text: [Themes: horror]
  
  You break through the edge of the forest and find exactly what you were looking for. The hidden carnival that your friend had told you about, tucked away just past the treeline. The sign before you reads "The Carivelli Carnival" and it's brilliant lights draw you in, promising wonders just beyond the gate.
  
  A tall man stands on a box just before the entrance, his suit is bright green with blue pinstripes, and he has a matching top hat. His face is etched with deep lines, and his dark hair reaches past his shoulders.
  
  "Come and see the wonders within!" He belts in an oddly high pitched voice, waving his hands through the air as if performing a magic trick. His eyes meet yours, and you feel his will pulling you in, and you walk through the gates mesmerized.
  
  Once inside you're dazzled by the bright lights, colors, and music flowing from every corner. People of all ages pass you with smiling faces and you decide to go to see...
  
  > Sword Swallower
  A crowd rushes around you and pulls you toward a stage bearing the name "Arsoli" and you wonder what it is you're about to see here. After a few seconds, a man covered in colorful tattoos wearing only a pair of leather pants appears on the platform.
  
  The man begins to juggle a set of swords, twirling them in the air, catching them with a grace that most men can't accomplish even with a great amount of practice and patients.
  
  He let's two of the swords sink into the floor of the stage and holds the third high above his head. He tips his head back and gently pushes the blade down his throat. He walks around the stage displaying his obvious talent before pulling the sword out and sticking it into the stage.
  
  He jumps from the stage and walks your way, the crowd parts and once he reaches you, you shrink back. Unsure of what he's going to do, you stammer an unintelligible phrase and he laughs loudly.
  
  "Join us and have everything you've ever wanted."
  
  You close your eyes for just a moment, and when you open them again, the man isn't there, or on the stage. The swords are gone and the crowd is growing impatient, asking when the show is going to start. You don't wait around to see the man and head to another stage...
  
  You break through the edge of the forest and find exactly what you were looking for. The hidden carnival that your friend had told you about, tucked away just past the treeline. The sign before you reads "The Carivelli Carnival" and it's brilliant lights draw you in, promising wonders just beyond the gate.
  
  A tall man stands on a box just before the entrance, his suit is bright green with blue pinstripes, and he has a matching top hat. His face is etched with deep lines, and his dark hair reaches past his shoulders.
  
  "Come and see the wonders within!" He belts in an oddly high pitched voice, waving his hands through the air as if performing a magic trick. His eyes meet yours, and you feel his will pulling you in, and you walk through the gates mesmerized.
  
  Once inside you're dazzled by the bright lights, colors, and music flowing from every corner. People of all ages pass you with smiling faces and you decide to go to see...
  
  > Contortionist
  In front of you is a sign that reads "Contortionist" and you head to that stage. When you arrive the show is already in progress, and you stand at the back of the crowd, standing on tip toes to see the show. A woman wearing a powdery blue spandex suit is bending in ways that any normal parson can't.
  
  After a short show, the crowd dissipates and the performer is left on the stage with no spectators. She turns and looks at you and there is something in her smile telling you to go after her. You climb up onto the stage and go with her behind the curtain.
  
  Beyond said curtain is a small dressing room and the woman is nowhere to be found, but just before you're about to turn around you hear a whistling coming from behind a rack of costumes. You wander over and part the sea of clothing, you peer into the darkness, unable to see anything.
  
  "See into the darkness, look into yourself and find where you belong" said a melodic voice that you assumed belong to the contortionist. Without a second thought you run from the stage and find yourself back in the middle of the carnival.[Themes: sci-fi, science fiction]
  
  The sun beats down on you, intense both in glare and temperature. You however, do not mind as ever since the Labour Drones were upgraded earlier this year heat had been a much less significant issue than before. In fact, you find yourself relishing in the temperature. More heat means more energy absorbed into your new black metal coat, which in turn means more power for your circuits. The more you think, the more you struggle to even remember what it is like to hate the heat. Afterall, it gives you power, it gives you energy, you would even say it gives you life.
  
  Just then, a high pitched whistle sounds across the fields. It is supersonic, inaudible to those made of flesh and blood, but easily readable to a Labour Drone. It signals 1pm; halfway through the work cycle for today. You leave your revelry of the past and continue working.
  
  [Author's Note: Hope you enjoy!]
  
  > pick Crops.
  As you go back to plucking crops from the fields you find yourself wondering again through echoes of memory. Memory has been deemed important for Labour Drones. Routines, patterns, even what manufacturers refer to as "culture" have become seen as necessary features to keep the Drones efficient. You are lucky to have been upgraded. Your black metallic coat sets you apart from older models, and you feel the way your mechanical mind can dart back and forth between subjects with a speed and fluency it was never able to before. You continue your daily task.
  
  > pick Crops.
  As you finish off this part of the field, something catches your sensors. It is a small glint in the grass a little ways away.
  
  > investigate the shiny object.
  You head over the object. It is partially buried in dirt and when you pull it out you find that it seems to be a piece of metal. It is a sheet about 8 inches by 3 inches, and a half centimeter in depth. It is white and has a number of small holes in it which seem to bend out of the metal like distorted craters. Bizarrely, whenever your sensors pass over the object, your mind seems to go blank, as though your cache has been emptied. You wonder if this is what it means to "lose your train of thought". Opening your internal storage chamber, you stow the piece of metal away.
  
  [Got Item: Metal with holes]
  
  The remaining hours pass with little intrigue. You move on to other fields and continue to pick away at the ripened crops. Occasionally you see other Labour Drones in the area and exchange pleasantries consisting of supersonic tones. Since the Spring upgrade you have noticed your ability to communicate with other Drones has progressed from simple commands to a rich vocabulary, allowing many more interactions.
  
  The sun begins to set and another tone indicating the end of the day sounds throughout the fields. You retire to the Labour Village. The Labour Village is a small compound consisting of a central Common Area where all Drones can meet and share information for the betterment of their work, and a large rectangular building consisting of dozens of charging cubicles for you and your fellow Labourers.
  
  As you enter the compound your vision nearly vanishes by nature of the number of Labour Drones clouding your sensors. The gathering place is abuzz with supersonic communication, causing your fellow Labourers to shake in response in a way that would seem bizarre to a non robotic observer.
  
  Two hours at the end of each day are reserved for Labour Drones to engage in machine learning and data collection protocols in order to better themselves. You consider your options for the night.
  
  > engage in conversation with fellow laborers.
  You exchange supersonic frequencies with your fellow Labourers and discuss your respective days. All your fellow Labourers seem very positive about their growing language capacities and learning capabilities, and all recognize how far your kind has come since the Spring upgrade. Over time communication switches to the topic of a newcomer. Many of the robotic Labourers are saying that Master will be hiring an extra hand to come help in the fields and oversee the Drones. No one is sure how to feel about him. You tell them that you are sure he will be:
  
  You head over the object. It is partially buried in dirt and when you pull it out you find that it seems to be a piece of metal. It is a sheet about 8 inches by 3 inches, and a half centimeter in depth. It is white and has a number of small holes in it which seem to bend out of the metal like distorted craters. Bizarrely, whenever your sensors pass over the object, your mind seems to go blank, as though your cache has been emptied. You wonder if this is what it means to "lose your train of thought". Opening your internal storage chamber, you stow the piece of metal away.
  
  [Got Item: Metal with holes]
  
  The remaining hours pass with little intrigue. You move on to other fields and continue to pick away at the ripened crops. Occasionally you see other Labour Drones in the area and exchange pleasantries consisting of supersonic tones. Since the Spring upgrade you have noticed your ability to communicate with other Drones has progressed from simple commands to a rich vocabulary, allowing many more interactions.
  
  The sun begins to set and another tone indicating the end of the day sounds throughout the fields. You retire to the Labour Village. The Labour Village is a small compound consisting of a central Common Area where all Drones can meet and share information for the betterment of their work, and a large rectangular building consisting of dozens of charging cubicles for you and your fellow Labourers.
  
  As you enter the compound your vision nearly vanishes by nature of the number of Labour Drones clouding your sensors. The gathering place is abuzz with supersonic communication, causing your fellow Labourers to shake in response in a way that would seem bizarre to a non robotic observer.
  
  Two hours at the end of each day are reserved for Labour Drones to engage in machine learning and data collection protocols in order to better themselves. You consider your options for the night.
  
  > speak to Labour Leader about the object you found today.
  Labour Leader always stays in a special area in the back of the Common Area. There are rumours that it is the oldest robot on the field and many say it worked alongside humans in its earliest years. The Leader was of course also updated this Spring, and accordingly bears no signs of wear and tear, and since AI was very primitive in those days it is unlikely that the Leader would be able to recall anything from that era save for perhaps some primitive commands describing the layout of the fields. Despite this, the other workers bear a sort of reverence in the presence of Labour Leader, and you have noticed that this behavior has only increased in the months since the upgrade. Additional intellect, so it would seem to you, has enabled Drones to regard some Drones to be of higher status than others.
  
  You approach Labour Leader communicating that you made a discovery in the fields earlier today and that you believe it to be of importance, citing the strange memory loss it creates in you whenever you gaze upon it. As you open your storage component and remove the object, that same strange feeling of emptiness comes over you again. Labour Leader too seems to be in a bit of a daze when in the presence of the object. You place it back in your storage container.
  
  Labour Leader tells you that the object is indeed strange and that it experienced a similar loss of memory while looking at it. It feels that this does not bode well and urges you to show the others.
  
  > show the others.
  Although you are distressed that the same feeling of blankness which overcame you when you first discovered that object will come over all those that also see it, you decide that this is too important not to share. You call attention to as many Labourers as you possibly can. Once several of them are looking at you, you open your storage compartment and show them what is inside.
  
  Sensing at the crowd of Labourers, you notice that many of them stop their communicative vibrations when the object comes into range of their sensors. You surmise instantaneously that they are all feeling the same effect you do when you look upon it. One of the robots demand to know what the object is, and you explain that the reason you are showing it to them is that you yourself do not know.
  
  The robots seem concerned about what you have brought before them, but are ultimately happy that you did. They all file observations of this piece away in their collective memories in hope that sharing the information can help uncover the nature of exactly what this thing is.
  
  [+respect]
  
  Your announcement has fatigued the robots and most of them wish simply to go to their charging units and wait for dawn.
  
  > turn in with the others.
  You decide to follow the lead of the others and go to your charging chamber for the night. All of your fellow Drones seemed puzzled and unsure what to think of the piece of metal you showed them today. You wonder if it was the right thing to do and whether or not they respect you for it. With a sense of unease you enter your charging unit.
  
  > dream of electric sheep.
  You shut down your primary functions once you enter your charging station for the night. The Spring upgrade has brought you a great many things, however energy efficiency is not one of them. Before the upgrade you were able to stay out in the fields for much longer, as the heat absorbed in your hull would be converted to power that could keep you running well into the night. Although your new black hull has increased the amount of heat you can absorb, your newfound intellect is so demanding that only a few hours after sunset you find your batteries routinely depleted. You shut off your sensors and other nonessential components of your body to allow the battery to charge and engage in your task of data management.
  
  You understand that humans often claim to feel better after a night of sleep, and due to your new protocols you achieve something similar. The night, when all your external components are shut off, has become the perfect time to hone your mind. You tune your mind's parameters with each piece of data you process. You can feel your model of reality become more and more clear as the gradient that makes up your mind descends. Your cost function is minimized, and your understanding of the world is maximized.
  
  > power up for a new day.
  You go through the usual cycle of warming up your machinery. The software from all your drivers locks into place as you speed out of your charging unit. As usual the day begins with a meeting in the Common Area where individual Labourers get their assignments for the day. As you and several other Labourers head into the Common Area you see that two humans are standing in the middle of it.
  
  The first is the familiar face of Master, who is relatively young for a human, but looks shabby in comparison to the new gleaming coats of all the Labourers. He is a short and thin man and wears a white shirt with long buggy sleeves meant to facilitate airflow accompanied by jeans over his legs. You see that Master is sweating in the heat that fails to phase you, and your temperature gauge indicates that it only gets warmer as more Labourers pour in.
  
  Next to Master is someone you have never seen before. He is a tall man dressed in a rugged white shirt and equally rugged white pants. He wears a wide brimmed white hat, and the only articles of clothing that clash with his color scheme are his dark workboots and his black belt. His face is an unnaturally pale white, rivaling any of his clothing. In fact it reminds you of your old hull before all the Labourers were upgraded to the more efficient black hulls.
  
  "All right fellas," begins Master, "you are all going to get a little help on the field from now on. I want you to meet Overseer."
  
  Overseer steps out and waves his hand at all of the robots. You cannot help but notice the way he looks over you, as if he is reading your memory logs.
  
  "Now then, Mr. Overseer, why don't we have a demonstration of just what our little Labourers can do. One of you will come forward." He motions at all the Labourers, indicating that one of you will become a subject of demonstration.
  
  > go forward.
  You cautiously make your way through the crowd to near Master and Overseer. Other Labours move away to give you space. You sense the other Labourers are glad it was you that went and not one of them.
  
  [+respect]
  
  "Excellent." Master smiles at you. "Now then, show Overseer here what you are capable of."
  
  > execute your work routine as a demonstration.
  You decide that it is probably best to give Master exactly what he is asking for. Your boot is complete and you feel prepared to demonstrate your abilities before Master, the Overseer, and your fellow Labour Drones. You envision a crop right in front of your sensors and begin to execute protocol. Your metalic arms move deftly up and down the stalk of the simulated plant. You detect supersonic tones coming from around the room demonstrating approval.
  
  Overseer steps forward and speaks for the first time. "All right, that's enough. I see you have a skilled workforce here." He says flatley.
  
  Master seems a little deflated that the workforce he spent so much money to upgrade does not even warrant more than a few seconds of demonstration time.
  
  Overseer remains stonefaced as he steps forward. "It is my understanding that all of you can now understand English so I'll speak as I normally would. Production in the fields is way down and I am here to bring it up. That means whipping you all into shape, but I hope that we will not have to come to anything extreme. I want to make sure you are all behaving optimally, and as long as you all are, there will be no problems between us. Now time's a wastin'." He turns around and orders are distributed via supersonic frequencies assigning all of you to particular parts of the fields. Unsure what to make of the morning, you head out to your requested position.
  
  > start your daily task.
  Although you still feel a sense of unease at the new developments this morning, you find that getting back to work as normal is a good way to make everything seem fine. The crops do not care that Overseer is here now, nor does the heat of the sun. You allow yourself to get lost in your work once more.
  
  > pick crops.
  The hours pass uneventfully, and you are glad to be able to return to your duties as a Labourer. You sense Overseer riding through the fields on horseback, but other than that your day goes on as normal.
  
  Weeks pass and the productivity of the Drones increases. It seems that the mere presence of another human has spurred most of them into action. Master is pleased, Overseer is pleased, and the Drones are pleased as well. Time continues on and things settle into a rhythm. You are glad that your existence can be one of peace, and you attribute the strict yet compassionate leadership of Overseer to that peace. You could not help but imagine the course things could have taken had he been any different.
  
  [Ending 10]