My crew are mostly robots and we work in tandem with other crews under the supervision of other human beings. Robots do the heavy lifting, carting and digging, while we humans do less dangerous tasks. I don’t mind working with machines. They don’t question you or talk back and they don’t need breaks for food, stimuli or rest. And as for payment? They only need maintenance. In a way, working with robots makes it harder for humans because we feel pressured to keep going when we’d prefer one of the above, but, machines make our tasks, especially menial tasks, easier and quicker.
The latest land grab is a reclamation project on Ocean Shores. The sea wall was erected last year, the land was drained and now, the crews have been tasked with clearing away debris so new landfill and subsequently, foundations can be laid.
Yesterday, Bing's crew found the old train line and tunnels, a small part of the collapsed platform remained. Little exists from the time before the flood, so it is vital to preserve as much as possible. Archeologists were called to the site where they quickly established a makeshift lab. About 20 metres from this, were what archeologists called 'building basements'. Comprised of double brick construction, we could make out warrens of small, interconnected rooms. The archeologists believed they held dual purposes for both business and habitat.
Our crews continued working away from the archeologists. Occasionally, we’d discover more than we’d bargained for. It was my crew that found a metal box called a ‘safe.' It was buried inside a wall and the box had been sealed water-tight with an unfunctoning electronic lock. Archeologists had no way of knowing how to open it. The box was 'rayed' on the spot and the images of the lock's mechanism were relayed to the University where the instructions for opening it were sent back. A media producer arrived and began to film and not long after that, the Vice President made an appearance. I stayed behind to witness the historical event, while another human took over from me and my crew continued on into the night.
Dressed in haz-suits, the scientists were bathed in light devoid of UV and Infrared. A robot from the university opened the safe to loud applause. Holographic images from inside the safe were projected mid-air. We could see the items as they were revealed one at a time. There were coins, paper things called bonds. Other stacks of paper called money. An old metal gun. A wristwatch which had a leather band and gems on the hands. Three necklaces of gold with precious stones. Four rings also set with stones. A magazine which had a picture of two exploding buildings, the tops of which were crowned in smoke and flame. A bundle of things called letters, hand written and tied with a blue ribbon. All of that was interesting in its own way, but prior to this, no one had seen any pictures from before the flood. When the main archeologist brought the book of photos out, we were all amazed at the images. Some of the ancient people in the photos were like us: brown skinned, and dark haired. The ancients had different skin colours, hair colour and texture. Some appeared to be alien with their pale flesh tones. One young woman was so pale and unusual, that from that day, she haunted dreams in which I saw her repeatedly being swallowed by the ocean and was helpless to do anything to help her.
The University took the items, translated the magazine and letters, and after preserving, put them on display at the capital, Beihai. Pilgrims will be able to see them in years to come.
Now, I’m back at work on the reclamation site. By next week, we’ll be finished and construction of New City will begin.
