automaton At 5:59 AM the reticular formation is activated by photons as the metabolic rate rises. The body is moved into optimal position and appropriate neural circuits applied. After removing spent fluids while ingesting calibrated nourishment a hyperlift speeds the body to an assigned work place. Retinal scans open doors and make sure all units are in a permitted place. Unit 526375989 specializes in the design of servomotors. It has sophisticated circuits and has participated in seven terminus projects to date. An updated version will be released shortly and this unit refurbished for lighter duty. Unit 3456210 is a primitive model built for routine maintenance tasks. It cleans carcasses from operation tables, facilitates terminus security, and prepares new units for neural implants. Unit 98016542 is an experimental product combining advanced neuroprocessing functions with superior bandwidth and speed. Unfortunately, it deviates from accepted interface protocols and so far all units have been sent back for reprogramming. By 19:40 all units in this facility are transferred to stasis chambers. Holoscreens are activated as polymerized nutrients are ingested. Endomorphin levels are rebalanced and non-productive thoughts subliminally modulated. By 24:00 neural circuits induce REM sleep. As holoscreens fade, this sector enters another dark phase . . .


Kasim: Do you sometimes feel like an automaton?
Nadia: Yes, all too often. I think this happens to many people as they get older. How about you?
Will: Me? I have come to realize that I'm actually not that important. Why don't you ask someone who feels they are important. Perhaps they will have an illuminating answer?
Kasim: I see my life as an interplay between automaticity and free will – I seem to have lotd of habits that have become automatic and unconscious, but now and then I can exercise volition and make a choice.
Wan-Sze: (shrugging his shoulders). Hmm. Our conscious volition is probably much smaller than most people would prefer to admit.