Construct One-K stepped out from its alcove upon receiving its activation signal. Its duties had not changed – it would patrol the same route it always had. The stone watcher grasped its weapon – a long, bronze pike – in its grasp and began to march down the corridor of the storage facility it inhabited. Machines and various circuitry – left by the Makers themselves – beeped and whistled, and the hum of energy made the floor shudder beneath its feet.
But, it paid no attention to this. Its duty was to protect the Vale for the Makers. And it would do just that.
Stepping outside, Construct One-K was greeted by the shining sun of the mid-day, as large trees bloomed in the distance off from the balcony it stood on. Other constructs milled about it; some marching in formation, others standing perfectly still, heads turning this way and that, while others carried large, ordinate boxes from one room to the next.
All was normal.
Turning, the construct trudged along the balcony and stepped down a small flight of stairs – again, following it's patrol route. This was what it was built for – this was its function. Ever since the end of the war with the insectoid creatures, the stone legions had been ordered by their Master, Ra, to keep the Vale in pristine condition. The Makers had long since departed – and Ra had long since ceased communication – but Construct One-K did not care. Its orders were ingrained into its form, it's stone body having been augmented by technology from the Makers to receive and output commands.
Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Construct One-K began to march down the path into the Vale proper – some constructs were assigned to patrol the vicinity of the various facilities, while others simply stood vigil in the buildings themselves. The humming and various assorted chatter indicated that the small life forms that had taken root in the Vale were aware of its presence, but once again, the construct paid no attention to them. Its orders in dealing with native life was to ignore it unless it was deemed a threat to the Makers or to the constructs as a whole.
Approaching the end of its route, Construct One-K took notice of a few pairs of large eyes studying it from the path ahead. In front of it, the construct beheld several aquatic creatures – with large eyes that studied it curiously. The creatures were small and held scales indicative of fish or crustaceans but otherwise appeared humanoid – they were bipedal and had arms. Approaching them, the construct stopped barely a foot from them.
"Native life is advised to relocate from patrol path for its own safety." it barked in its stony, deep and bland voice. The creatures leaped back, startled a moment as they chattered about in some primitive language, and then bounded away into the brush. This warning was often sufficient enough to deter native fauna from interfering in the construct's patrol path – it was one of the standard announcements programmed into each construct.
As Construct One-K continued its heavy-footed march through the various roadways connecting the various facilities of the Makers, it continuously updated its location, status and other relevant information to the SK-1 MasterComputer – a super-advanced AI that connected all of the constructs to it's mainframe, allowing the stone legions to send and receive instructions, data and other information from other constructs.
"Patrol route Kappa Prime completed. Returning to designated holding area – no anomalies detected within vicinity."
"Audio detection software installed at all data storage devices present in Complex Beta-11 Echo. No anomalies or errors encountered."
The voices went on and on, droning in their robotic tone about various updates being relayed by the SK network to all mogu connected. Individuality was not a subroutine or command active in any construct, but it was through the SK network that a semblance of collective was formed.
Construct One-K continued its march through the Vale – its orders were always at the fore-front of its programming.