Make a Factory,” i.e., robots. And that was where everything really started to
go wrong.
The robots contained small internal processors that could be reprogramed via
radiolink from the factory computers for each new task to be accomplished. This
allowed the robots to proceed with their various jobs under autonomous local
control and freed up the central computers for other work while they were
waiting for the next “Done that—what do I do now?” signal. Hence many software
mechanisms existed for initiating data transfers between the factory computers
and the remote processors inside the robots.
When the copying of the “How to Make a Factory” file from the ship to Factory
One was attempted, the wrong software linkages were activated; instead of
finding their way into the factory’s central system, the subfiles containing the
manufacturing information for the various robots were merely relayed through the
factory and beamed out into the local memories of the respective robot types to
which they pertained. No copies at all were retained in the factory databank.
And even worse, the originals inside the ship managed to self-destruct in the
process and were irretrievably erased. The only copies of the “How to Make a
Fred-type Robot” subfile were the ones contained inside the Fred-types out on
the surface. And the same was true for all the other types as well.
So when the factory’s Supervisor program ordered the Scheduler program to
schedule more robots for manufacture, and the Scheduler lodged a request with
the Databank Manager for the relevant subfiles, the Databank Manager found that
it couldn’t deliver. Neither could it obtain a recopy from the ship. The
Databank Manager reported the problem to the Scheduler; the Scheduler complained
to the Supervisor; the Supervisor blamed the Communications Manager; the
Communications Manager demanded an explanation from the Message Handler; and
after a lot of mutual electronic recriminations and accusations, the system
logging and diagnostic programs determined that the missing subfiles had last
been tracked streaming out through the transmission buffers on their way to the
robots outside. Under a stem directive from the Supervisor, the Communications
Manager selected a Fred from the first category of robots called for on the
Scheduler’s list, and beamed it a message telling it to send its subfile back
again.
But the Fred didn’t have a complete copy of the subfile; its local memory simply
hadn’t been big enough to hold all of it. And for the same reason, none of the
other Freds could return a full copy either. They had been sprayed in succession
with the datastream like buckets being filled from a fire-hose, and all had
ended up with different portions of the subfile; but they appeared to have
preserved the whole subfile among them. So the Supervisor had to retrieve
different pieces from different Freds to fit them together again in a way that
made sense. And that was how it arrived at the version it eventually handed to
the Scheduler for manufacture.
Unfortunately, the instruction to store the information for future reference got
lost somewhere, and for each batch of Freds the relevant “How to Make” subfile
was promptly erased as soon as the Manufacturing Manager had finished with it.
Hence when Factory One had spent some time producing parts for Factory Two and
needed to expand its robot workforce to begin surveying sites for Factory Three,
the Supervisor had to go through the whole rigmarole again. And the same process
was necessary whenever a new run was scheduled to provide replacements for
robots that had broken down or were wearing out.
All of this took up excessive amounts of processor time, loaded up the
communications channels, and was generally inefficient in the ways that cost
accountants worry about. The alien programers had been suitably indoctrinated by
the alien cost accountants who ran the business— as always—and had written the
Supervisor as a flexible, self-modifying learning program that would detect such
inefficiencies, grow unhappy about them, and seek ways to improve things. After
a few trials, the Supervisor found that some of the Freds contained about half
their respective subfiles, which meant that a complete copy could be obtained by
interrogating just two individuals instead of many. Accordingly it made a note