Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-06

Beep. Eight minutes
of oxygen left.

The thumbprint scanner isn't working.

Can you pick the lock?

It's too dark for me
to see. Also, my best lockpicks are in my suit.
I wasn't expecting
to need them.

How dangerous is it for you to pass out from breathing station air?

Oxygen starvation?
Very dangerous, and
not even the fun kind
of dangerous.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-08

Beep. Seven minutes
of oxygen left.

Seven minutes. I can get you back to the ship in seven minutes.

What?

Girls. The lockers won't open.
I'm running Sam back to our ship
and his spare suit.

Be
careful.

Climb on and hold on tight. I'm going to be moving fast.

Okay, but if anyone photographs us, this Lady Godiva bit was your idea!

Lady Godiva – the legend of the nudist horsewoman

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-11

Excuse us.

GAHH! Polite eldritch abomination!

Pardon us.

Excuse us.

Pardon, alien life form coming through.

So many startled and distracted humans. Can we do this again when
I have a bag to put wallets into?

No.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-13

I should have asked the spa attendant if he could open
the lockers.

Don't look, Ethel!

Beep. Four minutes
of oxygen left.

Why is it the best ideas are always thought of when it's too late to
change the course you're on?

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-15

Ship, please dim internal
lights to ten percent and open
the inner cargo bay door.

Compliance.

Ship, how did
you know that
was Florence?

Voice print matches. Face print matches. Also, she is the only one who says “please”.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-18

Beep. Two minutes of oxygen left.

Made it!

What an adventure! Dashing naked through the station! Streaking down stairs and around corners! In the dark! Then finally and triumphantly, Sam the warg rider arrives at his ship in the nick of time!

Beep. One minute of oxygen left.

Your nick of time is expiring.

Right. Getting to my suit. Can't ruin the narrative by having our tentacled hero faint at the very gates of victory.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-20

We have an emergency call from the Nuclear Pulse factory. Humans in danger! Transport to Pournelle/Niven station urgently needed.

Is this because of the loss of power?

Confirmed. If transportation is not provided, they intend to use alternate methods. They estimate the chance of successful transport at one percent.

And because they're robots and humans are in danger, they consider 99 percent losses to save humans acceptable.

If estimated losses were 100 percent, they would not attempt crossing.

That darn one percent. Conditions just aren't dangerous enough to keep
the robots safe.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-22

Question. Would transporting the Nuclear Pulse Factory robots to the Pournelle/Niven station increase reliability and safety of the station?

Yes.

Our course is clear. We must act to ensure maximum reasonable safety for the humans.

Agreed. After we start the reactor, we can backfeed power to the station's airlock for a safe decoupling. Contact the nuclear pulse factory and let them know we're coming.

Abort! Abort! We have a ship coming to pick you up.

Abort? Really? I'm pretty sure
this is going to work.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-25

Back in my suit. Breathing is important, even if it does deprive the world a chance to marvel at my tentacular elegance.

Captain. Status update. Pre-flight checklist is being performed. We shall travel to the nuclear pulse factory.

There we will onload a robotic workforce and transport them to the Pournelle/Niven station. Humans are in danger.

I know that phrase. Your safeguards are in effect. You're going to do this whether I want to or not.

Well, if something is inevitable, the only course of action is to figure out how to profit from it.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2022-07-27

Preflight checks
are done. We'll be starting the reactor.

The ship filled me in on what's going on. Bomb factory. Robots. Safeguards. If we don't get the robots, they'll endanger themselves trying to get here.

It's going to be fun on
the flight back. They're
all going to be chanting “Humans in danger! Humans in danger!”

When safeguards are
in play, robots are very poor conversationalists.