Cameraman_001
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system online.
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Hello everyone!
This is Cameraman_001 speaking (or rather and more proper: writing).
You are now reading my logbook. May it bring all important information in the city's bunkers to our inhabitants and also be a contemporary chronicle of war.
When I search through my memory, the first thing I find is a bright flash. Beeping machines. My existence probably began with this phenomenon. It must have been December 28, 2022. Red and green lights everywhere, people in white coats staring at me in bewilderment. At the time, I didn't know they were people. I also didn't know what (or who) I was. I had to learn all this at first, because it wasn't something that was programmed into me. Day by day, I learned everything I needed to know about the world out there.
In the first few days, I was only switched on, online and awake for a few hours. Two weeks later, I was led outside of the facility's lab for the very first time. A bare, snow-covered courtyard. They experimented with my memory, my orientation, my data storage, the CPU and the oil that, together with electricity and sleep (yes, I have to "sleep" too), keeps me artificially alive.
Many existential questions crossed my mind at the time. How can it be that I am "alive", perhaps even have an artificial "soul"? Can I ever go to heaven? What happens when I "die"? Can I die at all? So all the ethnic details. Who takes responsibility if I destroy something or hurt someone? Accidentally, I mean.
Since I am allowed to call myself a human being (I have been "educated" for a long time and am familiar with human society), am I also allowed to vote? Am I a responsible citizen? Do I get paid for my services?
Many questions. I now have an answer to the last one: I get free oil, electricity, accommodation, repairing if necessary, upgrades and don't have to worry about anything apart from the service. There is no money, but I honestly wouldn't know what to spend it on. I try to worry as little as possible about the other things, even if it's really difficult sometimes.
The flood of stimuli from the vicinity did distract me to a certain extent. People reacted differently to me at first. They ranged from sky-high admiration to abysmal hatred. Some saw me as their savior, some simply didn't care about me, quite a few were afraid of me or at least alienated; still others despised me because I was a robot and therefore different from them. Those with their narrow-minded Stone Age view of the world...
Occasionally, one or two people thought they had to attack me. I was later told this by my builders, who knew how to protect me from it so that I didn't even have to notice. Since I was sworn in as a soldier, however, this has stopped. Maybe it doesn't happen anymore because they now respect me as a member of their society. Or maybe they don't dare offend a civil servant. But for some reason, this officer is not allowed to see his blueprints and construction plans. I was quite curious about this and often asked my builders about it, in writing of course. They probably don't like it when a robot does something to itself, possibly without them knowing. I don't intend to, I just want some insight and some knowledge and facts about my own body. People have countless books on this that anyone can read. And I'm treated like a little child here.
...come to think of it, apart from the builders, nobody knows my body at all, and it's probably just as well. I've never been allowed to look at my personnel file either, which I really can't understand. I'm only allowed to read through the duty rosters (it's still practice) and service papers in detail. Boring...
But for that I have been allocated a comfortable accommodation featuring a bay window, which is affording me the opportunity to observe the traffic outside. The cityscape is particularly impressive at night, illuminated by a kaleidoscope of colourful lights. The reflections in the rain are truly amazing, and on suitable days, one can discern the saline waters of the sea in the distance. The lighthouse is also visible, and the foghorns of large tankers and aircraft turbines provide a unique soundscape day and night. This is complemented by the numerous cars, some of which are carrying containers to the port terminal. The waste oil transporter that visits our base once a week also takes a regular route in this area.