Chapter Text
The simulation hasn’t been running all that great.
At least, that is what everyone’s been thinking.
The Lodge stood warm and strong in the cold tundra of Vacation Mountain. The simulated snow clipped onto the wood of the cabin; the winds brushed past the snow covered shingles. The trees in the distance swayed with the breeze, snow gently falling off the branches down below. The forest’s greens contrasted the whites and blues of the mountain above. The entire destination didn’t have color as its strong suit, but it sure was cozy.
Five bots resided inside the Lodge, each busy with their own thing. The interior had four different mini floors, all connected by a staircase. Three bots were on their own floors while a blue bot and a green bot shared the bottom most floor.
The one with the blue screen leaned against the red-platted table. They wore a pair of blue camera shaped glasses and a similar color hat with a yellow plate. The word “Photos!” was engraved onto it. They wore a simple collared shirt and a lanyard around the upper section. They hovered a lighter blue book titled “Snowy Romance” in front of them. It was opened somewhere in the middle. To their right lay a green table with the green bot floating above it.
The bot adorned a simple purple and yellow-green baseball cap with a puzzle piece as the logo. Their shirt was just as basic as the hat with the same color palette. The middle of the fabric had a green button. They floated over the table, examining the now completed puzzle of a picture the Human took a while back. It was a simple picture of the Human with the bot’s bosses: VacationBot and EfficiencyBot. On occasion they would lift up a piece before promptly putting it back in.
They could hear the crackling of the electric fireplace and the noticeable breeze brushing against the nearby windows. Other bots in the cabin were busy with their own hobbies, making little to no small talk with one another. Just like every shift.
All of a sudden, the bot with the baseball cap muttered to themselves. “This puzzle looks fine—I gave the Human a Memory—but something doesn’t seem right.”
The blue bot didn’t look up from their book. “Can’t you overanalyze your puzzles quieter? I’m trying to read.” They turned the page, the crinkle of the paper obvious in the otherwise quiet space.
“But I feel like there’s something we’re missing. Maybe there’s something we don’t know yet…” They took one of the pieces and held it outside the frame. It was a piece with EfficiencyBot’s face on it. “Something external.”
“Listen, PuzzleBot, your theories are great and all, but it’s really getting juicy now and I need all my processors focused on the paragraph I’m reading.” They gestured vaguely at the book.
PuzzleBot looked up at their stationmate and asked, “You’re not getting that foreboding feeling at all? A line of code that appears with no rhyme or reason until it activates.”
“Ehhh, besides what EfficiencyBot said about the dangers of the simulation, the only thing I’m worried about is if BlushingBot can admit to their parentbot about their love for EstrangedBot.” They giggled to themselves, moving their screen deeper into the book. “It’s almost enough to forget that my job may be in peril.”
The other bot let out a sigh. “Maybe I’m overthinking it.” They went back to staring at the piece in front of them.
Suddenly, they stopped their examination of the puzzle piece. Their chassis whipped up to face the photo bot. “Wait, what did you say?”
“What?” They held the cover of the book in front of them. A bot with a red and orange screen stood in the center of it, looking to the side. “It’s book three of the Snowy Romance series. This one is called ‘Cold Hard Memory Card.’” They gave PuzzleBot a curious look. “Are you interested in picking it up? I will warn you that the scenes in [BOOK TWO] get pretty–”
PuzzleBot shook their chassis. “No, no. The thing before that. About EfficiencyBot.” They grimaced, “I don’t like reading that type of stuff.”
“Ohhhh. Yeah. I overheard EfficiencyBot talking to VacationBot about ‘suffering metrics’ or something.” They shrugged nonchalantly. “I dunno. I’m just a photo bot.”
A frown formed upon the green bot’s screen. “Suffering metrics?” They repeated to make sure they processed it correctly. “PhotoBot3, when did you hear this?”
PhotoBot3 paused to ponder. “I think it was yesterday when I was visiting PhotoBot2 to gloat.” He leaned back and recreated the scene in his mind.
“On my way back, past the Human’s suite, I spotted VacationBot and EfficiencyBot crowding around that [HUMAN METRIC BOARD]. I couldn't get a clear view of what was on the screen, but I think a certain human has been slacking on their Memories.” He made a vague gesture to the photo stand on his table. “They were talking about decreasing numbers after a mediocre mountain excursion. Then they started bickering about the best way to save the simulation as they normally do. I didn’t really care and closed out their mental tab.” PhotoBot3 stopped their reminiscing and opened up their book again.
PuzzleBot stared. It was hard to tell what emotion they were feeling—as with all the bots—but there were signs of distress. “How can you just ‘not care’ about the simulation failing? You know what this could lead to?”
“A front row seat to more of VacationBot’s and EfficiencyBot’s whining?” The blue bot bursted into laughter. “Oh, I [CRACK] myself up.”
“What? No! We could lose our jobs!” PuzzleBot raised their normally quiet and raspy voice.
Suddenly, the common chitter in the cabin turned stale. The wind even died down to feed into the cold silence. PuzzleBot glanced around and saw every other bot in the cabin staring at them and PhotoBot3.
PhotoBot3’s eyes moved up from his book. “Lose our jobs?” He repeated with an arrogant and nonchalant tone. “PuzzleBot, don’t be ridiculous. If the simulator shuts down, we’ll just be transferred to work at that tacky little museum VacationBot owns.”
“Excuse my interruption.” A polite, elderly voice cut through the silence. “Can you elaborate on the whole… simulation shutting down?” Their voice took a sudden shift to something more loud and worried. Their knitting tools lowered slightly.
The sound came from the knitting station. A pink knitted hat sat atop her head, presumably bot-made. Their scarf was a similar pink, also bot-made. Along their chassis, a white and grayish-blue pattern was imprinted on the rims. It resembled a pattern human grandmas often had around their houses.
Above PuzzleBot and PhotoBot3, on the upper level, another bot stared down at them. “And the ‘lose our jobs' part!” Their voice cut through the polite concern, demanding an answer. “What could you possibly mean by that? They can’t fire us.”
The upper floor had the Yum Cafe. The bot who worked there wore a green apron with the word ‘Yum!’ embroidered onto it. Their fully rimmed glasses were split horizontally between a lighter green and a darker green, the same color as their apron. Their uniform consisted of a tacky hot chocolate hat.
“I don’t want to be fired!” cried a bot by the Lodge’s entrance. “That means I have to go outside. It’s way too cold out there.”
Besides the door, someone could mistake the bot for a pile of clothing with how many layers they wore. They had a blue parka, a purple scarf, and a similarly colored beanie.
The once peaceful cabin derived into a commotion of panic and confusion. Despite there only being three other bots in the room, all their vocal processors raised in severity. They talked over each other and commanded the two bots at the lowest floor for a solid answer.
“PhotoBot3!” PuzzleBot scolded their coworker. “Go on! Explain yourself.”
The journalist sighed and hovered on top of his platted table to make himself more visible. “Attention bots of the Lodge!” He announced to the cabin, immediately hushing everyone up. The once tense air morphed into a sea of suspicion and worry. “I overheard EfficiencyBot and VacationBot talk about the poor metrics of the simulation.”
There was a long pause. One of the bots, the one with the pink knitted hat, spoke up. “And?”
“And what?” PhotoBot3 responded. “I didn’t bother to stick around. I got photos to look at.”
“Well, that’s just great.” snided the bot on the upper level. They readjusted their own hat that moved from them leaning over the railing. “Our lives could be in [PERIL] and the only bot who has any information doesn’t even care.”
The bot bundled up in layers of clothing stuttered. “Don’t be so negative, BaristaBot. Maybe we could ask VacationBot or EfficiencyBot themselves? I’m sure they can tell us.”
“Are you kidding me?” BaristaBot laughed mockingly. “ToastyBot, our bosses don’t like telling us anything.” He let out a frustrated growl and pushed away from the railings, pacing around his station. “Ever since this tacky little simulation started, they’ve been so hush hush about the success of it.” He turned back to his coworkers. “All I want to do is make it big in the industry. Can’t the simulation shut down after my first big [BREAK]?”
“Your fanfictions aren’t the only things at stake here.” The elderly bot snapped back. “If this simulation supposedly shuts down, thirty other bots will also lose their jobs.”
ToastyBot piped up again as she desperately tried to calm the flames of panic. “Guys! Guys! How about we figure out what exactly is causing the simulation’s problems?” She turned to PhotoBot3, a flicker of hope in her orange screen. “I mean, they’re both kind of [BLABBERMOUTHS]. Something must’ve slipped out in front of one of us.”
Every bot took a pause and glanced around at each other. They hoped someone had something.
“Maybe one of the bots outside knows something.” thought the bot by the knitting machine out loud. Their lighter blue screen gestured to the door. “I know my precious grand-bot would tell me if they knew anything.”
“Yes, of course, KnittingBot.” PuzzleBot muttered loud enough for the others to hear. “Maybe we could ask about it.”
PhotoBot3 butt in. “We can’t be super obvious about the peril of the simulation though. I say one thing about it and suddenly, the whole lodge is in shambles!” He gestured grandly with the book.
“Of course we’re in shambles, Photo.” The brown bot hissed at him. “We could all lose our jobs and I will never be able to make it big in the industry with a gap in my resume!”
“You had a gap in your resume before you got this job.”
BaristaBot turned his chassis and screamed, jumping away and skewing their green glasses. Besides him, leaning above the railing, hovered a dripping wet bot. They wore cucumber shades on their strong blue screen. Their waist had a towel wrapped around it, despite it covering basically nothing biologically. Atop of their chassis sat a white cloth hat, also damp.
“HotTubBot!” BaristaBot screamed. His fearful expression quickly shifted into anger. “What the help are you doing here! You’re supposed to be at least [TEN] feet away from me! Shoo! Go back to your disgusting overheating bath water!” He floated away from his coworker, trying to make as much distance as possible.
“Oh. I heard you guys talking about EfficiencyBot and wanted to join in.” They shifted and pushed off the wood. “But I can head back to my tub; it’s surprisingly cold in here.”
“No, no, dear.” KnittingBot corrected. “Don’t listen to BaristaBot. You’re just as welcome to join in on this forum as anyone else.” She sent BaristaBot a stern glare. He responded in a disgusted eye roll.
HotTubBot smiled and went back to their original position. “Great! So, as I was saying, or as you guys were saying because I wasn’t part of this conversation until now. You guys were talking about EfficiencyBot, but I didn’t get all the details because the glass screen makes all your audio muffed on my end. But, when I hear EfficiencyBot, I think metrics to go along with it because, let’s be real, what else does he do around here? Well, actually, I can name one other thing. There was this one time–”
ToastyBot interrupted their spew. “Hey! HotTubBot! Love the detail, but we kinda need the spark of your story right now. Save the kindling for later.”
“Right. Uhm… EfficiencyBot scolded me the other day because I had bad [METRICS] in my area.”
“Bad metrics?” The green bot repeated. “What could that possibly mean?” They turned to the blue bot beside them in hopes of an answer, but he just shrugged in response.
BaristaBot scoffed dismissively. “I think it means that this whole thing is just a pointless scare. The simulation has only been open for a little over a week.”
All the bots in the Lodge shared looks stemming from annoyance to mild worry.
He groaned “But if you must have an answer, their memory was soooo boring to the Human that they never bothered to collect it.” He smirked to himself. “It figures. My stories are leagues more interesting than whatever they have to ramble about.”
“At least HotTubBot has something of value to say about our situation.” KnittingBot retorted with a knowing smirk on her face. That shut BaristaBot up.
“I do? Wow. No one’s ever said that what I had to say has value.” The darker blue bot smiled to themself.
PhotoBot3 gestured dismissively as he stared up at them. “Yeah, yeah. Do you have anything else of value to add?”
The bot paused for a second; everyone was mildly surprised at that. “Well, I asked him about what he meant by bad metrics, and EfficiencyBot told me that I needed to make my Memory ‘more accessible,’ whatever that means. I was still confused because like, who wouldn’t be? My Memory is called ‘Good Listener,’ all the Human has to do is listen to me. That can’t be too hard, right?” They paused to gauge the reaction of the bots around them. A room full of the default bot stare met them, which appeased the tub bot. “Exactly! So, I answered ‘My Memory is accessible’ and he said my Memory was about as accessible as MountainShopBot’s Memory.”
KnittingBot gasped. “Leave my dear grand-bot out of this. I oughta give that bot a piece of my [CPU]. His fascination with the AbominableSnowBot is completely accessible.”
“That’s what I said!” HotTubBot let out a sigh. “Then EfficiencyBot grumbled something about me at least having a Memory. He also said something about Vacation Mountain’s peak too. Now, I’m no bot-chologist, but that bot has some issues he needs to work out.”
“With your information, HotTubBot, we now have more pieces to this puzzle.” PuzzleBot nodded to themself. Calculation ran through their wires. “Do you think the bots at the peak have stories of their own?”
“Listen,” BaristaBot interrupted. “If you want to go play ‘hero’ and run off to ‘save the simulation,’ count me [OUT]. I have much better things to do and much better, more interesting screenplays to write.”
“I’m with BaristaBot.” PhotoBot3 opened Snowy Romance back up. “I’m all for keeping the simulation running, but I’m just a journalist.”
ToastyBot gave him a look of suspicion. “Aren’t journalists supposed to poke their screens where they shouldn’t be?”
“Yeah. How do you find out about this whole thing again?” He smirked to himself and leaned back.
HotTubBot let out a slightly worried whirl. “I don’t necessarily know what the [GAME PLAN] is right now, but can somebot at least let MountainShopBot know? I don’t want him to be left in the dark, and since EfficiencyBot mentioned him, perhaps he also had a discussion with him."
“Oh, I doubt it.” The barista scoffed. “I still believe PhotoBot3 is just trying to get a good story. Those journalists can never get the story completely factual anyways. I read about it in the paper.”
“Fake or not, we still should give him a heads up.” KnittingBot’s voice said with concern. She peered around the room. “Any volunteers?”
The room went quiet once again. ToastyBot was the first to state her case. “It’s still too cold for me to leave. Somebot else can.”
Everyone spoke over each other with their own reasons and concerns for not leaving the Lodge. They voiced a mix of disinterest and intolerance to the icy outdoors.
“I can do it.” HotTubBot announced before hovering down the stairs. “MountainShopBot is my friend. He deserves to know as much as we do.”
KnittingBot gave them an honorable nod. “Are you sure you don’t need a scarf, dear? I can [WHIP] something up fast—but cozy—for you.”
“Yeah! You barely have anything covering your chassis. Don’t you get cold?” The orange bot shivered.
The tub bot shrugged. “I spend most of my shift in a freezing tub. I do prefer the warm, but I can take a cold breeze.”
“In the hot tub, you had a giant rock and this lodge to protect you from the wind.” BaristaBot sighed dramatically. “But, what do I know, right?” He sent a glare at KnittingBot.
“Just make sure to be as factual as possible.” warned PuzzleBot. “We don’t need anyone else getting the wrong idea.”
HotTubBot nodded in acknowledgement and opened the door. The Lodge was blasted with a fresh gust of cold air.
“Be quick about it!” ToastyBot yelled, pulling their clothes tighter against their chassis.
Outside in the cold, HotTubBot spotted six more bots. Two of them shared a station while another one had their own separate station.
To the right of the stone path lay the ice carving station. A purple bot floated around the dark blue raised platform. They examined the several smaller ice cubes that formed a bigger block. Some of the cubes were chipped out of the overall block. Beside them was an ice chisel. They tried to carve something in the ice before stopping themself seconds before damaging it. They readjusted their frameless glasses and stared out in the distance, away from their station.
In front of HotTubBot was the snowball station. A bright pink bot and a bot with a darker blue screen than their own talked casually. The blue one’s eyes flickered back and forth cautiously while the pink one happily hovered around with three colorful moths around them. The insects ran into her reddish pink glasses and their straw hat, but the bot laughed it off.
The remaining three bots hovered under the blue, wooden roof of The Mountain Shop. HotTubBot immediately noticed their friend MountainShopBot, the bright, almost radioactive, green contrasting the shades of blue around him. He was actively talking to two other bots, but HotTubBot didn’t recognize them nor could get a good view of their screen. One wore a light green beanie and the other had a dark gray-ish blue headband.
Another strong breeze of simulated wind brushed against HotTubBot’s vents. They let out an involuntary shiver. “Geez, BaristaBot might’ve been right. The wind out here is [STRONG]. I might turn into ice myself if I’m out here for any longer.” Their gaze moved back to their friend at the shop. The conversation didn’t seem to have died down, but HotTubBot was never one to hold back what they had to say.
“HEY! MOUNTAINSHOPBOT!!” They yelled, making sure he could actually hear them over the breeze.
MountainShopBot paused his conversation and shifted to look behind the two bots. “HOTTUBBOT??” He screamed back, getting more bots curious about their conversation. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?”
“HI, MOUNTAINSHOPBOT!! YEAH! IT’S HOTTUBBOT!” They shook their chassis to knock off the small amounts of snow piling up. “I WANTED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING, IF YOU’RE NOT BUSY THAT IS.”
The green bot paused and glanced at the two other bots in his shop. “I MEAN, I WAS KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING, BUT WHAT IS IT?”
“HAS EFFICIENCYBOT EVER SPOKE TO YOU SINCE THE SIMULATION OPENED?”
MountainShopBot took a cycle to think. “YEAH, HE DID A DAY AGO. WHY?”
“CAN I ASK WHAT THE CONVERSATION WAS ABOUT?”
“HE TALKED TO ME ABOUT MY MEMORY. I THINK IT WAS BECAUSE THE HUMAN HASN’T COLLECTED IT YET, BUT ALL YOU REALLY NEED TO DO IS READ MY BOOK.”
“YEAH, I GET IT. HE DIDN’T LIKE MY MEMORY EITHER DESPITE THE HUMAN JUST NEEDING TO LISTEN TO ME.” HotTubBot registered why they were out here in the first place. “BEFORE I FORGET, THE SIMULATION MIGHT SHUT DOWN. SINCE YOU WORK HERE AND ALL, I THOUGHT YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW THAT. MAYBE GET A BACKUP PLAN?”
The silence after their statement was loud. It sounded like the breeze was shocked too.
Finally, MountainShopBot responded. “WHAT??” This time he was genuinely yelling.
“YEAH! ISN’T THAT CRAZY? I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT IT TODAY. I’M JUST AS SURPRISED AS YOU ARE.” HotTubBot laughed, though a part of it was to keep them warm. “ANYWAYS, I DON’T WANT TO TAKE UP MORE OF YOUR TIME SINCE YOU’RE BUSY AND ALL. I JUST THOUGHT I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW.” They smiled to themself and floated back towards the Lodge’s door.
They were stopped by a voice, but it wasn’t MountainShopBot’s. It was stronger and more confident. “WAIT! YOU CAN’T JUST TELL US WE’LL LOSE OUR JOB AND THEN LEAVE! WE NEED MORE INFORMATION.” They turned back to the shop and saw the two mystery bots looking at them. The one in the beanie had a bright blue screen and the one with the headband’s screen was a darker, stronger green.
HotTubBot tilted their body in confusion. “WHO ARE YOU GUYS? ARE YOU FROM THIS DESTINATION? IF NOT, WELCOME TO VACATION MOUNTAIN. IT’S COLD.”
“WE ARE FROM HERE ACTUALLY.” The blue bot yelled at the same volume as them. “I’M SKIBOT AND THIS IS CLIMBBOT. WE’RE STATIONED AT THE [MOUNTAIN TOP]. I’M HERE BECAUSE THE HUMAN THREW ALL MY SAFETY HATS DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, AND I WAS WONDERING IF MOUNTAINSHOPBOT HAS SEEN THEM AROUND. NICE TO MEET YOU.”
“NICE TO MEET YOU AS WELL.” greeted ClimbBot, loudly.
“HELLO! I’M LOCATED AT THE BACK OF THE LODGE, SO IT MAKES SENSE WHY WE HAVEN’T SEEN EACH OTHER AROUND.”
SkiBot nodded. “YEAH, THAT MAKES SENSE.”
Someone new joined the conversation. “UHM, WHY ARE WE YELLING?” It matched the volume of everyone else surprisingly well. The bots turned and saw the blue bot by the snowballs yelling with them. An orange and blue beanie sat atop of their head. They were covered in patches of snow. “ALSO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE MIGHT LOSE OUR JOBS?”
HotTubBot paused. “WELL, MOUNTAINSHOPBOT’S KIND OF FAR AWAY. I WASN’T SURE IF HE COULD HEAR ME.”
“THE WIND HAS DIED DOWN.” The blue bot’s voice shifted into room volume. “I’m sure we can talk normally again.”
The pink bot besides them shuddered and saw their moths go back to their lively selves. “Thank you, SnowSafetyBot.”
HotTubBot, along with everyone else, followed. “Oh, okay! Thanks for letting me know.” SkiBot, ClimbBot, and MountainShopBot nodded and said their agreements.
“Yeah, now, how about you let us know what you could possibly mean about the simulation shutting down?” SnowSafetyBot’s voice raised with concern, but it was still quieter than before.
“PhotoBot3 told me, or technically the whole cabin, that EfficiencyBot and VacationBot are struggling with the simulator’s [METRICS].” HotTubBot explained. “The bots inside sent me to ask around outside if anyone else knew anything.”
ClimbBot squinted his eyes. “They sent the bot wearing nothing but a towel to do that?”
“Why didn’t they send that one bot with all the clothing?” asked SkiBot. “It’s not practical for movement, but if they were just going to scream from the door it wouldn’t really matter.”
“ToastyBot can’t handle the cold no matter how much clothing they wear.” SnowSafetyBot explained, glancing inside the Lodge. “I’m not sure why EfficiencyBot stationed her in the coldest destination on the island.”
The purple bot spoke up. “I’m not sure why EfficiencyBot—or VacationBot for that matter—do half of their decisions.” They gently tapped the handle of the chisel below their mouth. “For example, VacationBot came by my station recently to talk about my Memories.”
Every bot in the cold turned to look at them. MountainShopBot tilted his body. “Why would they come to your station, IceBot? Was it from the difficulties of your puzzles?”
He shook his chassis. “No, no. It was related, but not exactly. They spoke to me about how my station didn’t invoke creativity in the Human. I personally don’t understand what they meant considering I advocate for the Human’s [FREE WILL], but I’m in no position to argue with my boss.”
An irritated look appeared on the bot covered in snow’s screen. “EfficiencyBot scolded my Memory too. I don’t know why he’s so upset. The Human got it fairly quickly. Do you think it’s because I’m hiding most of the time?”
ClimbBot spoke up with his testimony. “I remember I had to do a lot of negotiating to even form a compromise for my rock climbing.” He let out a tired sigh. “Even with all the safety protocols, the Human still can’t do my Memories that well.”
“At least someone in this simulation is focused on safety.” SnowSafetyBot glared slightly. “I think your guys’ Memories need more safety protocols.”
“What’s unsafe about skiing down a mountain?” defended SkiBot. “It’s controlled, monitored, and the Human doesn’t get hurt if they get hit.”
ClimbBot agreed. “And with my Memories, the Human’s feet don’t even leave the ground.”
“The human doesn’t even have feet!”
All the bots in the wind started talking and arguing amongst themselves about their bosses and their Memories. They ranged from confusion, to worry, all the way to annoyance. All the arguments shared one thing in common: criticizing how VacationBot and EfficiencyBot ran the place.
“Even when I volunteered at the Job Simulator,” started MountainShopBot. “JobBot was never this sloppy with positioning his bots. Nor was he this critical of what they do at the simulation.”
HotTubBot nodded in agreement. “JobBot seems like such a cool boss. Do you think he’d listen to my stories?”
“But don’t JobBot’s employees all know how humans used to work sixty years ago?” SkiBot turned in a circle, looking at everybot outside. “Granted, none of us really know how to properly [VACATION], let alone how humans did it, right?”
No one responded. IceBot was the first to say something. “VacationBot approached me after seeing me work in my studio. I did ice sculpting as a hobby, but I never was one to teach it. I recall them saying that they saw a human doing this in a book once?”
The pink bot surrounded by moths listened with confusion. “Do you all really go through that? I’ve never gotten any complaints from EfficiencyBot or VacationBot.”
“BugBot, with all the [EMOTION] in my database, VacationBot and EfficiencyBot love you.” SnowSafetyBot gestured to the gates that led outside Vacation Mountain. “Why else would they station you in every single destination?”
BugBot paused and shrugged shyly. “Maybe humans just like collecting bugs?”
“We obviously know this is VacationBot’s and EfficiencyBot’s first simulation.” The darker green bot’s screen turned worried. “But we shouldn’t be dragged down with them. We did everything we were told.”
“We don’t run the simulation, though.” MountainShopBot sighed. “Would they even say anything if we asked them?”
“I could ask.” offered BugBot. “Like SnowBot said, they like me.”
HotTubBot’s face lit up. “That’d be great! It beats going back in the cabin with nothing else to add besides EfficiencyBot being EfficiencyBot.” They shivered from the cold again.
“Speaking of which, you should head back inside before you become my next creation.” IceBot laughed. “We’ll talk to BugBot further.”
“Thanks for letting me—uh, us—know about the simulation, HotTubBot. I’ll make sure to ask GrandParentBot to warm you up.” MountainShopBot smiled at his friend.
HotTubBot nodded and opened the door before quickly hovering inside. They were immediately blasted with a wave of warm air. “Oh! That feels good.”
“Hurry! Close the door!” ToastyBot screamed from inside. The door swiftly slammed shut afterwards.
“Hm. I guess that’s why they didn’t send them.” SkiBot told themself.
The bots on the outside took a minute to look at the Lodge. Through the big windows, the bots talked amongst themselves. Every so often, a bot or two would glance at the bots in the cold before focusing on each other.
SnowSafetyBot turned her attention to BugBot. “So, BugBot, do you plan on asking VacationBot about the whole… simulation shutting down thing?”
BugBot nodded. “Yeah. I know VacationBot is helping the Human out in Vacation Forest. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch them while the Human’s off collecting Memories.” One of her bugs brushed against her chassis, enticing a giggle out of her. “And my bug friends can help me out.”
“Please be quick about it, BugBot.” A frown formed on MountainShopBot’s screen. “I don’t want to lose this job. I like you guys.”
“I should probably let BeachBumBot know about this before I head back to my station.” SkiBot gestured to the top of Vacation Mountain. “Beleive it or not, the connection is really bad up there.”
“I heard it’s worse in Vacation Forest.” stated ClimbBot. “All those trees really block the wi-fi, simulated or not.”
IceBot gently tapped the chisel against the table. “SandcastleBot told me there’s two bots stationed at the bottom of the ocean on Vacation Beach. I bet the data is horrible down there.”
SkiBot nodded. “I remember BeachBro telling me that. I wonder if they get lonely down there.”
SnowSafetyBot redirected the conversation. “We can’t dwell on the bots in the other destinations. Let’s just focus on the Human’s completion with our Memories.” She let out a tired sigh. “That's all we can really do in this situation.”
“I’ll make sure to ask VacationBot about this.” BugBot smiled at her peers. “You can count on me!”
The pink bot shook off the snow piling up on her straw hat and floated towards the gates. She glanced at the bots stuck in the cold one more time and gave them a reassuring smile. She hovered over the gate and left.
ClimbBot and SkiBot watched her leave. They turned to the rest of the bots. “Well, it was nice seeing you all again.” The green one announced. “Maybe we should hang out sometime after work in the future.”
“My shop is always open if the Human wants to throw more supplies off the mountain.” MountainShopBot gestured to his wares.
IceBot let out a weary sigh. “I just hope this whole simulation problem fixes itself. If we keep chipping at it, eventually, nothing will be left.” He smiled to himself. “I enjoy working here, it’s nice to be praised for my hobbies.”
“I guess it’s up to BugBot to fulfill her promise.” SnowSafetyBot and every other bot focused on the exit. “Hopefully the story stays straight.”