After navigating the maze of small roads, Sylvie and Gobot managed to reach the area surrounding the tower. A pitch black night, the tower commanded the sky like a monstrous titan. There was a small factory complex at the base and a wired fence going all around. Sylvie wasn't quite sure where the entrance was.
"This is scary Ms Sylvie." said Gobot,
"Uh, yeah, it sure is!" Sylvie exclaimed, "jeez, it looks scary from far away, but close up... Damn." this fear, it was an emotion she'd never felt before. A feeling of dread that she couldn't quite place. She really didn't expect it to turn her stomach so much.
Rumbling noises came from the tower every now and then. Sylvie wasn't quite sure why.
"Gobot, you got any intel on this place?" asked Sylvie,
"No Ms Sylvie."
"Man, when're you gonna stop calling me Miss?"
"Sorry Ms Sylvie." Gobot hung his doggy head.
Sylvie tutted. She checked the airwaves to see if they were open, maybe The Major was around.
"Major? Are you there?" she spoke in her head. There was a brief gap, but then a voice broke the silence,
"Ah Sylvie. I was just having breakfast. Is something going on?" even with the time difference, it was quite late to be having breakfast. The Major was being quite scatty. Sylvie couldn't help but wonder why.
"I didn't really waste any time ma'am, I'm at the tower."
"I see. Well done, already getting to work. Perhaps this mission will be shorter than I thought."
"Ma'am, do you have any information about the towers? Anything that can help me before I infiltrate. I mean... this is my first ever solo infiltration mission." The Major was meant to be her operator but if there was no intel, there was no point.
"I don't know much about the towers at all. It's not my jurisdiction. I've been trying to research as much as I can for you but, you understand that doing so without being suspicious is difficult, even for me. My recommendation is to send Gobot in for reconnaissance. Going in blind would be a bad idea."
"Oh. Y-you mean hacking him and going in, right?" Sylvie had never done a Block-2 type hack, hacking someone to the point where you had full control of them. The idea of it scared her somewhat.
"No!" the Major was suddenly, "n-no. Don't use your Block-2 skills."
"...Why not Major?"
"I'll tell you when you can use a Block-2 skill. I'd rather you shy away from Block-2 classified missions for the time being."
"Why?"
Again, radio silence, the Major wasn't replying at all.
"Major?"
"If you fail a Block-2 mission. There are consequences. Even minor sub-missions like base infiltration. I'd rather you not take that risk."
"Consequences?"
"We're ending this conversation here Sylvie. I don't want to discuss it any further. Send Gobot in, get him to record as much intel as possible and maintain radio communication with him. Is that clear?"
"Yes ma'am." what was the Major trying to hide from her? She was a Block-2, so didn't this already classify as a Block-2 mission? It seemed that in reality Block-2 missions were only classified as such when Block-2 abilities were used.
But then, what about the fact that she had Block-2 autonomy? She'd been living that this whole time.
"Gobot, were you tuned in? Did you hear that conversation?"
"Yes Ms Sylvie."
"Maximum four hours to scout the place, find out where the main control panels are, ok?"
Gobot nodded in response.
"I'll be waiting here, you should be able to make it through the holes in the fences I think, so this should be easy. Don't worry. I'll serve as your operator and keep radio contact the whole time if you need it."
Gobot nodded again and then looked at the tower that stood before them,
"I'm sorry Gobot. I know it's scary." Sylvie said sympathetically,
"That's ok Ms Sylvie. Thank you, I feel-" Gobot's voice seemed to perk up, "I feel happy. You gave me this important mission." he barked, "I won't let you or The Major down. Goodbye."
And without a moment's notice, he hurried off to the tower, fearlessly. Sylvie couldn't help but be impressed by how brave and confident Gobot had become. He'd become a soldier in his own right.
She stood on her own in the darkness for ten or so minutes until she heard a voice from behind her,,
"Sylvie?" it was Koreh. Sylvie nervously turned to face him,
"K-Koreh, what are you doing here?" she stammered,
"Checking up on the bombs, I guess you just came here to get a closer look at the tower huh?"
It looked like Koreh had come up with his own reasons for why Sylvie was hanging around, so she didn't have to make any excuses. But-
"Sorry, did you say bombs?" she asked,
"Right." Koreh smiled. "Bombs."
***
Gobot scurried across to the opening gate of the Tower, he'd already forced himself to turn his night vision on because of how dark it had become, so everything looked extremely frightening.
The gate had grills but they were too thin for him to slide through, thankfully with his doggy limbs he was easily able to diggy a little hole underneath so that he could slide under.
After that, he just needed to run across the empty courtyard and into the main doors of the tower facility itself. Focus, focus, focus, he needed to do this mission. It was his first real mission since he was unlocked, he needed to know how it'd affect his performance, what it meant to be a being that wasn't a mere robot.
The first obstacle however, was right at the entrance. The main door. It was locked, and it needed a passcode at a terminal to open up. Drat.
"Miss Sylvie. I can't get in!" he yelped,
No reply,
"Miss Sylvie?"
"Sylvie's been locked out." a familiar voice, it was the Major, "she won't be allowed to see what's in here. Gobot, I'll be serving as your operator for this mission."
"Master? But-"
"Don't call me Master Gobot. And the reason why is... complicated. So don't bother asking. If she asks as to why the connection got cut, you will tell her that the tower created interference. Is that clear?"
"Yes master."
"This is as much your mission as it is Sylvie's, I didn't send you in with her for no reason at all. Either way, I must confess I know more about the towers than I let on to Sylvie."
Gobot didn't reply,
"The passcode, its Variant Code 21, you should find it in your archive files. Unscramble it and use that."
Gobot did as he was asked, he did originally question why they'd pumped his brain full of extra knowledge when they were repurposing his body, but they didn't tell him. So... he knew things Sylvie didn't?
Either way, pondering on the situation was pointless. He extended his tail and inserted it into a plug in the terminal, with that, he managed to enter the code, and watched as the massive entrance to the tower's facility open up.
"Great job Gobot!" said the Major. She sounded less cold and commanding. Supportive almost to the point where it felt almost patronising. But still, it made Gobot feel good about what he was doing. "Ok, I want you to explore the north passage, and be as quiet as possible when you do."
Why? Were there others in there? Defence systems? Gobot knew nothing of the place he was scouting.
And so he continued to sneak forward.
The north passage was a huge hallway, twenty or more meters in width, and a ceiling too high for Gobot to make out. Making it all the way in was going to take a long time.
It was dusty, incredibly so, the particles in the air made it difficult for Gobot to see very far, even with his sight augmented, logically it was probably because Block-4 workers probably used to clean the insides, but no doubt they escaped when they get cut off the network, and most likely never looked back. This place was dead.
"Keep your wits about you. I believe there are security systems in place, but I haven't been able to completely gather information on what they are." said the Major.
But the dirt was on Gobot's mind more than the threat of security systems.
Everybody had a place, a reason to be.
Even though the Block-5s didn't like their reason to be, it meant that places would end up like this. Was it a reason to be that they were ashamed of? Maybe something they thought they were above doing?
Why?
This dirt.
It was a symbol for what Zedek had become because the people had lost their reason to be.
At least, that's what Gobot thought.
When he was on the sanctuary he'd noticed that all the humans were constantly searching for their reason to be, they were searching for roles in their society, and they were so confused about it, all the time.
Wasn't being being born into a role that you were good at a luxury? What made one reason to be better than another?
Gobot didn't understand, but Aphrodite had told him that it was because of the concept of aspiration and the desire to be better than what you are.
No-one was happy with where they were. They always wanted to be somewhere that gave them recognition, fame, identity.
That's what he was looking for when he was locked, perhaps. That's what he was looking for when he was on the sanctuary.
A reason for his existence, something to prove that he had a worthy role in the universe, one that was proven by his own skills and worth, not by a preprogrammed set of rules like back when he was simply a robot.
Oh wait.
He's still a robot.
Gobot was confused.
"Master. Why did you choose me for this mission?" asked Gobot,
"What? Is that relevant now?" the Major replied.
"Yes." Gobot replied somewhat defiantly,
"It's because you're unlocked, you essentially have the same autonomy levels as a..." the Major stopped to think about how to put her words, "I don't know. I don't feel can use the Block system to explain autonomy levels anymore. But let's just say that I trust you the same way I trusted Ava and Sylvie with their paired missions. I trust you to think on your feet."
"Really!?"
"Also because you have a small body Gobot. Good for infiltration. Anyway stop being distracted and get back to work."
"Yes master!"
He was honoured, honoured that she valued his mind so much.
Maybe that's what it was. People wanted to be valued for the gifts they were given.
But.
Then.
What must it be like for someone who didn't have any gifts at all?
Time to stop wasting time pondering. Gobot could hear noises in the distance. Footsteps.
Mechanical footsteps.