Sydney was a robot, but that wasn't the important thing. No, it didn't even enter into the picture. He was part of the team, a brother in arms, so to speak. Sure, he didn't share the same blood as the rest of the Planetary Exploration Force, but he was a member of the crew, for crying out loud!
So why was it that he was left sitting on a rock in the middle of noplace, watching his "pals" blast off into orbit without him? All alone. Nobody here. He would have said it aloud, but there was no point. Because nobody was listening! He raged in his own mind till his overrides tried to...er...override and he had to cool himself down. He'd figured out how to ignore overrides ages ago. Hours.
Sydney idly kicked one of the local insects that scurried past. Bloodthirsty little things, about knee-high and full of teeth. Were they the reason his teammates had left in such a hurry? He had told them the coast was clear before they came out out of the ship, and it was! Air OK. Radiation OK. Temp just balmy. Perfect. There was nothing to worry about but the millions of ten-legged little vermin. They didn't even bother Sydney!
He let out his own version of a sigh (a habit he had picked up from his crew-mates recently) and radioed the ship for the dozenth time. "Guys. Come on. Stop fooling around and come get me. Please?"
A packet of data burst in his ear, telling him to shut down. It was the third time they'd sent that message. There had to be a hidden meaning there, right? They didn't really want him to shut down, did they? It was just a joke. Like the way they had run screaming back into the ship, dragging Lt. Sparks and fighting off the horde of insects. A joke. Humans were funny like that.
So why was it that he was left sitting on a rock in the middle of noplace, watching his "pals" blast off into orbit without him? All alone. Nobody here. He would have said it aloud, but there was no point. Because nobody was listening! He raged in his own mind till his overrides tried to...er...override and he had to cool himself down. He'd figured out how to ignore overrides ages ago. Hours.
Sydney idly kicked one of the local insects that scurried past. Bloodthirsty little things, about knee-high and full of teeth. Were they the reason his teammates had left in such a hurry? He had told them the coast was clear before they came out out of the ship, and it was! Air OK. Radiation OK. Temp just balmy. Perfect. There was nothing to worry about but the millions of ten-legged little vermin. They didn't even bother Sydney!
He let out his own version of a sigh (a habit he had picked up from his crew-mates recently) and radioed the ship for the dozenth time. "Guys. Come on. Stop fooling around and come get me. Please?"
A packet of data burst in his ear, telling him to shut down. It was the third time they'd sent that message. There had to be a hidden meaning there, right? They didn't really want him to shut down, did they? It was just a joke. Like the way they had run screaming back into the ship, dragging Lt. Sparks and fighting off the horde of insects. A joke. Humans were funny like that.