Not until checking the wiki for this chapter did I find his name is actually Codsworth like an actual name not Cogsworth like a real name with a pun about cogs and wheels like I assumed. It feels too late to bother changing it 70 chapters in.

Begin Recording

Robot

Recording by Scribe Ellison

Dear brother and sister scribes, thank you for sending questions with the last caravan. So many questions. Perhaps Miss Moira Brown should come ask her questions in person since she has so many. She would fit right in.

One of you asked a very perceptive question: with all the confusion over the humanity of synths, how are robots treated? I'm afraid there's no dramatic answer. Robots in the Commonwealth are treated just as they are in the capital. They do what they are programmed to do. The General tells me, rather apologetically, that she doesn't understand the complex programming issues so she simply judges that any being able to articulate its wishes should have those wishes considered if not always granted. She used simpler terms but that's the basic theory. Anything that acts like a person should be treated as one.

There are no permanent robot residents in Sanctuary at the moment but that seems to be by chance rather than the permanent state of affairs. Some of the settlements have permanent protectron guards or Mister Handies as farmers. And several Handies work as provisioners transporting resources between the settlements.

One of these provisioners is Cogsworth, the General's robot from before the war. I discover this surprisingly when he sails up main street leading a pack brahmin. The people descend on the brahmin to unload it and the robot stretches its three arms in a very human gesture and sails over to the yellow house where one of Sturges' apprentices is ready to offer a tune-up and refill of ammunition.

The kids turn up because they turn up everywhere that something new is happening. That's when I realize which robot this is, because they greet him by name.

"Young Master Shaun! Miss Shiloh! How are you doing? Keeping up on your studies?"

"Yes, cogsworth." The two of them chorus in perfect unison.

Little Maya demands, "Ride!"

"My pleasure Miss Maya, as soon as my oil levels and filters have been checked."

The engineers banter with the robot while doing his tune-up and I ask the kids, "Is that the same Cogsworth your mother mentioned?"

"Mmhm. he's really old!"

"He remembers the other Shaun, he thinks I'm him." Shaun says, "And he knows a lot of stuff about before the war."

"But it's all about cleaning things before the war!"

Cogsworth is using one of his arms to touch up his paint job, the Minutemen logo proudly on his round central body.

I have to catch Cogsworth and ask him questions. Of course every Mister Handy around is from before the war but few of them retain all of their programming and data from so long ago. The only one I've met is the medic Gutsy Sawbones at the Citadel, but it had to be reprogrammed because its prewar personality had broken down.

But first Cogsworth finishes his tune-up and takes Maya for a ride, letting her hang off his arms on one side and blasting up so she leaves the ground in long wobbly jumps.

I do get to talk to Cogsworth later on. I find him pulling weeds, the tiny sprouts that are such a pain in the neck to get. He greets me, "Hello young sir! I hear you have come to collect information."

"Um, that's right. I came to ask people in the Commonwealth about their stories so we can learn from each other. Would you like to tell me about yourself?"

"Certainly! I am a Mister Handy unit, the pride of General Atomics and RobCo Industries, programmed for domestic service with add-ons for cooking, gardening and childcare: infant and toddler. Childcare: teenager was a complex and expensive program that was considered unnecessary at the time, a decision I now feel was an oversight. I am pleased to use my programming to make home life more comfortable for my family of six hundred eighty-one people. I have one hundred and eighty houses in my care."

I know Handies are programmed for enthusiasm but Cogsworth sounds really proud.

"You take care of that many houses?"

"Indeed! Not all at the same time of course. I travel between settlements helping each household set up properly spic and span! With Abraxo cleaner and plenty of elbow grease even the most unlikely structure can become a comfortable home! And I must say some of them are very unlikely. I also advise on proper hygiene, housekeeping and gardening."

I'm not sure how to ask the question. "With all the synths getting their freedom do you want to be treated as a person too?"

"Heavens no! Free will seems like a terrible burden, begging your pardon sir. I do not understand why my synth cousins are so attached to the idea! I prefer my neural network just as RobCo intended."

I smile. "So you like your job?"

"Yes indeed! I am of use to Mistress Emily and Young Master Shaun and our very large family. Now, would you like to hear about proper housekeeping? I have a large volume of data on everything from cleaning linoleum floors to putting up curtains. You may need a whole empty holotape."