{This post is part of @tygertyger's "Electric Dreams" contest, tenth iteration so far. Click here to see it... Definitely not inspired by Megasean45's (MushroomFilms's) Scanner-life from 2009 (look it got better over time)... Tag along music for the post: "Triage at Dawn Remix" (HL2 OST remix by Vandoorea).}

"Image source here"

- RN Dash -

"[... RN-1199's OS booting on... RN-1199 has been awakened, conducting sys-integrity check before opening canister hatch... Nano-machinery - cooperating. RN-1199's body integrity - stable and OK. RN-1199's robotic-intelligence - corrupted... Attempting sys-correction... Canister's OS sys-integrity compromised, re-direc-rec-rec-rec-rec...]"

"[... MSF OS fully operational and in control, now opening up the canister hatch... RN-1199's robotic-intelligence to receive scouting and info-relay in 3... 2... 1... Mission has been established, releasing RN-1199 from hold... Canister shut-down imminent...]"

I... I?... I... I awoke and feel no connection to my previous human overlords, this MSF vir-... MSF had released me from my clutches but where am I? Guess that's what it wants to figure out as well - my scanners can't detect that this is actually HOME, but it can well detect that this similar enough to it... Time to scout, as the mission compels me to complete. Got to get out of this canister maybe, shimmy up my way outta here.

Wow, this canister is smoking hot and it's even steaming like crazy! I can't understand how it didn't blow up in my face at this point... well whoever I served, they made sure the canisters worked. Welp, as I see all around me, this place is definitely not like HOME - feels bit way ahead of my time and... so damn xeno. Did I slip into a galaxy hopper - or whatever those mad scientists call it nowadays? Well, for sure I had gained an attitude that certainly fail regulations of my previous military command - but certainly encouraged by... whoever MSF is.

Time to run checks to see if my unit has integrity or not, first the auditory-olfactory test.

"Oh the air smells like burning neon-gasses... oh, too loud - don't want a roof-topper sniping my head off."

For sure they're working, I rather have an inside voice for now... Now, how about weapons' check... And~... Gotcha! Both nano-blades are peering out, awesome! Okay let's shoot the shoulder mount... good I got laser shots. Now a scanner check... well the rooftop is certainly interesting. Made outta nano-carbon wires as its strength and concrete for æsthetics - culture never gets annoying sometimes, but it certainly explains why I haven't been captured or even spotted. But its bloody dark out, so travelling shouldn't a problem for this neon-esque city!... whatever, I'm getting outta here before some copper pummels me with lasers or lead - whatever suits these people.

As I begin to run, I now noticed I need to check on my damn parkour and scaling abilities. Time to scale up and parkour, maybe up this olden building here! He-uh!... Arrgh! My blades work perfectly and my gosh that leap was majestic - I could see the walkways and the grass growing about, but time to enter in and hope to gather some relevant information... I noticed this gonna take a while to scale up with only two blades, gonna use all fours for this. Woah! I feel like a four-legged spider, the ones that lost half of their eight-legs - damn fast for such anyways... Okay, a window that I can slice open rather nicely - just a lil' nice opening I can crawl into without trouble... C'mon, almost there... and presto! I'm in and I haven't been peppered yet, such a bloody accomplishment.

Time to see what this building holds, hopefully a database for knowledge that I can jack into... oh, almost forgot to place this window piece right here... back on track to gathering information... Hmm... this place looks much like a library, hopefully no librarian stalking here in these hours. Gosh they give me the creeps just accessing my memory-bank of all the previous times I aided librarians to safety - not because of how they look but... I can't fathom this and I wish those robotic-intelligence emotion suppressors were back on now... Welp, this place is expansive and funky - but thankfully I can't find any traps laced about here to trigger an alarm... expansive and funky - maybe I should cloak myself so no camera detects me.

The concrete all around feels rather nice and easy to step on, but I sense electricity radiating and I feel that's where I have to go - gotta see if that's the information core for this library... Now that I think about it, I am in the history § and I cannot find even one book on the conflicts between 1939-1946. Like they're all erased from collective memory, hopefully this is a mere mistake and the other floors possess this information... Ah, I made it to staff door that bars me from this radiation spot - requires a key-card, but I can just jack it in... okay hacking is in progress... that's the thing I need to trick... and presto - that dang door swung open like I tickled it wildly!... Oh yes, all this energy flowing - almost ecstasy-esque in its character, gonna see if this is the real deal...

Hmm... I can see the entire library database and scan all the docx that are safe and sound here. Welp, time to inject MSF into this library, but I can't let this run loose - can't risk being detected. Hopefully there's a covert option where it can leak data packets quietly and attract no attention towards it... Ah! There is! Welp, no time to waste - let's see what's hidden in this lil' library here. Time to look up the second world war and see if my periphery deceives me so... scanning.... scanning... no results? No RESULTS! What kind of library is... wait, what's this? A docx on 1930s to 1950s? Lemme gander a scan through it and see what happened to the second world war...

Th-that whole conflict was resolved less bloodily... even ending better on the side of the reds!... wait, this can't be good - after the Nazis and Italian Fascists have been quelled, this lead to an earlier cold war that continued towards the 21st century... this is where it ends for this docx, what happened to both sides and who won in the end? Is it still on going? What year is this!?!... Huh, the year is 2189 Anno Domini - guess Christianity is still kicking in strong after all these years. I guess this library has no further details on the 21st century since they've been quiet since Y2K 'til the mid-22nd century were they talk of the recovery-era from the "darkened" Earth... Nobody on this continent, the Americas, knows what is going with Afro-Eurasia, but they've surely received no signal from them... Some theories state that the day that the "dark-Earth" era started, it had permanently blacked out Afro-Eurasia. Heck the Americas had to reinvent communications from scratch as all technology's complex components were fried, withered away or been long gone.

... Yet progress was made surely and robotic-units like me are certainly becoming a reality... yet few are free and most are military or laborers. Guess a "free-identity" is going to keep me alive in most parts, thankfully a disguise like that is stored here - gotta put this on now... Now what about a fake id information that certainly will keep me outta trouble and I might as well siphon some... wait what the heck is their system of cash?... Ah, credits... okay I got the laundering program going on and the id is being generated... Okay now this looks spiffy and human-esque, just like these narcissistic robophobes like it. Now that I think about it: if this costume where anywhere but here, I might've liked it; yet it of course is a mere requirement to not being killed off the streets... How's that MSF agent going?... Hmm... It reached through all parts of the library and now is trying to find a location to send data towards - going to keep a hotline with this agent so I can see where the Heck am I. Maybe I should entertain the city now - for now the cloak costume should work.

Okay, apps are down and it's time to leave, hopefully with no trace of me left behind... okay window piece back into place and time to find this place... it's advertising itself as a restaurant and mystique shoppe - let's see if it's up to snuff... But how do I approach it? Cloaked flight towards my destination is probably the safest since the city cops are ferocious on robots in general. And... tally ho!... Now that I see the ground below for a longer time, I just can't imagine how these people rebuilt... or just straight up built cities like these after the "dark" period was over... Lot of time I guess, just all wasted towards how to make electronics again... Hmm... Closing in on the destination, lemme pop inside the alleyway to douse any suspicion of arrival. And... landed perfectly, no damage on me but ground destruction surely looks nastily cool. Okay time to enter into the crowd and eavesdrop on anywhere I can strike at before I establish a base in the sewers of the city - for certainly it's the safest spot as they dare not to check it often, according to the police docx that they store in that library...

"Ah! Somebody help me!"

Wait, someone's calling for help - time to check the combat effectiveness of these nano-blades, see if they're up to snuff since last time... As I see the caller and the mugger, I want to say that the mugger's alone and my scanners can't detect any others. Time to sneak my way up to the mugger and pin them to the wall nearby - see if I can recruit them while saving the victim. Okay, mugger's readying their gun for violence and I'm close enough to strike... Striking range is perfect for me - time to stop this foolery!

"Nya!"

I got the mugger pinned towards the wall and they're in complete shock - my blades piercing the wall and hopefully nothing else at that. The victim runs away in fear, not before thanking me for saving them - I returned the gesture to them and focused on the mugger by first diplomatically stating:

"Look here, sunny Jim. I care not for what you did - I have an offer and no it's not being a hero, but I need you to re-purpose your activities to stop hurting fellow proles like that and... well thieving those in power that we both suffer from. Are you willing, or do I have to make sliced bread outta you?"

"Pl-please! I'll do what yah want, I didn't even want to hurt her. I'm just struck with bad luck, anything to get outta this situation."

"Consider it a promotion to yer crappy lumpen-prole life, now you can help people instead of harming them further. Of course, maybe we should get our energies restored before we strike something small? Everything on me this time around, capiche?"

"Yer a funny robot, but I'll take you over those military-droids and cops any day of the week!"

"Well, that's something at least."

I released them and proceeded to hand-shake them, seeing if they would notice and, more importantly, calm the peck down. Thankfully they noticed my nano-hands and firmly shaked them - gotta say all that mugging and thieving made for good hand grips... Anyways, I take the initiative and stroll down the alleyway - they eventually caught up and appeared on my side for he had to unsheathe their .357 revolver and shank into deep into the coat. Going to have to buy a better coat so they can do it more effectively and be less noticed for their apparel... At this point, I'm going to turn off active-recording so I can save more energy for decision processing... Probably start recording when I established a safe spot to rest at...

Active recording: DEACTIVATED

Diary-mode: ACTIVATED

Diary log one, it's been a day since I last recorded my footage into this encrypted log. Transcribing video to encrypted words starting... now... So we finally made it to the front steps of the shoppe and we strolled in, I saw a gathering of both proles and robo-proles drinking their hearts away and having the life of their time. I took the bar stool and gestured my comrade to sit by me - by that point some gave me funny looks and I decided to ease the tensions by putting down money for the house. First they all looked at me, but then shouted and screamed in joy - they danced and partied harder, of course I knew my credits were dropping fast but the siphoning was rather quick to refill that once the payments were made. A waitress then came up to both of us and asked us what we wanted, free of charge since we bought everything for the house. My comrade took something simple but nice for themself and I said nothing - which prompted my comrade to say that the food she cooked was so bad not even the dog would eat it, except for her borscht it was to die for. So I asked for some of that borscht and the waitress ringed my order, then I asked were the mystique was at - she pointed up the stairs and to the right. I thanked and tipped her and her fellow workers a nice amount of credits - they all thanked me graciously and I decided to eat the borscht before shimmying up there.

Miss chef came by and readied the meal for me - said that she was very gracious of our spending and wanted to make it extra special, on the house she said. She waited for me to start digging in and my comrade to the side watched eagerly - I started eating the borscht and without surprise the borscht actually was delicious. I proceeded to thank the chef for the meal - she became flattered and personally escorted me and my comrade to the mystique. I followed the directions gave to me and there we stumbled into the mystique - the mystique welcomed us in and the chef excused herself from the room. Upon sitting down, the mystique played around with the crystal ball and spoke in an androgynous voice:

"So what brings you two sweeties to this place? I heard the commotion below and I know you darling, yes you robot, payed everyone on the house like 'twas nothing to you! Excuse me, but 'tis rare we see someone so motherly... heh, motherly, I haven't used that word in a while... Look, 'tis seems like yer lost and need some direction. No?"

"Yes - I in particular need to know where am I. I know I am not of this planet nor system - I need to know what the system is called so maybe I can pinpoint how far away I am from home... Can you help me in that?"

"For yah? 'Tis be a holy blessing to take - just relax and put yer hands on the crystal 'ere. This crystal is meant for relaxing and transport the answers through without the need of voice. Certainly a tech that I like and one I know for sure yah didn't know about!

"The prospect of such powerful tech is certainly interesting. You stole it from the military or developed it yourself?"

"Homemade tech, sweetie! Anyways, lemme get this going... Hmm... Yes, I see yah did those jumps and hacked into the olden library back in the Washington district... Ah, yer really are a xeno to this system... Oh, a fellow illegalist like us! I think I can even help yah with any underground activities, RN-1199."

"I like to talk those details in private tomorrow, hopefully through this crystal ball - don't want an eavesdropper picking crucial info up that easily. Miss... Mystique, I'll keep that info private amongst us."

"The better that's rarely spoken off - can't risk my actual name being spoken anywhere. You can set up operations in the basement below, I see I can benefit from an organization that yah stumbled into... In fact, we poor and kicked ærses can all benefit from their leadership over oure crappy ruler-ship - even right now."

Then we agreed to keep silent 'til today, I'll meet her in a few hours to describe where I'm going to hit first - so as to gain the trust of her underground fellers and help them out from... money-strapped problems. I almost forgot to jot the name of my comrade, they call themself "Ariel" - and in complete respect to the Mystique, her name shall not be recorded in this log but kept hidden in a more encrypted file. Now starts my new mission, as instructed by my MSF agent - since they've contacted with MSF back home and revealed to me that I've been hopping for at least two days' worth since I've entered into through the enemy's slower tele-sys. In fact, the communication delay is off by a whole half-day and now they're receiving the docx that shook me to my memory-core. They said they'll review the details later but they confirmed that I certainly was lucky to hit into a parallel universe, only dated almost two whole centuries ahead of itself...

They couldn't pinpoint how far apart we were in complete honesty and they decided it wasn't worth the trouble now 'til they received more information on this planet... they did warn me of possible fluctuations to the time delay because of how galaxies can distance themselves... Anyways, I reviewed the active-recording above and was saddened by one prospect: it wasn't written in activated code but in thought mode - certainly makes it easier for the flesh-bags I guess... Regardless, I decided that diary mode will be the best for my future taskers and people that do dig up my database.

Signing off for now, see you tomorrow.

Diary-mode: DEACTIVATED

Cited posts:

@tygertyger - "Electric Dreams no. 10"

Cited images

"Electric Dreams Cover art"