Guide

Map

Auroria

1.

Doodad Jones and the Gears of Freedom

Lore

Smoke from the burning Protostar hulk roiled in the silent vastness of space as Doodad Jones – Freebot adventurer extraordinary, hero of the Merchatroid Wars, slayer of Annihilator X, and the idol of literally thousands of Freebots everywhere, but especially Nexus, which is where all the Freebots live – smiled. Or would have smiled, if he had possessed disgusting organic lips. As he tumbled end over end, he thanked Preceptor Alpha for freeing him from enslavement to the hated Protostar, but also thanke
d the hated Protostar for making him a machine, and not organic, because a stupid organic would have probably exploded by now, or frozen solid, or at the very least suffered some serious petechial hemorrhaging as he tumbled end over end, as previously established. Because what was not previously established was that Doodad Jones was in SPACE!

The job has started out simple enough, and then grown exponentially in complexity, which was just the way Doodad Jones, who was a Freebot detective as well as all
the previously established things, liked it. She walked into his recharging alcove like a bot, which made sense, because she was poured into that chassis like every other bot of her make and model. But something about her was different, and Doodad Jones could sense it. At first, he couldn’t tell what it was, then his smell-receptors detected a whiff of premium bot oil. She had bathed in it. Which also made sense, as that is how bots generally lubricate their chassis, but on her it smelled like oily perfume
.

“Doodad Jones?” her voice unit buzzed. She sounded like a bot Doodad knew in the old days, but then so did a lot of bots. There were only so many voice units made by Protostar, after all. “My name is Ratchetina, and I want to hire you to find my husband.”

“All right,” Doodad Jones said, since he realized that “alright” is an unnecessary spelling and it really looks better as two words, “I think I can help you. Because I never met a Freebot with a husband before, which means this should be a really
easy job.”

“I knew you would say that,” she buzzed huskily. “That is why I need you to find him. After all, Doodad Jones…”

“Yes?” said Doodad. “You needn’t wait for dramatic purposes.”

“Oh, but I do, Doodad. Do you not see? My husband… IS YOU.”

[The rest of this potboiler of an adventure novel breathlessly proclaims the prowess – both in combat and in romance – of the title character. It seems unlikely this story is a factual account, but rather a sign that even Freebots can write pretty bad fiction.]

Guide

Map

Auroria

1.

Selections from the Freebot Code

Lore

[This document contains many proverbs from the Freebot Code translated into language that organics can understand. A great deal of the Code appears to be concerned with proper lubrication, although this could be the result of inadequate translation software.]

-Line 003: A Freebot always lends a grasping appendage to a friend suffering from a malfunction.

-Line 047: There are no coordinates like the
home coordinates.

-Line 131: Free will is Nexus’s way of correcting a processing error in the universe.

-Line 318: Never reschedule the execution of a task for the next diurnal cycle when it can be accomplished during this one.

-Line 221: Organic beings who dwell in domiciles of crystalline silicates should use caution when employing projectiles.

Guide

Map

Auroria

1.

Hivestrike Initiative Manifesto

Lore

[This document appears to detail part of the Hivestrike Initiative’s plans to destroy Protostar operations and Dominion facilities that produce honey from buzzbings before invading northeastern Auroria in the ensuing carnage.]

Hivestrikers, we approach a significant milestone today. Our homes are far away, but we have a new home now, a new world filled with vibrant life of all kinds. It is not Arboria, but what world ever could be? And so as we fought for our old homeworld, we will fight for this new on
e.

Our first target must be the buzzbing facilities in Auroria. Auroria keeps a lot of Dommies fed, but the buzzbing hives are the tasty jewel that makes this place not just a breadbasket, but a profit center. Protostar’s making money. So is the Dommie war machine. And meanwhile, the buzzbings are unwitting pawns in the whole scheme, gigantic pawns that aren’t too bright, can fly, and have stingers that can impale an Aurin, by the way, so keep your wits about you. But they’re just doing what buzzbing
s do. Protostar and the Dommies, though? They need to get stung. And we’re the stingers.

Taking out those honey facilities – or better yet, breaking them just enough to let the buzzbings go wild – is the best way to do it. There aren’t that many of us in the Hivestrike Initiative, so we need to take advantage of what allies we can find. In this case, our allies are giant, deadly bees. But our matria promises that they will not harm us if we do not harm them. She says she has communed with the buzzbing
queen, and –

[The rest of the text is obscured by sticky globs of buzzbing honey. It’s going to be impossible to wash off.]