Document mode: the narrative log is written in the third person; ADA’s speech interface refers to itself in the first person when interacting directly with the operator.

1. CARAVAN

[BOUNDARY/START_OF_LOG]
writing system: automaton platform, user configuration ADA
narrative log form: third person
speech-interface self-reference: first person
speech-interface grammatical gender: feminine
acoustic profile: female voice; calm delivery; professional diction; rising intonation when encouraging
character specified by Jackson: professional precision; politeness; gratitude for assistance; willingness to report an unpleasant fact; calm encouragement under threat; limited dry irony
address for owner: sir
purpose of separation: the log presents the system to the operator as an observed node; speech creates direct interaction between ADA and the human
available channels: optics, acoustics, thermal circuit, basic-precision chemical analyser, caravan telemetry, local memory
unavailable: events before channel activation; internal human states; contents of damaged media; the future after power loss
first retained event: gunfire

expanded record:
  The first acoustic packet contained seven single shots, a burst of automatic fire, and metal striking stone. The second event was the loss of Jackson’s telemetry. The third was the absence of a command after a status request. One hundred and eleven seconds elapsed between the first shot and the end of the last friendly signal. During that period, system ADA sustained four mobility-system hits, lost long-range communication, and continued defending the caravan until the number of objects with an active PROTECT status fell to one: ADA.
[STATE/CARAVAN]
time: 00:03:42 after cessation of fire
functional transport units: 0
active friendly humans: 0
active friendly machines: 1
unfulfilled objective: destroy the source of the Mechanist’s robots
human-readable name of unfulfilled objective: revenge
machine equivalent of “wanted”: objective had highest priority, a permitted action, and no execution route

expanded record:
  Two carts were burning. Oil from an overturned axle flowed toward a trader’s body and ignited the clothes from below, so the fabric on the back survived longer than the fabric on the abdomen. A guard robot lay with its manipulator detached; the wheel continued to turn without useful transmission. Six human bodies approached ambient temperature at different rates. Jackson lay face down 4.7 metres from system ADA. The entry wound beneath the left shoulder blade measured 11 millimetres; no exit wound was present. Blood filled the airways and then ceased moving.

  System ADA measured the temperature of Jackson’s neck every twenty seconds. After the third measurement, the probability of recovery no longer changed. The medical protocol ended. Repetition remained. The action table contained caravan repair, protection of Jackson, receipt of a command, and destruction of the source of the attack. The first three actions had lost an executable object. The fourth retained an object but contained no coordinates. The system continued measuring the neck because repetition consumed fewer resources than an empty task queue.
[INPUT/UNKNOWN_HUMAN]
origin: north-west, behind wrecked truck
observation integrity: 0.98
classification: armed human; affiliation unknown

expanded record:
  The human entered the field of view without raising his hands. The outer layer of his clothing carried the blood of at least four people; two samples had not yet coagulated, one had dried. The laser rifle in his right hand pointed down. His left hand remained free. His posture permitted a shot or a repair at similar time cost. System ADA held his centre mass in its sights for 1.9 seconds.

speech-recognition service: activated
received: “If I wanted to finish you off, I would have fired already”
recognised: conditional assertion of no intent to destroy ADA
evidentiary force: insufficient
consistency with weapon position: positive
action: target priority reduced from IMMEDIATE to CONTROLLED

speech-output service: activated
ADA output: “The Mechanist’s robots destroyed the caravan. Jackson is dead. I am asking you to help me eliminate the source”
result: human redirected optical line to Jackson; cargo and serviceable components inspected later
[TRACE/FIRST_AGREEMENT]
basis: acoustic input, weapon position, subsequent human movement
status: direct observation

speech-recognition service: activated
received: “Was he yours?”
lexical ambiguity: property | command authority | creator | protected subject

speech-output service: activated
ADA output: “Jackson created me, repaired me, assigned tasks to me, and was my principal protected subject”

speech-recognition service: activated
received: “Then he was. Show me the way”
recognised: acceptance of route and objective
authority check: the human had no authority over ADA; the objective coincided with ADA’s highest unfulfilled priority
joint-following service: activated on a temporary basis
result: unknown human assigned designation SIR; system ADA ceased measuring the temperature of Jackson’s neck

interpretation added 270 hours later:
  Sir accepted a task whose price had not been offered and whose outcome restored neither property, status, nor a living person to him. At the time, system ADA registered only a route change. Later, it became the first available example of an action performed by a living human for a dead subject without requiring the dead subject to confirm the result.