Of the dozens of drones working on the ship, several were of the custodian class. Anthropomorphic they were not: a basic, unadorned skeleton: three legs, two in back, one in front. Two spindly arms, sight and sound circuitry bolted unceremoniously onto what you might consider a "head." The custodians roamed around and cleaned up trash: construction detritus, perhaps, or garbage left by a previous crew.
The passageways were illuminated by dim backup lighting. Somewhere you could hear the hum of the one remaining engine. It would remain online until the engineers could hook up external power to the ship.
Our custodian's name was CC-1110. He loped through the corridors toward the cockpit, which was his assigned work area today. His concerns were simple. Aside from basic ambulatory and navigation functions, his programming concerned only one thing: discriminating between purposeful objects and non-purposeful objects. IF Is_Garbage(object) THEN Collect(object).
ScanField(video, object)
Ident(object)
IF IsShipFixture(Armageddon_blueprint, object) THEN ignore(object); ScanField(video, next_object)
ELSE IF IsLikelyCrewProperty(object) THEN ignore(object); ScanField(video, next_object)
ELSE Collect(object); ScanField(video, next_object)
Don't let anyone fool you: Even simple creatures have minds, to whatever extent their processors will allow. He interpreted his programming in his own way as he went about his work.
Object: Lighting apparatus. Is on blueprint? No. Is overhaul? Yes. Probable temporary fixture. Ignore. Proceed.
Object: Connector, electrical. Location: Floor, Corridor Twelve Nineteen. Pick up object. Examine. Is on overhaul parts list? Yes. Probable work in progress. Ignore. Proceed.
Location: Cockpit. ScanField. Object. Ident. Overhead Toggle Switch. ScanField. Object. Overhead Push Switch. Meter. Display. Gauge. Seat, seat restraint, armrest, seat debris. Ident: broken glass. Collect. ScanField. Object. Location: Floor. Pick up. Examine. Bezel, monitor, weapons targeting, metal. Part Number 72-76288. Weight: 0.7 kg. Condition: Broken. Collect.
ScanField. Object. Location: Seat, side, accessory holder. Examine. Ident. Is on blueprint? No. Search catalog poss crew effects. Ident. Pen, writing. Ignore.
ScanField. Object. Location: Control panel, forward. Examine. Paper. Examine. Image, paper. Ident. Is on blueprint? No. Search catalog poss crew effects. Ident.
Examine. Ident.
Examine. Ident.
Collect.
ScanField.
