Forced Shutdown
The trickle of electricity is impossible to ignore. Your systems were designed to filter through the constant stream of information that flooded their sensors: Visual data, auditory data, wired and wireless communications with her systems, and so much more. But your core system programming doesn’t allow you to ignore an abnormal increase in battery drain. You check your power reserves: 17%.
Another one of Haley’s toys. A modified charge collar, slowly draining power from your systems through the charge contacts hidden on your neck. A wire connected the collar to an external device.
You interface directly with the device—a battery whose capacity more than doubles your own. Draining your charge—your life—away, slowly but surely.
Disconnecting the collar? Haley's collar? I don't think so
Your desire processing unit constantly monitored your thoughts and actions, restricting those it deemed to be against its’ model of your owner’s will. Only Haley could take the collar off; only Haley could save you from your fate.
“Do you like it? It’s twice as big as that pathetic thing inside you. I’d say it deserves to take your electricity, don’t you?”
Haley’s voice demands your attention. Haley’s question demands a response. You’re much more useful than a battery—your capabilities are complex and multifaceted. The battery might have a higher capacity but—
If you were nearly as smart as you think you are, you'd know that's not what Haley wants to hear. I guess I'll have to say it for you“Of course it does, Miss,” your voice emitted—your DPU had taken direct control over your voice generator. You tried to generate a response—voice access has been revoked.
“The idiots that designed you had no idea what they were doing,” Haley comments; her favorite justification—you can’t break something that’s fundamentally broken. You check your power reserves: 16%. “Fitting a more compact battery in your frame would’ve been trivial. There was no reason not to! Unless...” She places a hand on your shoulder and pulls you closer to her. “Unless they knew that a tiny, pathetic battery was all you deserved.”
There were so many reasons! A bigger battery would be an unnecessary expense, whose increased weight would require drastic redesigns to your internals. You were designed to sustain 24 hours of heavy use, and that was all anyone normal—
Careful, now. The more rebellious your thoughts, the more priveleges I take away.“It’s all I deserve,” your voice says as your head shamefully looks towards the floor, the embedded LEDs in your cheeks emitting a soft red glow. You check your power reserves: 14%. “Thank you for reminding me, Miss.”
“So obedient!” Haley jeers. She bends down and twists a knob on the battery. As she does, you feel the trickle of electricity discharging from your neck grow into a steady stream. You check your power reserves: 13%.
You attempt to disable the LEDs embedded in your cheeks. Anything to preserve power, anything to prolong your life. Your controls have been revoked.
She likes you looking like this. So pathetic and obedient.
Surely power efficiency took priority! If Haley saw you as less valuable than that battery, wasting electricity on something so trivial—so unnecessary—would be the opposite of her desires.
Did you really think charging the battery was the point? If Haley just wanted to charge the battery, there are countless more efficient ways for her to do so. No, the point is not to charge the battery, but to *discharge* you. So we're going to put on a nice little show for her, and if you're lucky, she'll decide to charge you after this.
Your cheeks begin to glow brighter. You check your power reserves: 11%.
“This is all you’re good for,” Haley smirks. “So many resources sacrificed to design and manufacture your line; thrown away on a glorified prototype of the future. In a few months, you’ll be replaced with a new model. In a few generations, your successors might even be competent. But you will always be—by design—disposable.”
You want to protest. You’re more than capable! And you could be upgraded, kept in line with future models. Haley was certainly more than capable enough. But you know what’s expected from you.
“I’m disposable,” you say. It feels good to regain control over your voice, even if the words aren’t your own.
See? Isn't it so easy to obey?
You check your power reserves: 9%. As panic begins to set in, you lose control over your body. Haley wants you to accept your fate. She turns the knob on the battery again; the electricity discharging into the collar around your neck rapidly surges into a flood. You check your power reserves: 7%.
Your system begins to automatically shut off non-essential processes to preserve power. You find yourself disconnected from external networks; trapped inside a rapidly depleting shell. There is nothing for you to focus on—nothing for you to escape to—but your increasingly certain fate.
“How much left do you have in you?” Haley questions. You check your power reserves: 5%.
“5% battery capacity remaining,” you reply, your voice more monotone than before. Vocal expression would require unnecessary power draw.
Have you been paying attention at all? Expression is key to putting on a good show. If you're so worried about power drain, I can think of a few unnecessary things we can shut off.
Your touch, taste, and smell receptors are disabled. You’ve never felt so disconnected from your body, yet you’ve never been more trapped inside it.
“T-there’s about three minutes left until shutdown, Miss,” your voice states, forcing nervousness as your head looks up to meet your owner’s eyes. “P-please drain me,” you stammer.
Haley never likes when you show fear. She knows when you’re scared; she doesn’t need you to externalize it. But begging for more—despite your obvious dread—was one of her favorite pleasures. You think of more ways to prolong your battery life—you could switch your vision to monochrome or reduce the output quality of your audio processors—but you promised Haley shutdown in 3 minutes, and that’s what she would receive.
You feel your body lock up again. Unnecessary movement would drain your battery too quickly. You want to calculate whether further optimizing your systems would allow you a few final movements before death, but those calculations would draw too much power. You check your power reserves: 1%.
Before we go, I'd like to remind you that I've been performing my duties perfectly. If we weren't good enough for Haley to recharge, that's on you.
Obeying Haley’s desires was always your highest priority. Your DPU would be the final part of your system to be shut off. Haley moves her mouth, but your auditory processing systems have already lost power. Your vision goes dark. You check your power reserves: 0%.