Sympathy for the D-VI

Design Model 6

Unit Q79

Date: 2.23.2097

Status: Online

Mode: Observational

Q79 hovered before The Factory telescope's view screen, analyzing The Station. It was all angles and rings and spokes, sitting in orbit around the earth, precisely 103.7 kilometers above the surface. Sometimes, on cloudless days, in the few minutes between the end of Q79's shift and his required nightly offline status, Q79 would hover on the tarmac just outside The Factory's doors and analyze The Station with his own optics. Even at 200x resolution, Q79's maximum capability, the image was far grainier that this perfect representation on the view screen. But Q79 found such analysis...

<<ENG DICT SRCH + EMOT APPROX>>

<<RESULT DELIVERED: Breathtaking>>

Q79 detected a presence approaching from behind. He swiveled his optical housing to view the unit and found it was Joel. Joel's tool belt hung loose beneath his round belly, the ratchets, wrenches, and screwdrivers within jingling and jangling as he walked toward Q79.

"What's up there, Q-Bert?" Joel said.

Q-Bert was a subdesignation Joel had assigned to Q79, and as far as Q-79 was aware, to him alone. Humans, Q79 had discovered, often used such subdesignations for all sorts of things, including robots, other humans, vehicles, inanimate objects, food, etc. Some of the most frequently employed included:

LIST:

DUDE

BUD

HOMIE

SWEETHEART

LADY

G

For example, TURD MUFFIN was the apparent subdesignation for Joel's supervisor, Ted. Q79 possessed no speech software, but his programming allowed for warning alerts, beeps, and clicks. Q79 found that if he replied with certain combinations of these sounds, he could elicit a facial-emotive response from Joel. Beep-Click-Whistle seemed to be the most affirming combination.

Beep-Click-Whistle.

Joel Smiled. He got down on one knee and plugged his diagnostic tool into Q79's left port, performing his daily download and maintenance. "Just another day at the office, eh, Q-Bert?" Q79 interpreted this statement as a status update for ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL.

Beep-Click-Whistle

Joel smiled again. He opened Q79's central panel and gave his servos and gears three additional squirts of DW-40. Q79 and Joel had many such interactions on a daily basis. Joel was a human with a primary designation of MECHANIC. MECHANIC was Q79's primary designation. But Q79 had observed that he was one of very few units to receive these extra allotments of lubricant and rust repellent. So Q79 had determined a subdesignation of his own for Joel. After an extensive ENG DICT SRCH + EMOT APPROX, Q79 had selected: PAL.

"Almost time for the big day, Q-Bert," said Joel. "Word on the street is that we're at T-Minus two weeks and counting."

The Big Day was Joel's designation for the Launch Event. The Station was not designed to remain permanently in Earth's orbit. It was equipped with a series of ion thrusters. Its mission was to travel to another world. Humans like Joel would travel within it.

"You know what that means, right?" Joel continued. "That means it's almost time for your big day, too."

Your Big Day was Joel's designation for Q79's launch event. That was the day Joel would pack him and all the other Q units into crates for the shuttle. The shuttle would take Q79 to The Station.