FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Whistler fired a gas jet and moved his body a couple of inches to the right as he drifted off centre from the massive girder that was his target. It was a silent correction, there was no air through which sound could travel. As liberating as it was to just be floating in the void with the splendour of Earth spread out below him it was also a little bit scary. He was still himself, behind his lensed eyes his mind was still Whistler, just bundled up with a whole load of new protocols and experiences.

The scariest thing however was that there was nothing between his smooth, shiny skin and the endless airless void. It was his fifth day on the job and he still wasn't used to it. Bringing his arms and legs up the lion closed his claws around the massive metal bar and locked his limbs in place. Checking that he was secure he thought at the visor covering his face and brought up the navigation data he needed back to the new solar collector they were building.

OC-IS-Beta: Unit-WU: I am secure and ready to move Strut 664-Gamma, Navigation data locked, requesting permission to move?"

OC-IS-Beta: Overseer TS: Permission Granted Whistler, go right ahead and bring it over. We're ready to receive, welding team is on standby.

Whistler fired up the Xenon jets built into his mane and applied a steady burn, the various directional jets giving him fine control over direction, speed and pitch. The jets didn't provide much acceleration but the bar he was now attached to was weightless. It didn't take much to get them both moving in the right direction, a slow steady maneuver that would take take him about forty minutes to make from the foundary ship that had spat out the massive lump of iron to the new solar collector.

It meant for the next hour or so Whistler was nothing more than a glorified thinking machine with some boosters attached. So as he had nothing else to do he opened the general channel between the construction crews working out here. It was a whole new world of interaction and experiences. When he got off duty he'd plug himself into one of the virtual reality systems provided for personnel. But for now he could keep an eye on his trajectory and chatter to his fellow automata! Life sure was strange when you were made of plastic but it had lots of opportunities for meeting new and interesting people. It didn't quite make up for the fact he was now living life as robotic construction worker, even if secretly he thought his new body was rather cool. There were a lot of folks to talk to and he had been slowly getting used to his body. He was here now, he had been transformed and there was no point in sitting around brooding about it. Or rebelling they might think he needed an attitude adjustment if he rebelled, he'd seen what they did to one of his fellow felons who had tried to rebel.

The big yellow and black wolverine had been rendered practically mindless after he started smashing up equipment. Now he would obey instructions from the overseer and the Administrator AI. He spent all day work as instructed and then plugged himself into a recharging booth in the main barracks. He had no life, no experiences, his mind was off... Whistler didn't want that to happen to him. He'd found the company actually treated them pretty well. There was plenty of entertainment when they were off duty and some good people to mingle with.

Firing a quick adjustment with his tail to trim his trajectory Whistler let his mind partially submerge into the chatter on the general channel. It was kind of fun to just listen and only chime in when there was something he wanted to say. Life was very weird when you were a robot, no need to eat or use the toilet, just a requirement to recharge, work well and socialise virtually with others.

It wasn't a bad way to live...

-0-

Settling back into the security booth Cinnamon deployed the fibreoptic spool from his claws and hooked into the system. He then ordered the primary connections to go live and settled back as the chair tilted to move him into position. He could see Nutmeg in the next booth over going through the same process, this was going to be his first proper shift. He'd spent a week in training simulations, orientation programs and adjusting to his new body.

Last night he'd gone out in town with Nutmeg, the two of them dressed up in proxy bodies. They'd gone to a nightclub, an actual restaurant with food, he had money to spend! Ok it wasn't much but it was more than he'd ever had! It had been fun and now they were in the security department at Pimlico Eternity and about to go online.

The hardpoint connections slid home, locking into place along the length of his spine. It was odd, he could feel the ports sliding their needle like connectors home then the whole assembly turning to lock itself in place. The plates along his stomach and thighs folded open, more connectors sliding into place as the roof of the security pod descended. For a brief moment Cinnamon panicked, convinced he was going to be impaled as the roof descended and metal points extended. He wasn't though, the line of connections along his arms, legs and stomach all lined up perfectly, each one sliding home into his body. Optical data ports pressed into place against his ears and the crystal at the back of his neck and over his chest.

As the security pod latched closed Cinnamon thought a simple command and his whiskers deployed, the spools of ultra fine, super sensitive fibre-optic wires fed themselves through tiny holes in the polymer now covering his muzzle and connected him to the sensor grid.

SSU-02-Primary: Connected, assuming security protocol Alpha 1 - Transfer Request submitted.

It wasn't text, Cinnamon was beyond having to read his data requests on the inside of his eyelids. Nutmeg had helped him learn how to think and hear and interpret the data straight into his mind. It was so very odd... but also strangely comforting, here he had a purpose, a reason for being.

SSU-03-Primary: Relinquishing control - Transfer Protocol Recognized - Going Off Duty, have a good shift.

Cinnamon's mentality expanded, he could see the two closed security pods opposite starting to open. The users inside, their fellow security units disengaging from the system. A secure connection opened with Nutmeg their identity traits meshing before they reached out to take control of the security grid and all open connections.

SSU-02-alpha: Status of Building Security Confirmed - Building Secure

SSU-02-beta: AI Administrator Core Security - Online - Location secure

SSU-02-charlie: Pimlico Eternity Spaceport Security - Online - Monitoring

SSU-02-delta: Security Commander - Pimlico Eternity - Security Unit Patrol Monitoring online

SSU-02-echo: Incoming Communication: RT-U3-76 - Call Accepted

The list went on, Cinnamon's mind forking in different directions in response to the incoming security issues. They related to a whole host of different matters, Vulcan Automata Headquarters in London, their facilities in other cities, in orbit, around other planets. Overview and oversight of personnel, equipment and ship intelligences. Every request came in through the security data point and was assigned either to Cinnamon or Nutmeg, the Administrator was there was well, ready to answer or take charge or give direction at a moment's notice in an emergency. But generally everything went through Cinnamon and Nutmeg's brains and sensor equipment. He was looking through cameras in multiple places, holding live conversations with other employees as well as chatting quietly to Nutmeg about the night before.

It was so strange doing multiple things at once and yet also very comforting. He was making a difference, he was helping others, helping his employers and doing his bit to keep everyone safe. His thought routines were for the most part autonomous, watching observing, flagging issues up to his primary forks as and when something needed his primary attention. He was part and parcel of the machine now, his body inside the pod may have looked like a rather gruesome electronic vivisection. But his mind was free and larger than ever, he was everywhere, listening, helping, watching, assisting. It was a great job and when his shift was over his proxy body was waiting and he could go out and party or just relax in his apartment with his brother and forget for a little while that he was now a robot.

~fin