Tevun-Krus #107 - A Very Merry PiratePunk Christmas, Matey!

The Collective - A Story by @theidiotmachine

The Collective

by theidiotmachine

Rose saw the man early in her shift, but didn't think anything of him. It wasn't unusual for people to work on the wiring in the night; and so she gave him a cheery wave, and she thought that would be the end of it.

It was four in the morning, and it was her last job; and something was wrong with one of the cleaning robots, and she was at her wit's end trying to persuade it to work. She rebooted it, ran some diagnostics, replaced the filter on its right hand side; but it refused to move. The other two were slowly working their way down the long rows of desks, their cylindrical bodies gently gliding on low wheels, skeletal arms moving things, spraying, wiping, but it wouldn't be enough. They were at exact capacity, and a failed robot would mean dirty desks which would mean she wouldn't get paid.

She closed her eyes, rolled her head, and checked the app to see which desks she would need to clean herself.

'Problems?' asked the man.

He was young and scruffy; when he smiled one of his teeth was gold, which glittered in the strip lights.

She smiled back, ruefully.

'This damn thing won't move. No idea why.'

'Ah,' he said. 'I know this model. Let's have a look, shall we?'

And with that, he popped off the front of the machine.

She was surprised, and worried: no user serviceable parts was the manta that she'd been taught by her boss, the franchise owner; but the man looked up and smiled again, a flash of gold in the grey office.

'Don't worry, I used to work for this company. Here's your problem. When they designed this, they put the primary proximity sensor too close to the air intake; and its got dust on it. If you could just pass me that cloth... thank you... I'll give that a clean, and you'll be good to go. There you are.'

He snapped the plastic shell back, pressed a button, and suddenly the machine was awake and going through its boot up sequence.

'Thank you,' she said, grateful. She'd only need to clean a dozen desks and would be out on time, now.

'Not a problem. Got to go, next job is in an hour and its across town. Have a nice night...' he looked down at her name badge, '...Rose.'

And with that he he left, and she didn't find out his name.

#

She rode home on the early train surrounded by sour faced commuters, some of which would be going to offices she had cleaned. It was snowing, and the trains were late, and everything was covered in dirty slush. She listened to music and closed her eyes, and sat in a warm, calm bubble of her own mind.

She got back to her flat at eight in the morning. It was half way up a shitty tower block in a shitty part of town. It had been beautiful once, a fashionable block in a new area; but the tech company that had been headquartered next door had folded and the rich employees had moved elsewhere in the city, and the expensive bars and cafes had closed.

It was only one room, and her ceiling was entirely covered in a screen. It had come with the apartment, a thing once considered luxury but now unfashionable and stupid. Because she didn't pay for its upkeep, it had flashed adverts randomly through the day when she was trying to sleep. Last week, though, she had discovered an app that cost almost nothing and showed a clear night sky, filling her room with gentle starlight. She drew her blinds, switched it on, and buried herself in her bed, while the snow fell from the grey clouds outside.