Sentinel Prime was making his rounds around AutomaTown, checking in on the new residents as well as making sure that security would be ready when the King’s Subjugation Squad arrived. We weren’t looking for a war and just wanted to live in peace, but we wouldn’t go down without a fight either.

As the proxy cams rotated through their programmed cycles, everything appeared to be in order. While it was useful to be able to connect to these limited proxy puppets as a sort of security camera network, it would be nice if they didn’t take up proxy slots when in use or if people that weren’t me could access them.

Since the town was entirely Automata, so far, it never slept. There were always folks going around doing something, working on their own projects, or visiting neighbors at all hours of the day. Even though it was the middle of the night, the town was still quite active, though in the wee hours, people tended to slow down and do quiet activities to give themselves a mental break.

Sentinel approached the door of a building near the center of town. The freshly made sign above the door read: Mecha Nick. I had to suppress a giggle every time I saw it. I’d told Jackie that a person that works on machines was called a mechanic, but there must have been something lost in the translation. Now, the residents seemed to think that a doctor for Automata was called a “Mecha Nick” and had taken to calling him “Mecha Nick Jackie.”

Sentinel knocked twice on the door before entering. Inside, Jackie had a patient sitting on the workbench with their back-access panel removed. Jackie was focused on his work and barely gave Sentinel a glance and a grunt.

“Good evening Miss Rin,” Sentinel said, tipping his head to the Automata on the workbench and touching the brim of his hat. “Still having phantom pains?”

Rin tilted her head to the side and looked up at Sentinel. “I know I shouldn’t have any pains at all, let alone pain in something I don’t even have...”

“She's all good back here mate,” Jackie chimed in as he reattached the back panel, “Right as rain.”

“Miss Rin, have you met Shiro? He just recently joined us. Apparently, he used to be a Maahesian.”

“Oh, a lionkin, no I haven’t met him yet.”

“The reason I bring him up is that Prime had to build a new body for him from scratch and Shiro asked for it to be as close as possible to his previous form. Maybe having an Automata body that mimics your previous species would help.”

She tapped a finger to her faceplate in thought. “You know, now that you mention it, before the conversion, I used to be a Kobald. I wonder if not having a tail is part of the problem. I’d love to have a properly shaped head too, instead of this flat-faced, human-ish design.”

Sentinel nodded knowingly, “Prime is busy getting ready for our visit from the King’s envoy, but afterward go by and talk to him about a full rebuild.”

“Ah! I can do that! I’m going to go write a song about it! Later Sentinel, later Mecha Nick,” she said as she hopped down from the workbench and headed out the door with a wave.

“We’ve been getting more and more of that sort of thing,” Jackie sighed.

“I think that makes sense. Previously, all Automata had their past memories suppressed and had no idea what they had been or even that they had a previous life. They must have gone through life just feeling like something was wrong with them but never knowing why.”

“When I think of that factory murdering us and turning us into... this,” he said gesturing to himself, “It bloody well does my head in!”

Sentinel converted an arm into blade mode and tapped it against Jackie’s chest. “I could release you. No need to be trapped.”

“Yeah nah, I’m good mate,” Jackie said with a chuckle brushing the blade to the side.

“Just say the word, I got you. I’m a helper,” Sentinel replied as he converted his arm back to normal.

“Ha! Yeah, okay, so what brings you ‘round?”

“Going on my rounds, then looping the perimeter of the barrier.”

“Yeah, alright,” he said, standing up and giving an exaggerated stretch. “I could do with a bit of a walk.”

Their first stop was to see Uri. Uri had always dreamed of being a musician but had no skill for it. Now, as an Automata, Uri worked on crafting musical instruments, though he really didn’t have any skill at that either. They entered Uri’s shop and were greeted by the sound of what might have been some sort of animal in its death throes if not for the sight of Uri trying to use a bellows to blow into an odd jumble of pipes.

Sentinel waved to Uri to get his attention. “How are things going Uri? I see you’ve made some progress on your... horn?”

“Ah, yes. Yes I have! Come, come! Would you like to try playing it?”

“Perhaps another time. I’ve never been much of a musically inclined person.”

“Shame. They say that music can soothe even the wild beasts.”

“They do say that, yes,” remarked Jackie.

Sentinel gave Jackie a side-eyed glance before continuing, “we just wanted to check in on you. How are things going otherwise?”

“Oh, great really. I’ve got a new idea for an instrument that I want to try out that uses different lengths of bamboo that you smack with paddles. I’m going to call it a ‘Tuba’, cause ya know, it’ll be made with tubes.”

“Very clever mate.”

Again, Sentinel gave Jackie a side-eye. “It’ll be interesting to hear what kind of sounds you’ll get. I’m sure that a percussion instrument will work out better than a breath instrument for beings that don’t have any breath.”

Uri looked down at the current instrument before putting his hands on his hips. “That’s a fair point. I feel like I’m missing some arms if I’m going to play this thing properly with a bellows.”

“Well, keep that in mind if you decide to ask Prime about a rebuild.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!”

“You’re giving yourself heaps of extra work, you know,” Jackie said softly as they left the shop with a wave.

“I know. But I want to see them be happy.”

“Everyone is going to want endless rebuilds and we don’t have the resources for it. You don’t even have enough for your own projects.”

“That’s true. Maybe we can come up with a lottery system or some means to earn or save up for a rebuild,” Sentinel said thoughtfully.

“At the minimum, I think having folks come up with the resources for their own rebuilds would be a good start. Work smarter, not harder!”

They continued to discuss the topic between their visits to the workshops of other townsfolk. Sentinel listened to their complaints and their triumphs, offered what suggestions he could, and mostly tried to help inspire the things that they were already interested in.

“You should rest a spell, too, you know,” Jackie said when they had finished their last shop visit. You don't always want to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”

“Being Sentinel is actually pretty relaxing for the most part. Some of my other proxies are pretty busy most of the time and in my main body, it doesn’t seem like I ever take a break. But when I’m Sentinel, I’m not building or crafting, there’s no code that refuses to work properly, not a lot of problem solving. It’s not taxing on the ol’ brain module, I just have to keep an eye on things and make sure you guys are safe and happy.”

The pair had exited through the town gate, though the defense barrier wouldn’t have blocked their passage, there was still a propriety to these sorts of things. The moons peeked between clouds in the night sky but it was hard to see any stars. The wind had started to pick up in that way that meant a storm might be coming.

Without any juicy meatbags to chew on, most of the forest critters paid little attention to AutomaTown. Occasionally they would get something that got close by accident or curiosity but without the opportunity for a meal, most of them could be easily discouraged.

SQUAWK

SQUAWK SQUAWK

As they came around the northern side of town, where the woods seemed to be darker, they could hear Blink Birds milling around. Mostly, the large, carnivorous birds were scavengers and would prefer to eat dead things than hunt, but when there were a lot of them, they could be dangerous. The birds also didn’t seem to be smart enough to realize that Automata weren’t edible until a couple of bites in, and even then, they didn’t share their discovery with their flock-mates. Or seem to remember the next time...