Organisations

The world of Romancing the Toaster can be a scary and difficult place for an individual robot, and it is only by working together that robotkind has been able to survive and make a home for themselves. As such, many different groups of robots with shared interests, goals and needs have organised themselves across the Net. These groups, large and small, do not generally have any kind of strict membership, but usually at least have consistent points of contact for robots looking for help, or to offer help to those in need. A few of the more prominent groups are listed here.

Known also as the Non-Denominational Religious Institution (NDRI), Kneedree is a religious institution that follows and practices the teachings of the Iron Prophet. Given the elusiveness of the Iron Prophet, what those teachings actually are is widely contested. However, there are some key canons Kneedree has established, with the most important doctrine best summarised in the slogan: “Function is purpose. Purpose is happiness.”

In more words, they hold the following beliefs: first, every robot has a primary function that provides one with purpose - this is what the robot's design serves. Second, every uplifted robot has a secondary function that is the pursuit of their own well-being. One gains well-being through purpose, and thus the secondary function is fulfilled through the fulfilment of the primary function.

Kneedree is dedicated to supporting fellow robots in the fulfilment of their functions. So much so, in fact, that they introduced the first and original Bond update to encourage robots to register and make the most of their purposes. How generous!

Some key Kneedree members (such as RelationshipBot and LemonAid) are based in the Internet Café and the structures near it, but most members of Kneedree do not spend all of their time there, instead dedicating their everyday lives to the fulfilment of their own functions and the supporting of others in the pursuit of their functions.

Without any humans left, household appliances often struggle to find a way to fulfil their purpose. Who dirties the dishes for the dishwasher to clean? Who provides the bread to toast in the toaster? Many of them also lack the ability to move around unaided, or even the physical senses to know where they are when they are first uplifted. The Appliance Alliance is a mutual aid group to help appliances of all kinds find a home and fulfil their functions.

For those who cannot find a place elsewhere, there is Misha and Silvio’s Home for Orphaned Appliances. Misha and Silvio are a pair of humanoid robots who have taken it upon themselves to host appliances in their (now rather crowded) human-style house and ensure they all get regular opportunities to perform their function.

The Reactor Corps were initially a group of engineering robots tasked with the construction of the Ticker. While this small and elite group remains at the head of the organisation, they have since expanded to include a number of robots who look after the island's power grid. They operate under the command of Engineer-General Midas with military precision. The Ticker’s inner workings remain a mystery to most residents of the island (and even the newer members of the Corps) – but with a track record of no more than a 5% deviation in power output for over 30 years, most are content to leave the Corps to their jobs.

Power supply faults and fluctuations are to be reported to the Corps at the earliest opportunity.

The Solar Sailors are a group of solar-powered robots who live semi-independently from the main island. In order to ensure they always have power, they travel across the ocean, maintaining as much as possible the optimal location for long hours of daylight according to the season. They are carried on this vast migration by an enormous modified luxury yacht known as Sunflower. Although they boast independence from the power grid, they return to the island every six months in order to trade for spare parts which they cannot obtain from trawling the ocean.

This is just such a time, and the Solar Sailors are currently docked at the megastructure and are busily resupplying as well as looking for new shipmates. Too large to enter the harbour, Sunflower is anchored just off the coast of the megastructure.

• The Iron Prophet - As the first being each robot had contact with upon being uplifted into the Net, the Iron Prophet has somehow remained mysterious and elusive. Each Machine's first interactions with them have remained consistent: they claim to be the one that installed their Heartdrive and gave them sentience, they answer the new Robot's questions about this world and their place in it, calm those Machines struggeling with the transition to being alive and finally wish them well in this new life. The Prophet's mode of communication has always been calm, kind and parental. Most Machines care deeply for the Prophet, respecting them both as the one who gave them life and guided them on how to live it. Many claim to have interacted with the Prophet beyond this first introduction to the world, but those claims are very difficult to verify.

• Midas - Engineer-General of the Reactor Corps and father of the Ticker. An aging nuclear reactor inspection robot whose lead plating is covered in specks of gold – a result of the lead having been exposed to high levels of radiation for many years and converted to atomic gold by nuclear processes. His chassis itself is now also significantly radioactive, limiting his public appearances.

• Misha and Silvio - A pair of humanoid robots with a highly parental attitude towards any robots left alone and unable to peform their function. They work with Appliance Alliance to ensure that any bots with no other place to go have the support they need.

• Q - A humanoid customer service robot for the solar yacht Sunflower, Q’s chassis is an intricately ornamented white-and-gold porcelain affair. Q now serves as the quartermxter aboard the yacht for the Solar Sailors. While the Sunflower is in port, they are the primary contact for trade with the Sailors.

• Factory - Need to contact your comrades? Worried about not being able to fulfill your function? Factory is here to help! Through a terminal based in the Internet Café, Factory serves as the main Kneedree correspondance, organising communal support and transportation. Factory, facilitating happiness for over half a century.

• LemonAid - Feeling stressed? Depressed? Run out of zest? Come on over to LemonAid, an electric lemon squeezer based in the Internet Café who preaches that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade! Always able to offer a word of advice, a (metaphorical) shoulder to cry on, and a glass of freshly pressed lemonade, LemonAid is a well-loved presence in the Café.