... // time jump 02. day 02. with @mechanicisms​ location: homebase, london
They didn’t know how. They didn’t know why, either. As it turned out, the list of things Nexus knew currently was woefully limited. They had seen from a newspaper that the year was 1981 but they couldn’t connect to the internet to learn anything else. They didn’t even know what year wireless internet became commonplace, but clearly it was after 1981. What they did know, was that their battery wouldn’t last forever. Their last charge had been disrupted by whatever this was, and though their cable had remained mercifully attached, it didn’t seem to match any of the sockets they had seen. That was problematic. They would need to figure out how to charge, quickly, and then they would have more time to figure out how to return to Mrs. Zhang. Mrs. Zhang had not been born yet. How strange.
With no internet and no GPS, Nexus was going to ask someone for directions. But there was nobody. Not a soul. They wandered till they found a bookshop, located a local map, and found their way to a Homebase. There was a wide selection of plug fittings and adaptors; none of them were compatible with Nexus’ charging port.
Hmm. That was inconvenient. They stood, staring at the plugs, for several minutes. There was no staff to ask for assistance. There was no other shoppers. The world was empty. It was strange, and Nexus had no processes for an event like this -- and therefore no reaction. Dr. Zhang had thought of most things, but not this. Without humans, Nexus had no purpose, but they couldn’t power down. For now, their purpose would have to be returning to the Zhangs, and to pursue that they would have to figure out a way to charge.
While they thought, they engaged low battery mode, and fell into stillness where they stood in the aisle of the shop. They stood there for several hours, still with no plan, until the sound of footsteps roused them from hibernation and their eyes slid open. Ah, a human. “Hello.” Nexus said, turning their head to face the newcomer. They didn’t recognise the person, but at this rate any person seemed like good news. “I did not know there were humans here. I am sorry to bother you, but do you know whether this is the full selection of plugs carried by this premises?”