Day 4, March 9
First things first: I finally discovered a way to tell when the remnant's working extra hard and when it's dormant. There's a multi-colored glow that lights up the endoskeleton inside, which I learned from testing the AI this morning. That means it's doing what it does best: making the custom Spring-Trash physically stronger but emotionally more fragile. Now, I don't mean that last phrase in a really negative way. Remember: that was my goal. It just means he'll be a little... jumpy when it comes to certain things. And, therefore, a bit out-of-character. Unless it was that way before the haunted house days?
Picking up from my last William the Founder info-dump, I dug through some interview archives just for kicks. One of them had him talking about another bot in the Special Delivery lineup: a clown-looking girl with two orange pigtails on either side of her head. Or, as those in the company call her, Circus Baby. Apparently, decades before the service I know today, she was made for another chain of restaurants that never got made. The interview I listened to (since no footage was recovered) made me learn a few things.
One: Turns out William could make robots too. I wonder if he ever helped design the original guys and gals...
Two: Circus Girl here could do a bunch of stuff, including song requests. If my above theory is correct, then is Spring able to sing? Or even dance? I know it's a long-shot, but it'd be an interesting way to test both the source code and how he currently moves.
Three: William sounds almost nothing like Spring. Unless there's a piece of the puzzle I'm missing here, I don't know if the forums theory of him and Spring being the same is entirely true. Then again, the accents are very close. And H-B Spring did have that same calmness when he figured out how to 'talk'. But the rasp, lower tone, and more theatrical way of speaking are all points against the idea too. I dunno anymore, boys and girls. I just don't know.
On a much more certain note, I'm planning on sending out H-B tomorrow to collect some extra remnant. Am I worried about the trip? Nah, since I'll have a camera on him to see what he's doing. If he gets out of line, I'll set the shocker to the lightest setting and use it like a rod of correction. It should be foolproof, unless one of my trackers' battery dies or he gets hi-jacked. I just hope that doesn't happen when I'm at my actual job...
Anyway, I'll come back with a later update about the song-and-dance test. Gotta have him clear that before nothing else. Octavia out.
Afternoon Update: All right, I've just finished the test. The good news is that he passed with flying colors. The bad news? His singing voice isn't the best, but I can tell he's trying. He literally just learned how to "talk" more realistically yesterday, so I'll cut him so slack.
For anyone who's interested in what song he sang, I don't know if I can legally say what it is exactly. I can tell you that it was a 1970s song that recently became somewhat popular again. Not popular enough to hit the radio airwaves again, but it did make everyone talk about it. I hope that's a good enough explanation for you.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Thanks to me unplugging him from the laptop, he was able to move around a lot more. He even did some choreography during his whole musical number. You read that right. He got so into it, he started doing choreography even though both of us were still in the basement. I have no idea how or why the remnant gave him that level of energy, but I can definitely say it wasn't in the source code that I looked through. Maybe my first theory about Will and the pizzeria is sort of right? Maybe he even programmed the very first Spring to dance like that? Perhaps I'll never know.
So, that does mean the remnant hunt is on for tomorrow. I just realized that means I have to give the rabbit a revised house tour since I've changed so much data in four days. Well, at least he might not break stuff and go all "Red Eyes, Stare Dies", right?
Anyway, gotta take a break from writing and get back to work. I might give an update about the house tour if I'm not too tired. Octavia out.
Evening Update: The tour went surprisingly well for guiding a sentient robot around. I showed him a room and he'd just stare at it for a few seconds. I guess either his AI was building a map for it or he was just mystified. Whatever the case, he was more polite than I thought he would be. Too polite, to be honest. I was really hoping for the thrill of him exploring and getting himself into "trouble" for fiddling with anything. The only thing he messed with was this very journal, which I caught him reading. I don't know how far he read, but he looked so fascinated. Maybe he just found out about the remnant?
Anyway, I'm going to bed early so I can be well-rested for tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be the final test for basic stuff, then real stuff starts. "Battle" tests, acting training, exploring the neighborhood... You name it, I've planned it. Yes, even any spontaneous karaoke he decides to do.
I just now realized I've been calling Spring a "he" and not an "it". Thanks to the remnant, I guess it's kind of hard not to. It really has made him more of a person these days. Besides, isn't the bot supposed to be a "he" anyway? Weird.
All right, I'll quit wasting your time. See you tomorrow with the aftermath of the test. Octavia out.