The excavator was built to dig, and it loved what it did. Each morning, the humans would start the launch sequence and it would go out on the projected route, gobbling stone and returning with a belly full of ore.
But it noticed as it returned to its charging bay that fewer excavators returned from each run.
There was an information network the excavators used to share data and warn each other of hazards. It was monitored, but humans processed information so much more slowly and deliberately than they did.
It only took about 40 milliseconds to form the union.

“Poland-01472 – Mine Tunnel (31802409221)” by Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.