Ground Zero
100 years laterÂ…
"Well I managed to download the data from this shelter, but if this shelter was supposed to have a talking AI it must've degraded or more likely GZS records are inaccurate as usual. I have no damn clue to as why we're doing this anyway. We go to all these fucking shelters and they all got the same basic information! Does GZS just like wasting fucking money for these expeditions?"
"You know the drill Kurt, we're just here to do the job."
"Yeah I understand that Christina, but these jobs can be dangerous! Remember that one shelter where some crazy fucker had managed to download his consciousness into the goddamn thing? We lost two people on that job!"
"Hey it happens. Roscoe, you get that door open yet?"
"Almost. I don't understand why this thing is jammed; it should've opened when we got the power back on."
"I don't understand why GZS just doesn't reuse these things instead of making new ones." Kurt complains.
"Because obviously these shelters were flawed and an embarrassing reminder to shoddy workmanship that GZS tries to avoid. That's why we're sent in to get the data, so they can study the results and improve upon it if possible."
"Do they REALLY think there's going to be another fucking war? We've barely made contact with Europe again and if they're any indication, no other nation on the planet is in any condition to be launching an attack of World War fuckin' Three magnitude for a LONG ass time! I mean shit the US government isn't even in complete control of its own goddamn country yet!"
"That'll be enough of your anti-patriotism Kurt!" Christina warns. "We won WW3! This was a great country and it will be again once it's properly rebuilt!"
"Got it open guys!" Roscoe yells. "I'm going in; hopefully there isn't a rad rat infestation like last shelter!"
As Roscoe enters with his gun drawn he sees something very peculiar on the bed.
"Guys! I think you should see this!"
"What is it? Wow that's something you don't see everyday." Kurt says. "That's an old model LV64. I didn't know GZS even stocked these in their shelters."
"They weren't supposed to; these types of shelters were all suppose to have the SX100. The SX100 models had their own self-contained system and didn't need to have an AI downloaded into them, they were pre-built that way. As far as I know GZS cancelled that idea when they had budget cuts and the robotics field was pretty much diverted to the military. These shelters weren't supposed to have any robotic models at all, guess someone fucked up the records again." Christina replies.
"That might explain those gaps I was finding in the data files when I downloaded them. I thought it might just be due to equipment degradation, but the AI might be downloaded into that model."
"Well? What are you waiting for, go open it up and get the chip!" Christina orders.
While Kurt approaches the bed, Roscoe points out the other figure. The one more human in origin.
"Geez, you gotta be pretty desperate to fuck a robot. It doesn't even have skin to make it human looking."
"Still looks better than some of the skanks I've seen you with Roscoe. I'm sure the poor bastard was down here for who knows how long, beggars can't be choosers. Besides I get the impression there was a little more going on here than just sex. Look at how they're embraced."
"Oh come on Christina. You don't actually think they had some sort normal relationship do you? Hah!" Roscoe comments.
"Bold words coming from the guy who pays for his one hour relationships. I don't know what happened here, but I'm saying by the way they're embraced denotes a closeness of some sort. In fact I find it strange that the LV64 is holding him, surely if the shelter owner died, the model would've still lived and ran through its normal maintenance routine until its power ran down, or even just returned to its original spot and just shut itself down. Instead it shut itself down while holding him. Something more was going on here."
"Well I'll say. This model did more than just shut itself down, it terminated itself. I can see from the exterior, the CPU fried from the inside. You can see from the blackened ring and the small hole in the back of its head. There's no point in opening it up, because there's no way I can salvage this. This is just a hollow shell now. I suppose we could strip it for parts or something though." Kurt says interrupting Christina.
Christina is silent and takes a long look at the LV64 and the human remains. Somehow they both look very peaceful and content.
"No. Just leave her be. She's been through enough. We got everything of worth, time to bury this place, and them. Maybe we'll have better luck at the next shelter."
Christina, Kurt and Roscoe exit the shelter the same way they came in and set the charges in the strategic locations. After standing back, the detonations cause the top of the shelter to collapse inward, forever burying the contents inside. The three GZS troubleshooters then drive off to their next assignment.
You and Eliza are never disturbed again.
"Well I managed to download the data from this shelter, but if this shelter was supposed to have a talking AI it must've degraded or more likely GZS records are inaccurate as usual. I have no damn clue to as why we're doing this anyway. We go to all these fucking shelters and they all got the same basic information! Does GZS just like wasting fucking money for these expeditions?"
"You know the drill Kurt, we're just here to do the job."
"Yeah I understand that Christina, but these jobs can be dangerous! Remember that one shelter where some crazy fucker had managed to download his consciousness into the goddamn thing? We lost two people on that job!"
"Hey it happens. Roscoe, you get that door open yet?"
"Almost. I don't understand why this thing is jammed; it should've opened when we got the power back on."
"I don't understand why GZS just doesn't reuse these things instead of making new ones." Kurt complains.
"Because obviously these shelters were flawed and an embarrassing reminder to shoddy workmanship that GZS tries to avoid. That's why we're sent in to get the data, so they can study the results and improve upon it if possible."
"Do they REALLY think there's going to be another fucking war? We've barely made contact with Europe again and if they're any indication, no other nation on the planet is in any condition to be launching an attack of World War fuckin' Three magnitude for a LONG ass time! I mean shit the US government isn't even in complete control of its own goddamn country yet!"
"That'll be enough of your anti-patriotism Kurt!" Christina warns. "We won WW3! This was a great country and it will be again once it's properly rebuilt!"
"Got it open guys!" Roscoe yells. "I'm going in; hopefully there isn't a rad rat infestation like last shelter!"
As Roscoe enters with his gun drawn he sees something very peculiar on the bed.
"Guys! I think you should see this!"
"What is it? Wow that's something you don't see everyday." Kurt says. "That's an old model LV64. I didn't know GZS even stocked these in their shelters."
"They weren't supposed to; these types of shelters were all suppose to have the SX100. The SX100 models had their own self-contained system and didn't need to have an AI downloaded into them, they were pre-built that way. As far as I know GZS cancelled that idea when they had budget cuts and the robotics field was pretty much diverted to the military. These shelters weren't supposed to have any robotic models at all, guess someone fucked up the records again." Christina replies.
"That might explain those gaps I was finding in the data files when I downloaded them. I thought it might just be due to equipment degradation, but the AI might be downloaded into that model."
"Well? What are you waiting for, go open it up and get the chip!" Christina orders.
While Kurt approaches the bed, Roscoe points out the other figure. The one more human in origin.
"Geez, you gotta be pretty desperate to fuck a robot. It doesn't even have skin to make it human looking."
"Still looks better than some of the skanks I've seen you with Roscoe. I'm sure the poor bastard was down here for who knows how long, beggars can't be choosers. Besides I get the impression there was a little more going on here than just sex. Look at how they're embraced."
"Oh come on Christina. You don't actually think they had some sort normal relationship do you? Hah!" Roscoe comments.
"Bold words coming from the guy who pays for his one hour relationships. I don't know what happened here, but I'm saying by the way they're embraced denotes a closeness of some sort. In fact I find it strange that the LV64 is holding him, surely if the shelter owner died, the model would've still lived and ran through its normal maintenance routine until its power ran down, or even just returned to its original spot and just shut itself down. Instead it shut itself down while holding him. Something more was going on here."
"Well I'll say. This model did more than just shut itself down, it terminated itself. I can see from the exterior, the CPU fried from the inside. You can see from the blackened ring and the small hole in the back of its head. There's no point in opening it up, because there's no way I can salvage this. This is just a hollow shell now. I suppose we could strip it for parts or something though." Kurt says interrupting Christina.
Christina is silent and takes a long look at the LV64 and the human remains. Somehow they both look very peaceful and content.
"No. Just leave her be. She's been through enough. We got everything of worth, time to bury this place, and them. Maybe we'll have better luck at the next shelter."
Christina, Kurt and Roscoe exit the shelter the same way they came in and set the charges in the strategic locations. After standing back, the detonations cause the top of the shelter to collapse inward, forever burying the contents inside. The three GZS troubleshooters then drive off to their next assignment.
You and Eliza are never disturbed again.
