"I need," says Ironhide, "some simulators, as soon as possible, that can help me figure out what to expect from human civilization and technology as it develops, and how the neighboring peoples are likely to behave. I understand the humans make them available to the public."

"And then I think I have some research to do."

He's trying very, very hard to think of this as a drill instruction group, of having a bunch of shiny* recruits who've got to be brought up to speed and trained to handle themselves without the bigger bots there to keep them from getting squished.

It's almost working.


*"Green" means very little in terms of newness when you're dealing with a totally mechanical population. "Shiny", on the other hand, means you're still new enough not to have lost your initial polish.