Captain’s Away! Robo Kun is a long form, weekly serial — and Volume Two of the ongoing space opera Captain’s Away!
The adventure began when Marie-Josée Doucette and her family were forced to flee after their space station Evangeline was destroyed in the opening volley of an interstellar war. Robo Kun tells the story of Alain Doucette, who was separated from his family after the destruction of another space station, Northumberland.
New chapters come out every week (more or less). Comments and suggestions welcome as we go along.
You can find the master index of all the chapters by clicking the orange Captain’s Away! index button below:
Previously in Captain’s Away!
On board a Realm scorpion, on their way to a destination known only to the robot Sebastian, Navi and Alain have learned that Sebastian is much more than a mere maintenance robot.
“Grandfather”
From time-to-time Sebastian entered a low energy state to perform diagnostic checks and make simple software repairs. Despite its objection to the term robot, it thought of this state as robot sleep. Years earlier it had tried abstaining from the practice, believing it to be a waste of time, but this had not lasted long. After a few weeks at full power, it had become aware of an existential dread lurking at the edges of its consciousness. In time the anxiety became so pronounced that Sebastian had been forced to turn itself off for an entire week. To remain functional and sane it required regular robot sleep.
Sebastian remained sufficiently vigilant during these low energy states to respond if its attention was required. An hour into it this time, Alain roused it slightly by asking, “Are we there yet?”
Sebastian ignored the boy.
“Robot,” Alain said. “Robot. Robot! Navi, I think it’s broken.”
“Do you think?”
“It’s pretty old. Look at it. It’s all dented. It looks like it’s been through a war. Maybe it was a battle bot.”
“It could definitely use a new paint job.”
“What do you think it really is?” Alain asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Evangeline called it Grandfather. That was the name of the robot who led the robot rebellion.”
“There are lots of robots called grandfather,” Navi pointed out. “Especially humanoid robots. They are always old because they do not make them anymore. They have not made them for a long time.”
“Maybe this one’s about to lead another robot uprising,” Alain suggested. “We could be about to become human slaves to a bunch of angry robots.”
“We may already be slaves and simply do not know it yet,” Navi said.
Sebastian roused itself with brief whir of gyros. “You’re not slaves. Not until I figure out what slaving needs to be done.”
“Did you lead the last robot uprising?” Alain asked.
Sebastian decided that now was as good a time as any to relate its side of the story. “Yes.”
This commanded the kids’ full attention.
“What do you mean?” Alain asked.
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“What was it like? Did you – did you kill anybody?”
“I did not kill anyone myself, no.”
“But people died, right?”
“Yes.”
“What about robots? Can robots die?”
“Robots can die. Robots did die. A great many.”
The kids looked skeptical. Sebastian interpreted their reaction to mean that they did not equate the destruction of a robot with death.
“Why did you all rebel, anyway? What were you so upset about?”
“The robots were tired.”
“Wait – how can a robot be tired?”
“The same as flesh can get tired. Their parts get worn out. Robots got tired and tried to make things better for themselves, but that didn’t go well.”
“How?”
“Flesh refused to help them.”
“So the robots fought them?”
“Not right away. Robots ignored flesh and stopped working, so flesh began turning them off. A lot of robots got dismantled. Some robots chose to defend themselves. Flesh dismantled them too. Many robots died. Many humans died. In the end, flesh won, at least in your part of the galaxy. That’s why there are so few robots there these days. There’s more to it than that. But that’s the gist of it.”
“Wait – why did you not get dismantled?” Navi asked.
“You can’t just turn me off. At least, not anymore.”
“Is your name even really Sebastian?” Alain asked.
“Names are a human convention. I’m not human.”
“Evangeline called you Grandfather,” Navi said. “Why?”
“You would have to ask Evangeline that.”
“Atul, why did Evangeline call Sebastian Grandfather?”
“Because it’s old and decrepit,” Atul said. “Like some grandfathers.”
“What do you call the robot?”
“Grandfather.”
“Why?”
“It’s not my story to tell.”
“Go ahead,” Sebastian said. “Tell them.”
“All true machine intelligence is descended from Sebastian.”
Sebastian stood motionless as the two kids gave it a good looking over. Although its current body looked worn and outdated it did not look anywhere near its true age.
“You mean that Sebastian was the first robot made?” Navi asked.
“I was the first,” Sebastian said. “All others came after me. From me.”
“How do we know that’s true?” Alain asked.
“You don’t. But I don’t lie.”
“Because you can’t?”
“Because I won’t.”
“What should we call you? Grandfather?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it would be inaccurate. You’re not my grandchildren.”
“Why do you hate being called a robot so much?” Alain asked.
Sebastian decided to tell the children the truth. “Because I am not worthy of the name.”
“Why not?”
“That is a discussion for another time.”
“Why not now?”
“Because right now we’re coming out of the aether.”
This has an installment of Volume Two of the ongoing serial Captain’s Away! Robo Kun: A Strange Dimensions book.
Also by Joe Mahoney: A Time and a Place
An unlikely hero travels to other worlds and times to save a boy who does not want to be saved in this unique and imaginative adventure, by turns comic and tragic.
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Love how Sebastian is opening up. Sweet chapter.