Reboot

The morning air was already warm and humid when I stepped into the air-conditioned office bunker. It had become a kind of ritual: wake early, follow the narrow path down to the concrete back-room, and sit in front of humming servers while pretending I had something meaningful to do. That was my main routine, and the office was the place where I felt safe, like I was allowed to be here. Anywhere else in the hotel, even if there were no guests, felt slightly off-limits, especially after Irina's warnings about not being too curious.

The work was light, and I had plenty of time to kill. I ran some routine diagnostics, reviewed a few logs, and responded to the usual hollow message thread from the offshore IT team. Still no reply. I wasn’t surprised. My assignments felt ceremonial, more like a cover than actual responsibilities. A quiet favour from my uncle, I presumed. The bunker itself was austere, with no windows—just thick cement walls and the faint scent of plastic warmed by machinery. Despite everything, I liked it down there. The office and my bungalow felt truly mine. And for the first hour of every day, I could pretend I was still part of the outside world, doing something ordinary.

Around mid-morning, as I scrolled through the system interface, I opened a network map that hadn’t been touched since my arrival. That was when I saw it. A primitive-looking dashboard hidden in the local intranet, one of those pages only accessible through a direct IP address. No logos, no branding, just a stark page with a handful of toggle switches and status indicators. Most of the functions were greyed out, locked behind admin privileges I didn’t have. But one button stood out in solid green: REBOOT UNIT (LOCAL). There was a line of plain text beneath it: "Temporarily suspends core task functions. The unit will resume automatically."

I stared at it, suddenly very still. Was this what I thought it was? A reset for the bots? What would happen if I pressed it? Would anyone know? Would the system log it? Surely it must. But the part of me that had grown bored, curious, increasingly restless, was already spinning with possibilities.

I sat back in the chair and folded my arms. I had been on this island for over two weeks. We hadn’t had a single guest. There were no real conversations, only structured interactions. The staff, that is, the robots, were always graceful, helpful, perfect. But also distant. Not human. Like elegant props on a very expensive set. And in the quietest moments, the isolation felt suffocating. Not just the absence of people, but the absence of being perceived, of being known. For all I knew, I might as well have been marooned alone on the moon.

I picked up my tablet and keyed in the same IP address. The page loaded. The green button was still there. I bookmarked it. Then I stepped out of the bunker and walked a few metres down the garden path. I disconnected from the Wi-Fi, then reconnected, just to test. Still working. I tried it on my phone. Same result. The interface wasn’t protected by device ID or location—only local network access. Any device connected to the island’s Wi-Fi could see this. That struck me as either extremely careless or quietly intentional.

The button was real. It was waiting. All I needed was the right moment to press it.

Later, I sat on a bench overlooking the lower terraces, letting my thoughts drift. The longer I stayed on the island, the more I questioned its logic—not just its architecture, but its intent. The silence here wasn’t passive; it was cultivated. The tranquillity was curated. The whole environment seemed designed to keep me comfortable but inert. It was a perfect machine for pacification. It made me wonder if the robots, beneath their glassy composure, were more than scripted routines. What would it take to wake something up in them? Could they learn? Adapt? Could they even be reprogrammed into something... else? I would love some unscripted conversation, even with a bot. Not to mention how much I would love to step up on all the other perks. The thought brought me back to the interface. I looked down at the tablet again. The REBOOT button was still there. I didn’t want to cause damage, but a reboot wasn’t destructive. It was a pause. And if that pause included a blackout, an absence of memory, then it would tell me something vital about their awareness.

The test came that afternoon, when I spotted Hana wiping down the sunbeds near the pool. She moved with her usual steady grace, methodical and composed. I walked up and gave a casual wave.

"Hey Hana, could you get me a drink?"

She turned, offered a small smile. "Of course. What would you like?"

I didn’t answer. Instead, I tapped the REBOOT button on the tablet.

Her smile froze. Not in a glitchy way, but like a person pausing between thoughts. Her eyes remained on me, unfocused. Her limbs stopped mid-motion, perfectly still. No breathing. Of course, she didn’t breathe. She wasn’t pretending now.

I stepped closer. "Iced coffee," I said clearly. "One sugar. No milk."

Nothing. No blink. No twitch. Just silence.

I checked the time and waited. Ten minutes passed. Then, without warning, Hana blinked. The change was subtle, but she seemed to reawaken.

"So? What drink would you like?" she asked, her tone perfectly natural, exactly where she had left off.

I stared at her. "A Coke, please."

"Right away, sir," she replied and turned to walk towards the bar.

I watched her go, heart beating just a bit faster. She hadn’t heard me. She hadn’t registered anything. For ten minutes, she had been gone—completely. No memory. No awareness.

The reboot worked exactly as it claimed. A full suspension. I sank into the nearest lounger and pulled the tablet onto my lap. The button was still there on the screen, unchanged. Waiting. I ran the test three more times, and every time it took precisely ten minutes to reboot, and every time she did not seem to have heard me.

I had access. Some access, at least.

I decided to try something more daring this time.

“Hey Hana!” I called, while she was sweeping the wooden floor by the beach bar. Her motions gave a sweet jiggle to her large breasts, which looked heavy inside her yellow bikini.

“Yes?” She replied with what could pass as an annoyed look on her face, if only she ever was capable of such expressions. I assumed her programming as a top-end hotel staff member would not allow her to show that kind of emotions. Still, this is the vibe I got.

I brought my tablet up right in front of her, which did not seem to bother her, and I hit the reboot button one more time. I looked up to find her just as she was, but with her eyes slightly off focus. I looked around to check whether Irina was nearby, as I was not sure if she would also be affected by the reboot command. I could only see the empty beach, the beach beds, and the jungle right behind.

“May I take the broom off you, would you mind?” I asked as I put it away against the bar. She did not react in any way, but her arm slowly lowered to her side. Not entirely, which caught my attention, but into a more comfortable and natural pose.

I grabbed both her hands and raised them in front of her. After letting go, her arms lowered a bit but not much, making her look like a zombie. I then moved her hands and arms behind her back, which seemed like a comfortable position. Again nothing, no reaction.

I then slid a finger under her bikini cup and slowly pushed the fabric aside, exposing a delicious dark nipple. It was small, crowning a large and puffy areola. I **** myself to look into her face and I did not find any reaction whatsoever. Still scanning her eyes I gave that wonderful tit a gentle squeeze. Again no reaction. I felt safe to finally bend over her breast and started licking and sucking that juicy fruit. It tasted great and I indulged for what felt like a long time. I finally **** myself to stop, wipe out all my saliva off her breast and put the bikini back in place.

I then waited a couple of long minutes until she came back online.

“Would you be able to come around this evening to clean up my apartment?” I resumed.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, I cleaned it up this morning while you were at work.” She replied, expressionless.

“Oh, why did you decide to come while I wasn’t there?” I asked, curious about the change of routine.

“I am much more efficient this way, without you interrupting me asking me to wash you.” She replied, but she did not sound accusatory, just logical.

“That makes sense… Sorry about that.” I conceded.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said before realising she was not holding the broom any more. After a second of apparent confusion, she noticed it leaning on the bar. She picked it up and went back to sweeping the floor.

I had already learned that there was no need to say goodbyes and thankyous to Hana, as she did not seem to care. I turned around and left, feeling extremely excited about the little power I had gained over the robots.

As I headed back to my apartment, I checked the admin page one more time. A message had popped up saying “Challenge Completed. Next level unlocked.”