Work Text:
Early morning sun glinted in the lens of a small machine. A Civserv, robots made by humans to work as common laborers. However, it had been thousands of thousands of sunrises since humans were last seen. Whirring arose from the robot's white, spherical head as it booted up. The aperture of its singular maincam clicked open, taking in the familiar sight of the overgrown city. Buildings once bustling with humans now empty and quiet, home only to machines and small animals. Many had begun to crumble without the constant upkeep and maintenance the humans gave them. The robot stood, barely cresting four feet, with a horizontal body covered in a layer of white fiberglass. Three sets of slender, digitigrade legs gave it optimal stability and nimbleness. A single set of arms at the front with three grasping fingers at the end of each stayed folded against its body, kept out of the way.
The ground the small robot was standing on shifted slightly as a deep rumble could be heard from below, slowly beginning to speed up. The robot was forced to grab onto a conveniently-placed railing that was nearby.
"Tred?" The ground, which was actually a large robot, asked in a deep, monotonous voice. Tred was of course, the name of the small robot. However this was not its real name. Civservs were not equipped with speakers, meaning their language was entirely based on the signals they could produce using the multiple colored lights within their maincams. This particular robot's name was two red flashes followed by three white.
The white-bodied robot made its way across Torgue's deck to the platform above Torgue's right shoulder. Torgue, a Heavy Construction Robot from the time of humans, had been found by Tred sitting idle in a construction site near the outskirts of Commune Four, the community Tred had come from. Torgue had not been able to move without its human operators due to its semi-autonomous programming preventing HCRs from making decisive choices on their own. Torgue had sat in the same place for decades, not even able to maintain itself. So when Tred found Torgue, it was in poor condition, needing multiple repairs from Tred. Torgue and Tred quickly formed a strong bond, Torgue relying on Tred to help it make decisions and Tred learning about the humans it was so fascinated with from Torgue.
Tred knocked on Torgue's railing thrice to let it know Tred was there. Torgue turned its massive head towards the familiar sound, grumbling softly. Tred had come to know this as Torgue's way of a friendly morning greeting. Tred knocked the railing twice, signaling Torgue that it would climb down to the ground to talk to Torgue. Torgue grumbled again. Tred quickly made its way down the ladder and onto the cracked pavement, a patchwork of man-made road and green plants. Torgue was sitting in the middle of an intersection walled in by towers that stretched up to the sky. Making its way to Torgue's front, Tred flashed a signal to Torgue.
< We are in walking distance of Commune Three, Near Park, Wild Garden, River One, and Torgue's Construction site. Near Park is near enough to Wilder Garden that we could visit them both today. > Torgue knew this already, as the two had made many visits to both the overgrown park and community of Civservs that lived nearby over the years. Tred maintained a steady gaze directed at Torgue's face out of habit. While Torgue knew Civerv signaling well, it only had an array of white lights that it could flash, limiting it to a few simple words.
Torgue made a quiet rumble, telling Tred that it was thinking. It made a contented 'mm' and said, "Wild Garden and Near Park."
This method of deciding; Tred telling Torgue all possible options, Torgue choosing the two it most preferred, and Tred then choosing one out of those two, allowed Torgue to make choices for itself without having to make a final decision.
Wild Garden was Torgue's favorite place; a park that had once been a diligently trimmed and cut swath of turf dotted with trees, but had now become an overgrown testament to the beauty of uncontrolled nature. It was skirted by a small community of Civservs called Near Park. Near Park's residents had recently put out a notice that their home, formerly a two-story office building, according to Torgue, was in need of structural repair. Torgue found much delight in maintaining such places that other robots lived in as well as constructing new structures to benefit the communities. It had become Torgue and Tred's unofficial assignment; to travel throughout the remains of the city helping those who needed it. Tred came to a decision.
< We will go to Near Park first and perform structural repairs. Once they are completed we may go to Wild Garden to spend the rest of the day, > Tred signaled to Torgue. Torgue made a single short rumble, its way of agreement. Tred climbed the ladder to Torgue's deck and returned to the platform above Torgue's shoulder. Torgue rose up on its four stocky legs, briefly causing Tred to slide wayward.
Through the quiet city they marched, admiring the beauty of human architecture and the wild growth that had claimed it. Tred pointed out numerous birds to Torgue, who always responded with a pleased grumble. Tred occasionally left Torgue's deck to walk along with it when they were walking on roads that were less ruined. Tred was fascinated with everything left behind by humans. It had been collecting objects for as long as it had known of humans, which is to say a very long time. Most of these objects were kept safe in Commune Four, in the Human Studies and History Section. However, Tred preferred to keep its most interesting objects within Torgue's cabin, as it was the safest place Tred knew of, as well as giving it easy access to them. Tred was now in said cabin, studying an object composed of thin sheets of wood-based material and adhesive bound together. The sheets were covered in human symbols, all of which were unknown to Tred. Even Torgue did not know them as it was not programmed to. Tred's momentum from Torgue's steady pace caused Tred to briefly lurch forward as the massive robot came to a stop. This was unusual, as Torgue had never stopped so suddenly before. In addition, Torgue would always announce its stopping with a light grumble and a quieting of its engine.
Tred set the sheet object among the rest of its collection and stood. Numerous possible situations raced through its head. Perhaps something was wrong? Had Torgue lost power? Tred rushed to the railing above Torgue's right shoulder. Torgue was clearly okay, so what had caused-..?
Tred paused in its thinking. It had spotted a bizarre being it did not know. The being had four gracile legs, a head adorned with two big ears, and an outer layer of tan fur. The animal, a mammal based on its appearance, was stood frozen in place. It was clearly alive however, as Tred could see its body slightly expanding and contracting with breath. It was then that Tred noticed two more beings. Very similar the first, but only half the size and speckled with white and brown spots. The lead being turned its head to the road ahead of it. It gave one last glance to the two robots before bounding into an alley with the two smaller beings following suit. Minutes passed before Tred detected Torgue's engine revving up once more.
"Strange beings. Can you identify, Tred?" asked Torgue, turning its head to look at Tred. The smaller robot signaled a negative, causing Torgue to grumble before it said, "Are the bots at Near Park able to identify the strange being?"
Tred pondered this. < It's possible, there are many human era Civservs residing at Near Park. >
This answer was good enough for Torgue, who responded with an excited rumble that shook its deck. Tred could not help but feel positive as well. Torgue's delight was often infectious. Torgue's engines revved up to full as it started once more to Near Park. The rest of the walk felt like nothing, as both were either admiring the beauty of the world around them or thinking about the things they wished to inquire. It was soon that the pair had arrived at Near Park. Tred left Torgue's deck to greet the Civservs communing outside. A hint of unease rippled through the group. Tred flashed a single white signal to catch the attention of the other Civservs. They turned towards it and Tred placed its foremost right foot forward.
They had a brief exchange in which they discussed the repairs needed and simple pleasantries. Led into the interior of the building, Tred was shown the failing support beam. Luckily, the Near Park Civservs had already acquired a replacement. Torgue was only required to hold up the section of ceiling while Tred and the local Civservs replaced the faulty beam.
Tred walked back outside to Torgue and relayed the conversation to it. Torgue nodded its head and grunted. It sat down at the open front of the building and peered inside. One massive hand gingerly made its way to the faulty beam and lifted upwards, just barely lifting the floor off of it. Civservs surrounded the beam, pulling it up out of its foundation and onto the floor. A second team lugged the replacement beam over and were assisted by the first in lifting it into place. Once the beam had been properly secured, Torgue gently lowered the ceiling's weight onto it. The beam creaked as it settled into place. Torgue slowly moved his arm out from the building and sat up straight.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Torgue and its small friend headed to Wild Garden, as Tred had learned earlier that most of the Human Era Civservs were visiting there. Torgue found this information wonderful, as it meant learning of the four legged being while in its favorite place.
It wasn't long before the pair found the Human era Civservs, who were accompanied by a few first-generation post-human Civservs. First gen Civservs were built by the original Civservs after the disappearance of humans. Generations built after this time were labeled based upon a set period, with each generation being built within a twenty-year timeframe. Tred was part of the most recent generation, built seventeen years ago.
Two of the Civservs went to meet Torgue and Tred as soon as they noticed them approaching. The two pairs of machines stopped together near a large oak. Torgue kneeled, letting its engines wind down a bit. Tred left Torgue's deck to greet the two Civservs waiting below.
< Hello, it's nice to see you! We have just come from Near Park after we repaired the support beam. > Tred made sure to stand perpendicular to Torgue so that it could see the conversation. The two local Civservs followed suit, standing opposite to Tred. One of the Civervs, the younger first-gen, placed its right frontmost leg forward and said, < Hello. It's nice to see you as well. I am glad the issue has been fixed, thank you. >
Torgue and Tred were familiar with this robot. It's name was two blue flashes followed by a white, then another blue, so Torgue had dubbed it 'Tlue'. Tlue was a close friend, having resided in Near Park for many years.
Torgue hummed and turned its head towards the other Civserv, a Human era unit based on its weathered body-shell. This unit must have recently moved to Near-Park, as neither Torgue nor Tread recognized it. The human era Civserv put its left frontmost leg forward, as its right seemed to be in poorer condition. It was somewhat unusual for Civservs to have parts in poor condition as they could be repaired or replaced if necessary. Bodyshells could also be replaced, but it was considered a loss of the self to lose one's original bodyshell, so it wasn't uncommon to see older units with more weathered bodyshells.
< I am C-four-three-seven-three-three. It is nice to meet you, > the older unit said. Torgue made a rumbling noise and thought for a moment.
"May I call you Catee?" Torgue asked, tilitng its head towards the older Civserv to better read its response.
< I would prefer C-Four. > it said. Torgue rumbled its agreement and turned its head back at Tred. It made a single 'hm?' noise, which Tred understood as Torgue asking Tred to ask C-Four about the beings they had seen earlier. Tred nodded, recieving a contented grunt in response. Tred turned its attention back to the pair of Civservs. It looked at C-Four and place its foot forward once more.
< Me and Torgue would like to inquire about three beings we saw earlier today while we were heading to Near Park. They were four-legged biological beings with tan fur. One was larger than the other two. The two smaller ones had white speckling on their backs. > Tred shifted, moving its right foot back to where it started off. C-Four whirred in thought for a couple minutes before explaining that the beings they had seen were called deer, which took Torgue a couple attempts to figure out the right pronunciation of. Deer were herbivorous creatures that were common in forests. The pair had likely seen a mother, called a doe, and her two offspring, called fawns. Tred pondered this for a few minutes.
< Thank you, C-Four. Is there any other relevent information on this? > Tred said, starting to shift its body towards Tred. C-Four shook its head and turned to Tlue, asking it to guide them back to the group. Tlue nodded at Torgue and Tred before leading C-Four away.
"We have half an hour left until sunset," Torgue observed. Tred nodded and climbed up onto Torgue's deck. Torgue stood and revved its engine back up before starting off towards a hill not too far from where they were. The hill was Torgue's favorite spot to be at the end of the day when they were at Wild Garden. The hill provided a beautiful view of the sunset. As they crested the top, Tred admired the sprawling land dotted with colorful flowers and sparse trees. Torgue set down, letting out a grumble of satisfaction.
The pair watched the sun set together, talking about the deer and what possibilities it held. They wished each other a good rest as the last light of the day disappeared below the treeline. Torgue rested its head on its hands closing its apertures as its engine slowed to an idle hum. Tred felt a thrum of happiness as it settled down in Torgue's cabin. It thought about what the two of them might do tomorrow as its motors whirred quietly.