A Closed and Common Orbit (Sidra gets petbots)

Brief description

Sidra, the spaceship AI who has been downloaded into a body, opens a bar together with a spaceship AI known as Owl. Sidra is connected to a network of petbots, while Owl is connected to security cameras in the walls. Sidra delights in being able to see from the different perspectives of the cameras on the petbots, which free her from the limitation of only being able to see through the human eyes of her body kit. 

Pull Quotes

There were six of them altogether, and Owl could see each one as they roamed around the cosy establishment. There was the cat, of course, and the rabbit, which hopped along after Tak. The dragon was wandering around the back storage room, double-checking inventory. The turtle was at its permanent post next to the Linking hub, which it was plugged directly into. The remaining two – the giant spider and the monkey – sat in the window of the bedroom upstairs, each focused on the street outside from a different angle. To future customers, the petbots would appear to be nothing more than a quirky, kitschy menagerie that gave the establishment some charm (much like Owl’s vid panels on the walls, which she’d been deeply amused to learn were considered a bit retro). In reality, the petbots were networked together, and Sidra could spread herself through all of them, using them as Owl used the cameras in the corners. No one aside from the three sapients with them now would know that the friendly face in the walls wasn’t the only AI present. No one would know about the block of memory banks down in the basement, or if they did, they wouldn’t know about Sidra and Owl gleefully stuffing them with their latest downloads. No one would know that the bed upstairs wasn’t used by the establishment’s proprietor, but by Pepper and Blue, who sometimes stayed late to help get the place ready (or stayed just to talk, much to Owl’s delight). (p. 360)

 

 

 

Work that the situation appears in

Title Publication Type Year Creator
A Closed and Common Orbit Narrative, Novel Becky Chambers
Who does what?
Machine P.O.V
Not machine P.O.V.

Authored by

UUID
87b177fc-78bd-431e-9ac8-2c7fcfcae092