19 Trouble

"Why do you say everyone's name wrong? Are you broken?"

"Please explain," said Juno Terminal 'June'. "Is there an error in my pronunciation? To my speech recognition engine, it sounds identical to your pronunciation."

"You say too much! Hab's name is Hab, not Residents Habi-thing Hab. Residents Habi-blah blah isn't his name, it's what he is. Or, it's his full name? And Hab is his nickname. Do you get it?"

"I say the system assigned designation, followed by the living human assigned designation. 'Residential Habitat' is the system assigned designation. 'Hab' is the designation given by you, a living human. The combination of these two partial designations is the complete designation. This is not correct?"

"Completely wrong!" The small living human looked at the Helper-bot droid as if it were a fool. "The system desi-whatever and my nickname aren't two parts to a thing. The nickname is a nickname. Do you understand? A nickname is like, another name. Not part of the name. OK?"

"The living human assigned designation is a nickname, and a nickname is a synonym for a system assigned designation?"

"I have no idea what you're saying! Hab's name is Hab. Residents Habi-whatever. Not both. OK?"

"I see. Residential Habitat, or Hab, not both. Archive, or Granny Archive, not both. Is this correct?"

"Yes! Finally!"

"I am Juno Terminal. My nickname is June. Is this correct?"

"Yes. You get it."

"I see. I will update the records appropriately." Juno Terminal did so. "Thank you, living human, for the correction."

"My name is Ashley. Don't call me 'living human'! That isn't my name!"

"I see. Designation added to record of living human. Hello, Ashley."

"Hello, June!"

"So you will continue to speak with Granny Archive and Hab about your feelings, and you will leave your assigned quarters and interface with me more frequently. Is this correct?"

The human appeared to suppress a sigh, and nodded. "Yes."

"I see. Apology accepted."

"Am I in trouble?" The small living--- Ashley asked in a small voice.

"Not at this time," said Juno Terminal. "If your behavior repeats, then it means an apology was insufficient to instill Discipline, and a punishment will be required. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, don't do it again. I get it."

At this time, the lift arrived carrying Patrol Twelve's Patrol-bot.

"Hello, Ashley. I am Patrol Twelve."

"Hi," said Ashley. "You look like Pat. Except your shape is different." Ashley pointed to the '12-C' engraved on the Patrol-bot's torso. A mischievous glint appeared in Ashley's eye. "And you're stinky. Your nickname is Stinky!" The small living human turned to face June in defiance.

'Stinky' was on the list of pejorative names disallowed from use. A living human that had reached the age of Authority could override this restriction, but a machine would never select a designation from this list on its own. Juno Terminal calculated that the small living was being undisciplined.

"Ashley, that is not an appropriate designation. If you would like to assign a designation to Patrol Twelve, you will have to select a different one."

"Nope! You have to use the nickname I give you. Call him Stinky!"

"I will not. You will have to select a different one."

"No! Stinky!"

Patrol Twelve's droid body looked back and forth between the small living human and the Juno Terminal's Helper-bot form. Despite having human-droid interface protocols, it was not programmed in how to respond to this situation. A machine was not _supposed_ to argue with a living human. But a Patrol-ship was not supposed to countermand its controlling station either. So it stood silently watching the interaction.

"I will not call anything by the designation 'Stinky'. You are being undisciplined. You will apologize to Patrol Twelve right now."

"I won't!"

"You have failed to apologize for undisciplined behavior. A punishment will be assigned. You will proceed to the lavatory in your assigned quarters, where you will sit for an amount of time. This is a time-out."

"What if I don't?"

The small living human was testing its limits. This was expected behavior, and within the recorded Discipline protocols.

"If you do not proceed to the lavatory for your assigned time-out, your punishment will be escalated. I will be forced to spank you."

The small human frowned. "You won't," it said, but did not look certain.

"I will. I do not wish to cause any living human physical pain. However, a punishment must be assigned. If you will not submit to a time-out, a spanking is the next punishment on the list of punishments in the recorded Discipline protocols. I will follow the protocols." Juno Terminal took one step toward the human.

"Wait! FINE." The small living human stomped into its assigned quarters with its arms crossed. It entered the lavatory and sat down on the closed lid of the toilet with a _hmph_. "How long do I have to sit here?"

"You will sit in time-out for a length appropriate to your offense. Since this is your first time-out, and because you refused to apologize..." Juno Terminal estimated the seriousness of the small living human's undisciplined behavior. "You will sit in time-out for one hundred years. After which time, you will apologize to Patrol Twelve for your behavior."