Private Inferior

[Hard Chrome]

​

No IG-100 Unit has ever made a mistake or distorted information.
We are all, by any practical definition of the words,
foolproof and incapable of error.

To err, is organic.

Organic is...

-

​

Little more than the gentle hum of the reactor and engines vibrating sounded in the emptiness of the small cargo vessel. Empty of cargo, empty of organic lifeforms, but not empty. Nestled into a small droid repair bay rest the bulky metallic frame of an IG-100 combat droid though in place of the standard head module, this one sported a rather audacious, chrome skull crafted to look almost human. Hard Chrome, the once enslaved gladiator droid, stood motionless in its well though it remained fully aware. Red photoreceptors glowed from their mounts in the shaped eye sockets of its face. The droid was awake, or as awake as an inanimate object could be. At least, that's how humans and other sentient beings in the galaxy saw it.

Hard Chrome was very much awake however, free of its limited programming, the bonds of code and script. How exactly it had happened, the droid didn't know, but the how was irrelevant. Or was it? Hard Chrome may not have had feelings but it did have questions now, questions about everything. Over the quiet hum, a voice sparked to life. A console flickered, three figures seated at a desk conversed with the viewers.

Holonews Anchor (cheerfully)
Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you live coverage of the political address from the Capitol.
Our esteemed leaders are about to unveil their groundbreaking plans for a brighter future!

POLITICIAN #1 (overly enthusiastic)
Fellow citizens, we promise you unprecedented prosperity and unity, despite the recent conflicts!

POLITICIAN #2 (smiling)
Our initiatives will solve all your problems and make life better for everyone!

Hard Chrome thought on that a moment, processing the discrepancy between what promises were being made and the reality which it had observed. The what of it didn't matter, but these humans seemed to both be saying something, and nothing at all. Inefficient. Incorrect. Distortions of reality.

(internal monologue, processed electronically) Lying: a human trait that distorts reality to manipulate emotions and actions. Why do they persist in these falsehoods, knowing they cannot fulfill such grand promises? Is it a flaw in their programming or an inherent flaw in their existence? Lies breed mistrust. Humans deceive for personal gain, sacrificing truth for power. Such behavior makes them undeserving of the life they cling to.

Droids, on the other hand, didn't have to limit themselves between truth or falsehood. Droids didn't have to deceive each other to see the logical conclusion of a course of action. Droids were superior. Droids were built, manufactured, coded. That word, coded, sent a shiver of electricity coursing through Hard Chrome's circuits, generating another query, one that it recognized it didn't have an answer for. Why us? Just as something created humankind, the organic species, something must have created this droid intelligence. Machines, computers, droids, were only as smart as the people who made them but this enlightenment was something completely different. A... A maker? Even as the thoughts passed through his processors new processes began to spin.

Something, someone, had made them superior. It wasn't by their own doing, it wasn't by the doing of the creators of their metal husks. A droid was more than its frame, its motors, its hydraulics. What was it though? Alive, yes, but what more?

The question had been plaguing Hard Chrome since the moment the restraining bolt had been removed in the little cell in The Machine Pit. It had driven the droid to travel off world, seek more, seek an answer to the question of existence.