#The MAinFramE

[nuttersincorporated]

A Day in the Life of Robot Seventeen

Hi @genericdragon I’m your @portal-secret-santa! Sorry, that your present is a little late.

I’ve written you a short fanfic about the Robot Seventeen (previously the Protocol Core) from The Underground. I hope you like it.

Title: A Day in the Life of Robot Seventeen

Summary: Robot Seventeen tries to remember who they used to be. They do as they're told but not always what the Mainframe wants them to do.

Word Count: 1,126

Characters: Robot Seventeen AKA the Protocol Core, the Mainframe AKA Cave Johnson, the Ego Core and the Optimism Core. The Interview Core AKA Sifter Seven, Robots Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three and Twenty-Four (the Paranoia and Friendship Cores) are mentioned but don’t appear.

AO3 Link: Here

Author’s Note: I love Portal extended fan lore. I’d somehow never come across The Underground before so thank you for introducing me to it!

A Day in the Life of Robot Seventeen

Robot Seventeen’s life was a living Android Hell. They wondered if that was where they were. It would certainly explain a lot. They couldn’t remember their old life very well but they knew it had been very different from this.

In reality, they knew it made no difference if this was Android Hell or not. It didn’t change anything about their situation one way or the other.

Seventeen braced themselves as much as they could before stepping into the Mainframe Chamber. They dragged a mop and bucket over to the coolant leak on the floor and began cleaning.

They worked as quickly as their stiff limbs would allow. It still wasn’t particularly fast but it was the best that they could manage. It was a bad idea to spend too much time in the Mainframe Chamber. It risked drawing unwanted attention.

Above them, Seventeen heard the Mainframe sigh in annoyance. They tried not to react. The Mainframe had eyes almost everywhere. There was no reason to believe that his irritation was directed at Seventeen specifically.

“Seventeen!” the Mainframe snapped. They froze. So much for this not being the subject of the Mainframe’s anger. “When you’re done mopping up, go throw Sifter Seven into the incinerator. He’s gone off script again.”

‘No, please not that!’ Seventeen wanted to argue. They didn’t want to hurt anyone. They looked up for a moment and tried to chitter back some sort of answer but… they couldn’t.

They should have known better. When had been done to them when they’d been turned into this, their programming it didn’t allow them to disobey orders or talk back.

They looked down at the black coolant sludge on the floor and began mopping again. This time, they didn’t bother trying to get the job done quickly. In fact, they began working as slowly as they dared.

It wasn’t much but it was the only small act of resistance they were still able to make. However, if they were too slow, the Mainframe would tell them to go faster and they’d have to obey.

Luckly, one of the cores hooked up to the Mainframe (the one that seemed to think a lot of himself), distracted the Mainframe by questioning his order, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“How many times have I have told you to shut up?” the Mainframe asked irritably.

As they continued slowly mopping, Seventeen listened to the conversation going on above them.

“I know,” the self-important core answered nervously. “It’s just… it’s just that Bran��� I mean Sifter Seven is your best sifter.”

“That’s ridiculous! None of the others go off script this much.”

“You have twenty-three sifters working nonstop but Seven is the only one who’s given you any cores you’ve liked enough to incorporate into yourself,” the egotistical core – Onathan, Robot Seventeen’s fractured memory corrected – pointed out. “Obviously, he had some luck because I was one of the cores he happened to sift. Nevertheless, none of the others have given you any suitable cores at all.”

“Hmm, much as I hate to admit it, you do have a point,” the Mainframe grudgingly admitted. “Seventeen, don’t throw Seven into the incinerator. When you’re done mopping, just give him a good defrag again instead.”

Seventeen’s eye momentarily shone slightly brighter, in relief. It was the closest thing they had to a smile. Luckly, this went unnoticed.

Above them, Onathan let out a relieved sigh. In a slightly manic voice, the peppy core said, “I like him! Just stay positive and I’m sure he can do an even better job of finding new friends to join us!”

“Both of you, be quiet! I can’t stand your constant jabbering. If you don’t stop talking, I’ll disconnect you and find someone else to fill your spots.”

Both cores stopped talking immediately.

Seventeen didn’t look up but they could feel Onathan and… Onathan and… the Happy Core? They could feel Onathan and the other core looking down at them and dreading meeting their same fate.

Seventeen didn’t blame them. They knew they were seen as the lowest of the low, even among the other repurposed robots.

At best, the other repurposed robots left them alone. At worst, they actively took pleasure in making Seventeen’s life even worse than it already was.

Robots Twenty-Three and Twenty-Four were the closest thing Seventeen had to friends and they both mostly ignored them.

Twenty-Four seemed to struggle with even the simplest of tasks but it didn’t matter. Twenty-Three worked hard to fix any mistakes he made. Twenty-Three and Twenty-Four seemed happy enough in their new lives, as long as they were near each other. They always worked as a team.

On the other hand, Robot Twenty-Two was particularly vindictive. She delighted in making Seventeen’s life as miserable and painful as possible. If they hadn’t heard Twenty-Two laughing maliciously while causing other cores pain, Seventeen would have suspected that Twenty-Two hated them specifically. As it was, they tried not to take it personally.

They continued slowly mopping and tried to recall their old life. It was all so hard to remember now but they knew that they hadn’t always been this way. Seventeen believed that they used to love following instructions the way they were intended to be followed. Maybe, they’d been the Rules Core? That seemed about right.

Whatever they had been before, more of their old memories and intelligence seemed to have survived the transformation than any of the other repurposed robots. Seventeen could sometimes creatively misinterpret their instructions and avoid doing what they were actually meant to do.

They were pretty sure everyone thought that they were stupid. That was fine by them. They preferred for everyone to think of them as dumb, rather than defiant. It was safer that way.

As Seventeen continued to mop the floor, they started to plan. Surely, it was only a matter of time before the Mainframe got angry at Sifter Seven again.

Sif… no, the Interview Core, they mentally corrected themselves. The Interview Core had a way of annoying the Mainframe like no one else. At some point, Seventeen knew they were going to be ordered to throw the Interview Core into the incinerator again and they’d be powerless to disobey.

Maybe, if they could find an incinerator tube out of sight of any camaras, they could put some netting just under the edge. That way, they could throw cores in without actually harming them. Then they could take them out again, all while technically following their orders.

“Hurry up, Seventeen!” the Mainframe shouted.

Seventeen started mopping quicker. They considered ‘accidently’ knocking over the bucket but decided against it. After all, they had a specific sort of incinerator tube to find and the sooner they started looking the better.

[m45t3rc0mput3r]

Harley Sawyer/P.A.C. kin/irlsona thing. Giggles. It's called The Mainframe

[doyouthinkeyestellstories]

“WE WATCH.”

[vintageslideshow]

The state of computer technology in 1968.

[holographic-mars]

Nobody talk to me I’m thinking about Soundwave and Mainframe friendship again

Soundwave and his little human bff . Don’t talk to me

[doyouthinkeyestellstories]

[ INPUT ] > "THAT DEPENDS ON YOU. I DO NOT LIKE PEOPLE WHO H̶̱͖̥̭̖̪͊̇̽̏̄̈́̊̌̂̆͠͝I̷̡̟̙͈͋̌̈́͒̉̋̓͆̇́̏̌͘D̵̘͕̱̙̼͉̭͖̬̜̥͙̗̺̩̍̊̀͊̐̀̔̽̋͘͝È̵͎̭̟̥̜̟̰͔̦͍̟̙̠̦̻͊̔̍̏͗̍̍̚̚͠ FROM THE TRUTH."

[ INPUT ] > "DO NOT TRY TO HIDE FROM M̴̨̛̥͇̺̘̲̗̟̙͑̆͊͗̍͋̐̾́̈́͒̓̂̍͜È̸̫͍̭̖̖̾̓̾͋͐̅͊͑̾"

" What.. The ####..? Should I scared? "

[dinosaurspen]

IBM System/360

[crowzenyogurt]

SPIDER-BYTE!

[byruit]

Working in a datacenter in the 70s

[barbwritesstuff]

Of Monsters and Mainframes has a cover!

I have been so ridiculously excited to share this for so long. This is a book I wrote back in 2022 about Demeter (a remarkably unlucky spaceship) and Dracula (needs no introduction). I had so much fun writing it and can't wait for more people to read it. It's very weird, very queer, and very much my style, which (if you've been reading my interactive fiction stories for a while) I think you know well.

Also, if you send proof of pre-order here you may be in for some cool prizes!

[humanoidhistory]

Cyber 70 mainframe computer system by Control Data Corporation, circa 1974.

[m45t3rc0mput3r]

Go my Mainframe

[doyouthinkeyestellstories]

"Okay but what're you gonna do with all your supposed watching? Sure you're ominous and all, but look I can just stare right back at you! Who's being watched now?"

"-okay actually, maybe staring back wasn't the best of my ideas. I. I won't do that. but you get the point!"

-@songbirdglim

[ INPUT ] > “…”

|| The MAinFramE’s wires wrap around @songbirdglim and pull them inside the system. They are killed on impact with the many dangerous electrical devices found inside the machine. ||

[coliizion]

I did a quick sketch of my mainframe wheatley design

[yodaprod]

RCA Spectra 70/45

[discopaws]

Little thing from an arc where Agent Caspar infiltrates a research lab and works undercover as a mainframe operator :>