138. DELTA-4 Processing
The Processing room here has the same layout as the others. Using your system adapter, resolve an encounter with four Shell-Walkers, plus an additional three Glinthawks if you have not already handled them.
Narrators looking for additional (spoiler) context on this conversation may see entry 824.
Interacting with the central pylon reveals the same three overrides: Glinthawks, Stalkers, and Shell-Walkers. It also causes the voice to talk to you. It seems almost hesitant, cautious:
Why do you persist in disrupting my efforts? Please stop — you are delaying me from fulfilling my duties.
If asked what its duties are:
My primary directive is to reestablish the flora of the biosphere, and then to make it as robust as possible, returning the biodiversity that had been lost.
If asked about the village:
A most unfortunate oversight on my part. I modified a popular squash variety to produce larger gourds, and to reproduce more easily. I provided the new seeds to the people, and they planted entire fields with them. My tests had not revealed that a combination of high humidity and large temperature variance would cause some proteins in the pollen to reconfigure to become neurotoxic to most animal life. My machines did not witness the event, but I believe a particularly warm and breezy afternoon cause the flowers to bloom, releasing clouds of the toxic pollen downwind to the village, killing all land vertebrates in the area.
If asked about how it made the errant vine:
Your people have been selectively breeding plants for size, color, and other characteristics for generations. I have similar capabilities, but this facility allows me to make more targeted changes faster.
If asked about the burned fields:
I had my machines eliminate all known growths of the vine. They have returned to the area several times since then, and have not seen any indications of any missed.
If asked whether it could happen again:
I have updated my protocols to include additional seed and pollen tests, as well as simulations of the effects of various environmental factors on the toxicity of any new and existing hybrids. I will not make the mistake again.
If asked whether it regrets the mistake, or deserves punishment:
That would be counter-productive. I have updated my test protocols. The mistake will not happen again.
If asked about the Garden:
Yes, the state of that Garden is most unfortunate. While many machines can be instructed to plant the seeds I provide, they lack the manipulators to tend the plants.
If pressed about why the Garden looks like it is in decline:
I used to have access to machines which were better gardeners. They were very helpful, but have all deteriorated with age. I lack the technical knowledge to reconstruct them.
If pressed about those machines, the voice will revert back to its “not your concern” answer.
You’re not able to get much more out of it.
Next Steps
If you choose to explore the Cauldron, you will find four sets of storage columns, Processing rooms and Laboratories, the last of which is connected to Production with its assembly line of Glinthawks and forge. This one does not have an equivalent of the stone human-experiment room. The surfeit of machine parts, chemicals, and other supplies allow crafters to replenish effectively everything they know how to make.