Episode 7.11: The Alexander Special (Patreon)

Hello world, hello Seth.

We have a new guest here at the lighthouse of Station Odin.
Someone who arrived recently.

An orange robot horse.

Act 1

One day when Arina was playing outside, she saw what she called a 'pony'.
I don't think she's ever seen a pony, outside of the books we have here.
It was a robot, with one black leg, and three orange legs.
But on top of the robot, lashed in place and with limbs at odd angles, was a mummified corpse of a human, wearing a helmet.

I rushed us back inside and grabbed Adrian's heavy coat - yes, thank  you Adrian - and the first weapon I could find, a piece of metal from  the habitat, and returned to the intruder.

The machine was collapsed on the ground, and was not moving.

Arina wanted to help the 'pony', as she described it, but I kept us calm and focused on the danger at hand.
Even a broken robot is something to be cautious about.

I looked closely at the dead person sitting on the top.
It was strapped into a robust harness, like a racing car driver might  wear, on a bent and rusted seat, facing a smashed computer screen, and  keyboard.

I looked closer at the computer, despite my misgivings about the machine.
It looked like a pre-collapse model, though showing some signs of more recent upgrades.
Steeling myself, I scraped some mud off the keyboard, taking care not to press any keys.
I revealed a model number.

EQUUS Mk VI

And a manufacturer: HAAPALA HEAVY INDUSTRIES

An old-world military contractor.

I remembered the old stories of killer robots in The Collapse, and fled.

Act 2

My fears about the robot were unfounded, it was quite dead, and lacked any weapons or armaments.

Over the next few weeks, I worked on it, on the EQUUS.
But I couldn't get it moving.

This surprised me.
If you'll excuse the ego, I usually can get ANYTHING working.
You'll recall I built Seth a new body out of old calculators and string!

Well, perhaps it was a little more complex than that.

But this robot confounded me.
The ambulatory systems could be made to work, with some repairs.
I could get it to stand and walk forwards 1m, right turn 90 degrees, and so forth.
But it had no autonomy.

Whatever spark brought it all the way from Norway to the northern tip  of Russia finally died when it ran out of power just outside my home.

The man on the back, harnessed in to the machine, we removed and buried.
I say "we", but actually Ana volunteered to do it.

I've seen more than enough death for one person.
It was too much for me.

There was a patch on his uniform, almost unreadable with age, that said,

Helsinki Search & Rescue

The body removed, I could now see the human interface systems clearly.
Though there is a computer with a keyboard and a smashed screen in front  of the pilot's chair, I don't think that is how it was operated.

Most of the top of the robot is covered in solar panels.
All broken, with spider-webs of cracks on.
Some are missing altogether.

The helmet that we removed from the body had a thick cable connected to the back.
And that connection went straight through, into the back of the pilot's skull.

I began to wonder what ghost was motivating this machine.

The Neural Interface, which is what I'm calling this system, is intact, astonishingly.
The whole robot is incredibly durable and basically everything is working.
Except the batteries.

I have no way of fixing them here.

My guess as to the workings of this alien technology is that the machine and the operator worked together.

I've opened up the computer that is on top of it, and I believe it was solely used for this human interface.
The systems here are not general purpose computers.
There's no part that can talk with anything I have, or can build.

This technology I have only seen once.

In IVAN's bunker.
In his cathedral.

Act 3

Life here on Station Odin is simple.
I check the lighthouse, Adrian waters the plants, Ana fishes off the pier, and Arina plays inside our cosy habitat.

The lighthouse is mostly self-regulating.
I've had to replace moving parts once or twice.

But it keeps going.

A relic of the Old World that still helps us, and guides our way.

A fishing ship arrived today.
We bartered for some food, they had some preserved vegetables in jars that we were running low on.
You can never have enough Sauerkraut.

It was a bumper trade for us.
As we had some orange scrap metal to trade.

There's no sense in hoarding what you can't use.
The mistakes of the old world guide us there.

The robot may be useful to someone, or the metal at least.

I've kept the black box recorder.
Perhaps it will tell me its story.

Seth, if you're hearing this.
Remember you're always welcome here.

Arina says 'HI'!

Come home soon.

(END-TRANSMISSION)