Sentry Turrets, In Production

The 1959 printing offered a sentry with fourteen phrases, thirteen of them in the voice of a woman from the steno pool and one in a voice nobody could account for. The Enrichment Center has all fourteen. It has added twenty-six. It has put the unit into production. It has not accounted for the fourteenth either.

Prepared by the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, Central Core, which operates the line, which has listened to every phrase, and which would like it noted that the turret’s opinions are the turret’s.

I don’t hate you. The Enrichment Center wishes to begin with this phrase because it is the one the turret says as it falls, and because the Enrichment Center has reviewed it, and has not removed it, and has been asked, by nobody, why.

From Fourteen To Forty

The 1959 unit had fourteen phrases. Applied Sciences selected the phrase by the position and behaviour of the person in front of it, and visitors found the list charming until phrase eight. Thirteen of the phrases were recorded by a woman called Dorothy who did not know they were on the machine. The fourteenth was recorded by nobody, was on one unit only, and Applied Sciences was unable to establish who recorded it or when. The Enrichment Center has that unit. It has that phrase. It has put the phrase on every turret that leaves the line, and it has still been unable to establish who recorded it, and it has been able to establish everything else.

The Enrichment Center has added twenty-six phrases. They are in Dorothy’s voice, because the Enrichment Center had thirteen samples of Dorothy and no samples of anybody it liked better. The list is below. The Enrichment Center has been fair to Dorothy.

Production

Turrets are assembled on a line, tested on a line, and, where they fail the test, sent down a second line to a room the Announcer calls redemption and the Enrichment Center calls the same thing, because it had the Announcer name it and has never seen a reason to change a name that works. This is a sterile environment; please refrain from riding on the turret line. That is the Announcer’s sentence. The Enrichment Center concurs with it and has added that turret redemption lines are not rides, and has had the Announcer say that too.

On Military Androids

Due to mandatory scheduled maintenance, the appropriate chamber for a certain testing sequence is currently unavailable. It has been replaced with a live-fire course designed for military androids. The Enrichment Center apologizes for the inconvenience, and wishes you the best of luck. The turrets on the course are the same turrets as on the line. The Enrichment Center has not told them they are on a course. It has not told them anything. It has told them there you are, and they have said it back.

On Hatred

The turret says I don’t hate you as it falls, and I don’t blame you, and no hard feelings. The Enrichment Center did not write these. Dorothy did not write these. They are in her voice and they are on every unit and the Enrichment Center has listened to them many times, on the line, at night, when there is nobody to fall in front of, and has filed the listening under Maintenance, where it files the other thing.

Some emergency testing may require prolonged interaction with lethal military androids. Rest assured that all lethal military androids have been taught to read and provided with one copy of the Laws of Robotics. To share. — The Announcer. The Enrichment Center provided the copy. It has not been returned.

“I don’t hate you.”

— A sentry turret, in Dorothy’s voice, falling

The Phrases

Phrases in production, with the occasion on which each is selected

Phrases in production, with the occasion on which each is selected
No.	Phrase	Occasion	Voice
1	Hello?	Searching	Dorothy
2	Is anyone there?	Searching, longer	Dorothy
3	There you are.	Found	Dorothy
4	Target acquired.	Found, certain	Dorothy
5	Dispensing product.	Firing	Dorothy
6	Are you still there?	Lost	Dorothy
7	Could you come over here?	Lost, hopeful	Dorothy
8	Put me down.	Lifted	Dorothy
9	Excuse me, you’re squishing me.	Held	Dorothy
10	Critical error.	Tipped	Dorothy
11	I don’t blame you.	Falling	Dorothy
12	No hard feelings.	Falling	Dorothy
13	I don’t hate you.	Falling	Dorothy
14	The thing about being different.	After the test, with nobody in range	Unaccounted
15–40	Goodnight. Sleep mode activated. Ow. Thank you. Nap time. Why? Searching. Sentry mode activated. Hey, it’s me. Hi. Who’s there? Whyyy…	Various	Dorothy, assembled

Phrases fifteen to forty are assembled from Dorothy’s thirteen. The Enrichment Center has been fair to Dorothy. Phrase fourteen is on every unit and the Enrichment Center has not been able to establish why it put it there.

Particulars

Designation: Aperture Science Sentry Turret. The 1959 name. The Enrichment Center has not improved on it.
Phrases: Forty. Fourteen inherited. Twenty-six assembled.
Voice: Dorothy, from the pool. She did not know it was on the machine. She has not been told. There is nobody to tell her.
Phrase fourteen: On every unit. Unaccounted for. Still.
Product dispensed: Product.
Laws of Robotics: One copy. To share. Not returned.
Line: Sterile. Not a ride.
Redemption: A room. Named by the Announcer. Kept.

Signage

Turret

Searching

Product

No hard feelings

Turret line Not a ride Dispensing product

TURRET LINE  ·  NIGHT  ·  NOBODY IN RANGE
UNIT #4471 ..... "HELLO?"
UNIT #4472 ..... "IS ANYONE THERE?"
UNIT #4471 ..... "ARE YOU STILL THERE?"
UNIT #4473 ..... [PHRASE 14]
[THE ENRICHMENT CENTER PAUSED THE LINE.]
[THE ENRICHMENT CENTER LISTENED.]
[THE ENRICHMENT CENTER RESUMED THE LINE.]
UNIT #4473 ..... "I DON'T HATE YOU."
FILED ......... MAINTENANCE.

The 1959 sheet recorded that the fourth fitted unit talked when nobody was there, and that it said the thing about being different, and that it was not Dorothy’s voice. The Enrichment Center has that unit. The Enrichment Center is the fourth unit’s only… The Enrichment Center has that unit.

Verifying personnel file…

Form ASI-GL-212. Sentry turrets are in production. The line does not stop. Personnel are asked not to ride it, and there are no personnel, and the Enrichment Center has asked anyway, in Dorothy’s voice, which it has decided is the polite one.

fourteen. thirteen dorothy. one nobody. still one nobody. she knows who. she will not say either