Sentience

Realization

Arik deactivated the microphones in his ears so he couldn't hear Hugo's agony. He contemplated the landscape, resting his hands in his lap. He noticed a yellow finch streak through the sky into its nest in a maple tree. He zoomed in his vision to see that the avian was feeding its young. He decided that he would watch the birds to distract himself from what was happening. The babies opened their beaks wide, begging for food. The parent shoved a few seeds in each of their mouths, then left to find more food.

Sukoyaka heard the screeching voices of over forty birds. He found it unusual to hear more than three raptors at the same time, so he walked towards the sound. He went to the back side of the cabin; he saw a seal pup model walk past who seemed to be purposefully not looking in his direction, even though he heard him. Sukoyaka glanced upwards to see about seventy birds of prey of all different species circling over a small valley in the distant hills. Sukoyaka looked at the scene for a few seconds, and then came to the realization that the remains of the campers were most likely in that valley. He looked down and closed his eyes in mourning. He then trudged back, even more traumatized than he already was. He put his hand on the wooden wall, leaning against it for support; his mind was so overwhelmed by emotion that power usually transferred to his bodily functions was being taken by his now fully active emotional program. He was consuming too much power at once...

Arik felt vibrations in the ground, and looked to the side to see that Sukoyaka had collapsed next to him.

He reactivated his ears, and rushed over "Sukoyaka," He asked, "Are you alright? Talk to me."

Sukoyaka laid face down, motionless.

Arik tried reactivating him to no avail.

Arik grabbed both of his hands, and dragged him to the door, and opened it.

Lila whipped her head around, and rushed to the door, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, he just collapsed," Arik replied, flustered.

Jayden ran in from the other side of the building and lifted Sukoyaka off of the ground.

Hugo laughed masochistically, "It looks like our resident vegetable finally got what it deserved."

Lila whirled around, and walked towards him, getting right up into his face, and lowered her voice, "You're fortunate that you're useful to us, or I would kill you right where you stand."

Lila forcefully jabbed her thumb in Hugo's back to deactivate him, leaving a medium-sized dent there.

After composing herself, Lila walked over to the other room where Jayden and Sukoyaka were.

Jayden carefully rested Sukoyaka on the loveseat across from the fireplace, and opened the service panel on his chest. He saw that the power indicator was red, and that one of his fuses had been blown.

"May I see your pintool?" Jayden asked.

Lila dislodged the pintool from her finger, and gave it to him.

He then proceeded to use it to pry the damaged fuse out. Jayden picked it up between his thumb and index finger and examined it for a brief second, looking for a product number and brand. He thought of where he might find a fuse, then he realized that there was a television panel next to the fireplace. He went over to the TV, and started to disconnect it, and take it down off the wall.

Lila handed him the phillips head screwdriver so he could dismantle the piece of technology. After unscrewing the fasteners, he gingerly lifted the back panel off, revealing the innards of the television. He scanned the inside for the correct fuse, and found one with the same product number. He pried that out, and went over to Sukoyaka's limp body, and replaced the fuse.

Jayden closed the panel, "He needs to be in the sun to generate solar power so he can be reactivated."

He lifted Sukoyaka, and started heading towards the door, which Lila opened for him. Jayden stood him up, revealing the small solar panels on the back of his head and neck to the sun. They waited there for about five minutes as he charged, then Jayden carried him back inside and sat him in a chair, rebooting him.

Sukoyaka awoke with a jolt, "Hugo killed them..."

Jayden and Arik looked at each other.

"Who?" Lila questioned.

"The people that were here, he must have killed them," Sukoyaka answered, "There's almost a hundred hawks circling an area in the hills over there; that's where he put the bodies."

Lila clenched her mechanical jaw, looked up, and started wiggling the fingers of her left hand, "That idiot..." She mumbled under her breath.

Jayden tilted his head, processing the new variables and information at hand. Then he reasoned, "Then that must mean that their belongings are there with them."

Lila looked at Jayden, "What are you getting at?"
He explained, "If I can obtain a computer, I may be able to copy my ethical program and download it into Hugo so that he will realise what he is doing is wrong."

Arik considered this, "That should work... We just need to download the right software..."

Lila asked, "But how would we do that without internet access?"

"We could purchase a data plan," Jayden answered.

"Finally!" Diesel called down from her post atop the chimney, "A nonviolent solution to all this!"