The dim light of Zeta's apartment offered little comfort as he stared at the hulking, motionless form of Elias. The robot occupied the center of the small room, his metal chassis scarred from years of neglect and his recent ordeal in the burning library. Zeta had spent the last several hours carefully connecting a makeshift diagnostic cable between his own port and the access interface located on the back of the robot’s neck. His hands were steady, despite the exhaustion that threatened to pull his eyelids shut. He had to be precise. If he triggered a protection mechanism in the robot's hardware, he could lose the data forever.
"Come on, Elias," Zeta whispered, his voice cracking in the quiet space. "Show me what you were hiding."
He initiated the transfer, watching as a series of com
