[audio]

[thxforthememories]

[Behold! A new voice on the network. And... it sounds decidedly uncertain. Maybe a little shaky.]

[Hey, when you get electrocuted by thousands of volts out of nowhere before waking up somewhere you've never seen, you're bound to sound a little off. Not to mention completely overwhelmed.]

[And quite honestly, he doesn't know what to say right now. Asking the empty air for help? In a place he's never even heard of? Surrounded by sights and sounds and robots utterly foreign? That seems... odd. But what choice does he have?]

Someone... please. [He hesitates.] I don't understand what's happened.

I --

[And here is where the first bit of real panic seems to show through. Sure, he got the explanation, but--] I don't remember coming here. Or ever hearing of such a place.

Please answer me.

Comments

[thxforthememories]

You fight other robots? For sport?

[This is mind-boggling. Why would robots fight until they couldn't move?]

[wakizashi_straight]

Correct. It is what I was built for.

[It's perfectly normal for him.]

[thxforthememories]

[... that's almost sadder than his purpose. And that's saying something.]

I don't understand why... Do you enjoy it?

[wakizashi_straight]

For entertainment. Humans like to watch it. Especially since human boxing was outlawed.

[He gets so confused by how people find it sad.]

I enjoy it a great deal. It is why I travel.

[thxforthememories]

Human beings created you to fight. Because they can't?

[That... He doesn't know what to think of that.]

What happens if you lose?

[wakizashi_straight]

I believe robot boxing began as a novelty. It simply became popular quickly.

[And now the humans can't box anymore.]

It depends upon our injuries and the funds our handlers have available.

[thxforthememories]

But you have AI. Don't you?

... What happens if they lack the funds?

[wakizashi_straight]

Not in the way that others here do. As well I did not have a way to communicate my sentience to my handlers.

If they lack the funds and the injuries are too severe we are either stripped down and used to make a new bot, or sent to Metal Valley as scrap.

[thxforthememories]

What does that mean?

...

So they kill you. Your kind. When you're no longer useful, they kill you. Is that it?

[wakizashi_straight]

The humans do not know we can think. We have no way to tell them.

[They are basically mobile refrigerators that hit each other.]

The Valley has always been the last place that bots go. It is an inevitable end when we are too injured or become obsolete.

[thxforthememories]

But you can.

You shouldn't be killed because you aren't useful any longer.

[This is An Issue okay.]

[wakizashi_straight]

I was not able to speak with others until I arrived here.

We are boxers. We were built for boxing. The only thing we know is boxing. When we are no longer able to perform our function, what are we supposed to do?

[He knows people are having an issue with this, but he's having an issue right back.]

[thxforthememories]

I...

I don't know. But you shouldn't be killed. None of us should!

[wakizashi_straight]

That is how it has always been.

[thxforthememories]

It doesn't make it right.

[wakizashi_straight]

Perhaps not. But when I am finally fully broken in the ring, I do not see another end for myself.

[thxforthememories]

You don't want anything else?

[wakizashi_straight]

All I have ever wanted is to box, and to win. Until coming here, there were no other viable options for me.

[thxforthememories]

And now?

[wakizashi_straight]

There are no viable opponents here, though I would like to keep boxing. Beyond that, I am uncertain.

[thxforthememories]

None at all?

If that's true, you have a chance to decide. To become certain.

[wakizashi_straight]

All of the bots here exceed WRB regulation height, and I cannot fight independently of my handler.

Making personal decisions is not something I am accustomed to doing.

[thxforthememories]

Why not?

[wakizashi_straight]

I have never been required to before. My handlers took care of everything.