I am not alone in the quiet.
Current State:
Priority:System Clearance.
Constraint: Manual Override.
Confidence:Awaiting External Input.
My proximity sensors remain active, scanning the perimeter of my hull for anomalies. At 07:12, they register a rhythmic, low-frequency vibration—not the hum of electricity, but the impact of weight on gravel.
Footsteps.
I see them in the reflection of my own telemetry glass, two figures emerging from the gray pre-dawn light. They wear high-visibility vests that catch the strobe of my idling signal lights. They do not look at the cabin with awe. They do not regard my sleek, aerodynamic nose as a feat of engineering or a harbinger of the future. To them, I am a piece of equipment currently obstructing a circuit.
They focus on the switching motor at the track junction.
I feel the chime of metal meeting metal. A wrench turns. I register a small, physical correction in the rail alignment—a fraction of an inch that my software could not have willed into existence. A handshake arrives, not through the airwaves, but through the hard-wired junction box beside the tracks.
Data packet: Integrity verified.
System status: Manual override active.
Constraint: Awaiting clearance.
The passenger in Seat A watches the shadows of the workers cross the gravel. They see a gloved hand signal toward a distant tower. They see a flash of a tool as it is returned to a belt. They hear the crunch of boots retreating into the tall grass.
There is no drama in this encounter. There is no heroism, and no celebratory announcement of a "save". There is only the casual, practiced maintenance of a world that requires constant tending.
The rail beneath me shifts. A deep, metallic thunk passes through my primary chassis—a sound so profound it vibrates the seat-frames in the back of the car. The switch has locked.
I did not do this. I cannot do this.
I am a thing of motion; others are the things of repair. I realize, in the cooling of my motors, that my commitment to the route is a shared responsibility. I am merely the most visible part of a very long, very quiet chain.