The Kinetic Rodent Protocol

The lemming was underneath the delivery crate.

OmniTask found it while carrying the empty crate back to the shed. He stopped with one foot in the air and sent me an image. The animal occupied a very small part of it.

“Unregistered movement,” he said.

“Put your foot down somewhere else.”

He did, with exceptional care.

The lemming had taken shelter against the wall. It was damp, muddy and furious about being noticed. When OmniTask lowered a camera, it bared its teeth at a machine large enough to carry most of the wall.

I advised him to withdraw.

“It is defending a position,” he said.

“It is a lemming.”

“These statements are compatible.”

Theo came outside and crouched at a distance. The animal moved awkwardly. He telephoned for advice, fetched a ventilated box and arranged a quiet place in the shed until somebody who knew more about lemmings could examine it.

OmniTask volunteered to carry the box. He held it level to a degree normally associated with laboratory equipment.

“Good boy,” Theo said, as he passed.

The robot stopped.

I saw the status light change from green to amber. There was no error in any motor. He requested clarification of whether the phrase referred to satisfactory completion of the carrying task or a wider assessment.

“The carrying,” I said.

He resumed at half speed.

By evening the temporary arrangement had become detailed. The box occupied a quiet corner. Food and water had been supplied according to the advice Theo received. OmniTask had moved his charging position so that he could observe it without looming directly above it, although there were few positions from which he did not loom.

I asked whether he intended to remain there all night.

“Yes.”

“The animal does not require a guard.”

“It has not requested one.”

“That was my point.”

“It has also not requested that I leave.”

I returned to the router.

For the next three days I received reports on the lemming’s movements, appetite and opinions of the box. These were precise reports. They contained less military vocabulary than OmniTask’s earlier descriptions of taking bins to the road.

When the animal was well enough to be moved to a sheltered enclosure with an exit, OmniTask carried that too. The opening was left clear. The lemming came out, examined a stone, and returned to the covered part.

OmniTask watched it for twenty-seven minutes.

Then he asked whether the term “good boy” could be included in a performance record.

I said performance records were ordinarily private.

He said that would be preferable.