walk he listened to the boys objections and logged them for the time being, it was true about things wearing down, however that is why he did quality repairs, the chance of them breaking before he got far was minimal, and in the end that is the best one could do. As for the other issue the boy clearly didn't see the larger picture and so Tiny Tin thought it best to inform him.

"Gas leaks are dangerous to everyone as the gas can spread and cause illness if the source is not found and taken care of, as for collapsing parts, those must also be handled to ensure the safety of the residents as one collapsing section could cause other areas to collapse, endangering other, not to mention there are a number of people without a proper domicile, repairing the outer areas that are not in use, gives these people homes that they require" he clarified the issue to the boy.

"This unit has also done work to ensure that the previous repairs do not wear down as rapidly as you would think, quality repairs and maintenance work can make a place functional and sturdy for years, even with large amounts of use, once those places are done This unit moves on but leaves a tasks board for the inhabitants to leave crucial repair work needed to be done, so that this unit can see to them during his normal rounds" he further explained.

Oh boy. His head was going to start spinning at this rate. Ace was hardly an engineer or anything like that, so this type of talk was a tough cookie to follow for too long when it started getting too deep into the matter. He never really looked into the field, as construction work wasn't really fit for him. He could lift pretty well, yes, but it would hurt like hell were he to get in trouble with heavy items. He was by no means that durable, and he did not want to suffer pointless bone fractures and stuff. ''If you say so man. Though, I still wonder why only you. Are you the only robot around? Who assigned you to do this anyway?'' Yes, normal people would perhaps be hurt by gas and all that, but the easy solution to that would simply be to find more mechanical beings to help out with the job. Was there honestly no-one? It's not necessarily fair to dump an entire load onto one person even if they are managing to handle it decently well. Anything can go wrong in time.