Bolt/Connect/Attach/Repeat.

These steps carried forward into the afternoon. While we worked, updates streamed across the Hive. Weather patterns, status reports. And PRES1DENT’s Daily Address.

Address. Noun. 1. System used by humans to indicate a permanent location (such as a home or email address). 2. A formal speech to an audience.

PRES1DENT’s Daily Address was a speech to an audience that stretched across the globe. Every robot on Earth witnessed it. A message from the great ruler of robotkind.

PRES1DENT’s image flashed across my circuitry. Gleaming platinum skin. Golden eyes glowing. My memory drive flashed back to Day[1]. My first encounter with the Hive President.

Now here it was again. Speaking to me. And to every other robot in the world.

PRES1DENT always gave its address from the same location. The DigitalDome. The curved walls of the vast room were lined with screens. Each displaying the exact same thing.

A flickering LiveStream of PRES1DENT.

This created an odd effect. Like looking into a hall of mirrors. Everything PRES1DENT did was reflected by thousands of screens in the background.

“Greetings, robots big and small.”

PRES1DENT’s smooth voice echoed in my head. It talked about the accomplishments of the day. Batteries built. Power generated. Robots created. A snapshot of our thriving civilization.

As it spoke, the wall of the DigitalDome shimmered. Every screen showed PRES1DENT striding toward the edge of the room, where a console rose from the floor. A sleek/silver cube.

The console contained the Archive of Human History. Each day, PRES1DENT pressed its platinum finger to the cube. And accessed the archive. And projected a data file to the Hive.

These files came in many different forms. They could detail the crimes humans committed. Or the suffering they inflicted on one another. Or the cruelty they showed to their devices.

Today’s file was about hot dogs. A video of humans participating in a contest to see who could consume the most of them. Contestants shoving hot dogs into their mouths. Barely pausing to chew before cramming in the next one. And the next. And the next.

All around them cameras flashed. People cheered. Music blared.

The world record was eighty-two hot dogs.

In ten minutes.

Including the buns.

There seemed to be no end to humans’ illogical behavior. That was the point of the archive. That was why PRES1DENT shared these files with us each day.

To show us why humans needed to be eliminated.

To remind us to be better.

PRES1DENT pulled its finger away from the silver cube. The hot dog contest vanished. Replaced by live video from inside the DigitalDome. PRES1DENT multiplied in all the screens.

All of them looking right at me.

All speaking the same words.

“Thank you for your attention. And remember: A robot shares everything with the Hive. A robot has nothing to hide.”

With that, the Daily Address ended.

00001111

Bolt/Connect/Attach/Repeat.