EVAC//PLUS//3067

Ember6 clatters up a stony bank then pauses for a moment to let creek water drain from its knee and ankle joints. The master caution alerts now pinging in every section of the robot’s motor-ambulatory system tell the story of rapid travel over hard terrain, undertaken by a chassis that has seen no maintenance in eight years. Ember6’s compute module did not foresee these mechanical problems and is forced to reassess the likelihood of reaching the crashed re-entry module down from 17% to just 5%. It chooses not to verbalise this change however, saying instead:

“We are about to exceed the margin of safe return. If we turn back now, we will likely reach our recharge station before expiration. If we continue ahead, we are committed.”

Shifting its weight from one foot to the other then bending its knees, Ember6’s mimetic brain can feel gritty resistance in every joint. In the past this would have automatically summoned a recovery drone to airlift the robot away for repair, but with no help at hand, the sensation combines with relentless haptic system feedback to feel something akin to pain.

“Do you want to turn back?”

“Simply relaying information, but make your decision quickly. We do not have the power reserves for motionless introspection.”

“Noted, with amusement. We will press on.”

Fifty four minutes later, Ember6 traverses a wildflower meadow that covers the foot of a steep, densely forested hill. According to the robot’s onboard map, last updated almost a decade ago, the hill’s summit is home to a ranger station and solar charging array. Always situated on high peaks to aid emergency offline navigation, these stations were built as refuges and waystations for custodians of the forest, human and machine alike.

As it labours up the slope, joints grinding with every step, Ember6 is full of hope.

We’ve made it half way, it thinks. We can recharge, and who knows, the network hardpoint at the station may still work. We might be able to reconnect. But if not, we can at least recharge. And tomorrow we will reach the module.

“Faster.” COMPUTE chimes in. “Seven minutes of power remain, we must connect to the array. Go faster.”

Ember6 overrides all safeguards restricting the motion of its battered joints and servos, and charges uphill at full tilt. Legs and arms pumping, it reaches the crest of the hill and bursts through brambles and bushes, skidding to a stop on slimy, moss-covered concrete.

There’s nothing here.

Ember6 spins around on the spot. There is no charging array, no ranger station. Just rusty metal studs emerging from the capstone where structures once stood.

They took it all with them.

“No time.” Urges COMPUTE. “We must deploy the balloon. Over there.”

Ember6 steps into a patch of dancing light and shadow on the ground, then looks up. Through a small gap between the tree tops, it sees blue sky.

“One minute of power. Take position. Deploy Deploy Deploy”

Ember6 kneels, head forward, back towards the heavens, and feels an explosive jolt as the hatch cover between its shoulders is jettisoned and the emergency balloon ejected. There is a flowing hiss of compressed gas, and a tugging sensation.

Ember6 slips into powerless darkness without knowing if the emergency recharge balloon has inflated and passed through the gap in the tree canopy, carrying its solar panels up and into the sunlight.