He sent a transmission back to the outpost, but the signal from the object caused too much interference. By the time Dale realized he should have waited, he’d lost consciousness. The next thing he’d remembered was waking up in the service station confused.
Dale tried not to think about anything else before drifting off.
When Ricky rebooted, Dale was putting together some parts; a few pieces of pipe and a piece of sheet metal.
"What are you doing?" Ricky asked.
"Oh! That was quiet. I’m, uh, making a sidecar for your motorcycle."
"Such a thing is not necessary. There is room enough for you and me."
"Right." He set the parts down. "That was a waste of time."
"There is no such thing if the knowledge accrued from such time is learned and applied."
"Err. Yeah."
"Is there anything that you need before we leave?"
"No. Not really."
"You are very strange if you are not entirely sure if you do not need something."
"I need to get home. Pretty much everything else is irrelevant."
"I am curious to know why you speak in indefinite sentences."
"Does it matter?"
"If you are asking if my curiosity is paramount then no. My answer is not paramount."
"Uhuh."
"Let us go."
Ricky stepped down from the platform situated below the recharge station. Dale followed behind as he made his way through the junk scrap littered throughout the room. There were several heads sitting along the wall where Ricky had been trying unsuccessfully to repair their systems. One had been successfully resuscitated, but had left soon after, its mind obviously broken from some unknown cause. Ricky hadn’t been able to retrieve the bot, and it left before he could find out why it was broken.
Dale didn’t think much of the collection of robot pieces. The only thing on his mind was trying not to step on any of them while avoiding looking at anything too closely. He did wonder however if there were any female robots who’d take a shining to him. He grinned to himself and dismissed the notion.
The door out of the service station was glass, dirty from years of constant use. Oil dripped down the paneling along the side and scratches and dents covered the surface. Ricky was relatively proud of this door. He felt it described his service station perfectly; dinged up and old, but functional. The door didn’t squeak and the hinging mechanism was sound, and that was good enough for Ricky.
The ground outside was covered in grit, left by the wind that sometimes came through. Ricky paid no mind to the condition of the exterior of his service station except to occasionally scour the ground until it was smooth like the rest of the areas surface.
"I will retrieve my exobike. Wait here until I return."
Ricky went around the building and came back pushing his exobike.
"Sit on the latter half of the seat. I will sit in the front so I can steer." Ricky said.
Dale made a noncommittal shrug and sat down on the seat. There was no cushioning. Only a curved piece of metal that dug in to the pants of his suit where he was supposed to connect in to the exobike. He tried moving to become more comfortable but gave up.
"Are there any cloth materials around here?" Dale asked.
"There are three identical cloth squares on a hook along the left wall of the service station."
"Great. I’ll be right back."
"Where are you going?"
"I’m getting the rags for this thing on the seat that’s bothering me."
"Do you not wish to connect with the exobike?"
"Err. No. Not really. I just want to sit comfortably."
Dale went back inside and picked a few blanket sized sheets off of the wall. He was starting to feel kind of woozy from dehydration and leaned against one of the work tables. Ricky might have known where to find water. Dale was hoping so at least.
He came back out, arranging the cloth on the seat until he was satisfied. He sat down. The odd jutting piece of metal sufficiently covered.
"Are you ready?" Ricky asked.
"Yeah. Go."
Ricky turned the bike slowly and gunned the engine. The bike started off over the slag heaps sitting on the repair shops front. There was some turbulence for Dale whenever the bike hit a rut, but once clear of the slag heaps the terrain smoothed out.
"So, Ricky. You know where to get water?"
"There is no indication of water within my memories. Perhaps the computer will tell you where the water is."
"Do you think the water will be left with my ship?"
"I do not know."
"Oh. Well, I guess we’ll find out sooner or later."
The wreckage site was starting to come up as a speck in the distance.
"Why do you want to know where to find water?" Ricky asked.
"You know those tubes you found in the wreck?"
"Yes. You processed the contents using your vocal projector."
"Yeah. Well, I need those tubes and water to recharge. Just like you need that service station to recharge."
"You are not like other robots."
"No. And if I don’t get these tubes and water, I won’t stop functioning the way you do."
"You will not become inert until recharged?"
"No. When I become inert, I become inert permanently."
"You are a very crude model."
Dale shrugged. "It can’t be helped. Unless you’ve got some magic machine lying around that turns humans in to robots. That would be interesting."
"I do not think your unfounded reasoning is productive."
"Sure. Just a thought. Not really interested in being a robot to be honest. Sounds like a bad life choice."
"What do you mean? Are you not a human class robot?"
"Well, to be honest. I’m not a robot."
"You are shaped like a robot."
"Yes, well I am not one. In fact, humans are building robots back home to do all the stuff we humans don’t want to do."
"Are you built to build robots?"
"Well, no. I just know how to operate my ship and make Chicago style chili dogs."
"These things are confusing. You will share what you know of these things."
"Err. Maybe later."
"There is time to exchange data." Ricky reached in to a compartment in his forearm and pulled out a data cable.
"Well, that would be great, but I can’t use that thing. But, I can tell you about it later, yeah?"
"You are a very strange machine."
Dale laughed. "You said it not me."
"Yes I did."
"Uhuh."
Ricky slowed the exobike down until it stopped at the end of the rut left by the ship capsule. Dale dismounted and went to investigate. It seemed as though most plastic had been left, making up a small pile of discarded garbage. But where the robots saw no use in the objects they’d left behind, Dale gave up a silent prayer of relief. There was a large water bag hiding under a scrap of plastic foam from his seat cushion in the ship and he lugged it out, a grin making its way to the corners of his mouth.
"Guess I’ll be living another day Ricky!" He called over his shoulder.
"That is paramount if you wish to return to your home."
"Sure is!" Dale set the water bag down a short ways from the pile, and started sifting through the leftovers. He found a case of edible substance tubes along with another half full water bag. He sat down when he found the water and started drinking it in with the connected water cable. He sighed to himself and fell back on the ground when he’d finished.
"Ricky, you know how great it is to eat things?"
"I am not acquainted with this line of thinking."
"Well, just let it be known that foods the best thing the human race has got. Makes me kind of sorry that you guys can’t feel it."
"There are many things that are the best that I have felt."
"You can feel?"
"Yes. I have an emotion based processor. I also have subroutines
that allow me to know if something is desirable."
"Sounds like pleasure."
"If pleasure is something that is desirable then yes. I can feel pleasure."
"Well, that’s great." Dale spotted the handle of something poking out of the mess of scrap. He reached down and picked it up.
"Well, what do you know? It’s my receiver." He put the end of the device to his mouth. "Testing. Testing. One, two three."
"Are you attempting to broadcast a message using long wave radio frequencies?"
"Yup. I’m not really expecting a response, but it’s nice to know I’ve got this."
There was a slight crackle from the receiver and Ricky’s voice started playing from the speaker. "I am responding to your message."
"Oh." Ricky put the receiver away. "I don’t think there’s anything else here I can use. We can go."
"There is not enough room for both of your water bags." Ricky said.
"Not if I hold them both." He picked up the water again and set the half empty one on Ricky’s lap. "You’ve got this right?"
"Yes, I have this container of water, but I do not have the arms or peripherals to hold it. You will need alternate means of keeping the water bags on the exobike."
"Ill tie you to the bag."
"I cannot guarantee the success of keeping the water on the bike."
"That’s a problem. Aren’t there any storage compartments on this?"
"No. I have no need of storage compartments."
"Well, I can’t just leave them here. I need them."
"If they charge you as my recharge station charges me, then can you not use the water to charge yourself as much as possible before we leave?"
"That actually might be the only option." Dale held the drinking cable to his lips. "Here goes nothing." He sucked on the cable until his stomach couldn’t hold any more, just managing to down the whole bag. He sat down on the exobike. "Ugh. I’m going to be sick."