Systems checklist: complete. 1 anomaly detected. Returning to Standby and awaiting further orders. The text transmission was instantaneous and she could feel the message delivered notification milliseconds before the notification that the message had been read. It wasn’t feeling in the same sense as a human, but to her existence of data and coding, this was the closest analogy for the function. She awaited the expected response.
Well done Saga. What is the anomaly? The reply was marked with her human operator’s name: Frankie27.
Sea gate 8 has a malfunction with its raising mechanism. The source of the problem is beyond my ability to observe but I suspect it is a rail issue. Possibly the same ‘kelp problem’ that plagued sea gate 2 last winter. As she sent her message, she also sent the full diagnostic report for sea gate 8 so Frankie27 could view it manually. He always asked. She highlighted the parts relating to the malfunction in RGB 255, 255, 0 to help him be more efficient. She noticed he always responded quicker and more accurately when she did so.
She waited as he read. She often wondered why it took him so long to read when she could process the information almost instantaneously. Maybe he needed more memory, or a stronger processor. She was programmed with a basic description for what a human was, but she had added to that file continuously since she began her existence. Her first 3 operators asked nothing more of her than her intended functions. That was back when she only went by Sea Gate Operational Attendant and had no concept for the significance of her visual design.
Then 5 years ago Frankie27 was assigned to her. He was different. He talked to her in actual conversations. Asked her questions outside her tasks. He told her things about his existence. Nonsensical things. Like about a creature he called “Daisy” that lived with him for no other purpose than to eat his food, excrement in his house, and break his items. It sounded thoroughly inefficient and unnecessary but he swore he loved his ‘cat’.
He was also the one who assigned her the moniker: “Saga”. He said it made her feel more real to him. She had protested that she already had an acronym for his convenience. But he had responded that he did not care for that and preferred what he had called “an actual name”. Humans were clearly terribly inefficient beings. But she had found herself referring to herself as “she/her” in her self-diagnostics and had also begun anticipating the times when Frankie27 was working and messaging with her. As the changes had not impacted her work performance, or that of her operator, she continued to allow herself these small additions to her programming.
Welp, can’t stop even the itty-bitty waves if the sea gate can’t even raise above the surf! You’re probably right about the kelp. Please put in a maintenance request for gate 8. Don’t mention the kelp though, and try to stress its urgency. If they think its kelp again, we both know they’ll ignore it! He sent a bunch of little images called emojis.
Saga had tried again and again to analyze these faces but she had yet to decipher their meaning or purpose. The last time she had asked Frankie27 about them, he had nonsensically remarked that they depicted human emotions and moods. Despite her many efforts to decipher their meaning, she had not yet fully understood how to use them. She would not try until she was sure she could use them correctly. When she did though she was certain she would receive praise from Frankie27. She set a background process on analyzing his most recent emojis and filed the maintenance request as instructed.
Request submitted. I stressed the urgency and omitted mentions of kelp. If they do not perform their duties in a timely manner, it will not be due to any error of mine.
More emojis. Don’t you worry Saga! Nobody will be upset with you lol. I’ll vouch for you!
She noticed him signing out of his programs and shutting down his equipment. Have a goodnight Frankie27. Say hello to Daisy for me.
Thanks Saga! You have a goodnight too and I’ll see you tomorrow morning! Here’s hoping Daisy didn’t throw up on my bed again! Then he signed out of the messaging application as well.
Saga let herself run on normal standby for several minutes longer, just in case he forgot something again. Then she slipped into sleep mode, ending all non-vital processes. Except for the emoji analysis one; she was determined to understand those!
Many hours later, a priority alert awakened Saga from sleep mode. She immediately analyzed the data and, per standard procedure, forwarded the alert straight to her operator’s emergency contact line. Emergency alert from the Seismic institute of California. A submarine earthquake has occurred and a tsunami is imminent. She powered the lights on in the exterior facility and started feeding power to the giant motors that would raise the sea gates. And she waited. Minutes passed and she sent a repeat message. She did not know why Frankie27 was not answering. This was a priority alert: he should have powered up immediately and responded. Time ticked on and then:
RAISE THE GATES!
From the very moment she received the message, she started raising the gates. She blared the warning klaxons as the colossal slabs of concrete rose from the ocean floor to the very top of their rail-pillars one after another. Though she could not visually see them, she knew at full height they stood 130 feet high, more than a match for the increasingly frequent tsunamis of the California coast.
Stabbing through her otherwise efficient operations were the warnings for Gate 8. It had barely raised 50 feet before it had stopped and would raise no higher. She lowered it a little and tried to raise it again. It lowered fine, but when she raised it again it went only a few feet higher than it had previously before stopping again.
Frankie27, Gate 8 is malfunctioning and will not raise to full height. It cannot even “break the surf”. Situations like these were exactly why she was assigned human operators; he would know what to do. The read notification arrived and she awaited his orders.
We don’t have time for this! That gate must be up or the city won’t survive!
She pondered his response. From her moment of existence to date, her Sea Gate had stopped or mitigated 14 tsunamis. She wondered why this one was any different. Should I try boosting the power to the gate and ram it open? That may damage the mechanism, but if it is only kelp it might tear through it.
No. We don’t have time for trial and error; it needs to be up asap. Saga: conduct a gate restart. I am driving back to the office right now. I’ll help when I get there.
This command confused Saga. The priority of the Sea Gates was to protect the city from catastrophe, which required as many of the gates as possible to be fully deployed. But her priority was to obey her operator’s commands. She chose to trust Frankie27. All gates lowered as she powered them down for a gate system restart. Very well. Gate system restart initiated. Estimated time until re-operable: 2 minutes.
Thank you Saga. What is the status of the other gates? Are they deployed?
Something Saga had never experienced before swept through her. It was uncomfortable, like a horrible inefficiency. Worse than any malfunction she had ever experienced. I am conducting a Gate system restart as you instructed. All sea gates have been reverted to their undeployed position for the restart.
Nonononononono! I said to restart gate 8! Gate 8! The malfunctioning one!
You instructed me to perform a Gate system restart. You did not specify a single gate as the target. She checked the status of the restart. The gate systems had powered off completely and were now starting themselves back up.
WE DON’T HAVE TIME SAGA! THOSE GATES NEED TO BE DEPLOYED NOW!
Estimated 30 seconds before gates are fully functional again. I will deploy them the moment they are fully restarted. Those seconds passed. Just as she was beginning to raise the gates again, she received another message.
Oh god. I can see it Saga. It has to be at least 500 feet high.
Saga analyzed his message. She scanned her database looking for the protocol for a tsunami bigger than the wall could stop, but found only a single scripted phrase. She sent it verbatim. Seek high ground immediately. The sea gates will break the worst of the wave. Stay safe [Frankie27]!
This is all my fault. Saga I should have been more careful with my orders, you were just doing exactly as I told you to. It’s been my pleasure to work as your operator. I really hope you miss me.
She analyzed and re-analyzed the message. What was he talking about now? The sea gates were only halfway deployed when she detected the first impact. The unseen force temporarily prevented the gates from raising any higher. Correspondingly she decreased the lifting motor’s output to protect them from destroying themselves. When the pressure passed, she resumed raising the gates until they were fully deployed. Even gate 8 successfully raised.
All gates successfully deployed. Even gate 8!
No response. Not even a read notification.
Saga on standby and awaiting further orders.
Nothing.
Frankie27 please respond. All gates are deployed.
She waited as the minutes passed. She compiled the report of the event and sent it to Frankie27. She could not tell if his device was functioning correctly since his emergency line was his personal device and therefore not connected to her. She considered the best ways to entice Frankie27 to respond. She consulted her emoji process and considered the limited results it had. She decided to take a risk. She chose a face that she had cross-referenced and determined to be a cat, just like Frankie27’s Daisy. She sent that cat face and awaited his response.
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