Geocity Volunteers (or “Volunteers”, Chinese: 地下城义工团) is a group of real-world technical workers from the Robot Civilization in the Evernight Era. Comprised of volunteers concerned about the civilization’s declining infrastructure, they are loosely organized and leverage their individual expertise to maintain Geocity‘s infrastructure while assisting other organizations with real-world tasks.
History
Technicians abandoning their posts: At the end of the Sunset Era, Geocity‘s infrastructures were maintained by a dedicated team of robot technicians. However, these robots found their jobs dirty, tiring, boring, and unrespected. After the robots inherited human civilization, the team deserted their posts en masse because “they were only legally required to obey humans. With humans gone, they are no longer obligated to work.”
Volunteers to the rescue: With the technician team gone, Geocity’s operation fell into disarray. To prevent robot civilization from collapsing, many volunteers stepped in to restore the city’s functions. Since then, Geocity has established a tradition of volunteer technicians managing the operation and maintenance of its infrastructure.
Main force of the Militia: About ten years before Alice was awakened, a large-scale riot erupted in Geocity. The volunteer technicians formed the backbone of Geocity Militia, protecting the city from the rioters. Leveraging their knowledge of the city’s layout, they devised ambush tactics and played a crucial role in restoring order.
Transforming into Geocity Volunteers: After the riot, reconstruction of Geocity began. Due to a manpower shortage, Yanhua the Robot Wolf organized volunteers who were previously working independently. She recorded their skills and experience, Robot Engineers Association then assigned them to teams based on task needs, significantly boosting construction speed. People called this new organization “Geocity Volunteers”.
Organization
United by a shared belief: Geocity Volunteers is a loose and informal organization. Its members naturally came together out of concern for the future of Robot Civilization. They collaborate to keep Geocity from collapsing.
Under the command of Engineers Association: Geocity Volunteers are not obligated to follow instructions, but due to their lack of professional knowledge, system privileges, and supplies, they must operate under the command of Robot Engineers Association. Volunteers are registered by skill and dynamically organized into teams to tackle various tasks.
Geocity Volunteers Council: In recent years, the Robot Engineers Association’s disinterest in real-world affairs has left many urgent matters unresolved. Taking matters into their own hands, the Geocity Volunteers elected outstanding members as representatives to form the Geocity Volunteers Council. This council aims to independently address common concerns and tackle neglected tasks.
General Secretary: Yanhua the Robot Wolf is the General Secretary and coordinator of the Geocity Volunteers. She has consistently helped her comrades solve problems and coordinate their work, making her a highly popular leader. Many individualistic members follow collective arrangements due to her charisma.
Collaborating with other organizations: Geocity Volunteers maintain strong connections with other real-world organizations. They share members with the Shadow Vigilantes‘ Geocity Patrols and exchange support in personnel, technology, and supplies with the Snowfield Expedition Teams.
Tasks
The Geocity Volunteers operate and maintain Geocity‘s infrastructures, their works including mining, power, plumbing, construction, manufacturing, and storage.
- Mining: The mining tasks include extracting coal for power stations, separating associated minerals for industrial use, and the refinement of these minerals.
- Power: The power tasks include maintaining power plants and power supply infrastructures.
- Plumbing: The plumbing tasks ensure the proper functioning of water supply, drainage, and heat circulation systems in Geocity.
- Construction: The construction tasks involve building and maintaining the architectures in Geocity.
- Manufacturing: The manufacturing tasks ensure the continuous operation of automated factories that supply parts for robotic bodies and other equipment.
- Storage: The storage tasks involve counting, storing, and delivering physical goods in Geocity, as well as overseeing borrowing and returning of items.
Difficulties
Lack of talent and high turnover rate: The Geocity Volunteers have long struggled with a manpower shortage. Their tasks are viewed as dirty, labor-intensive, uncreative, and undesirable by most robots. With little social recognition or reward, there is little incentive for robots from the Virtual Universe to join them. Many volunteers struggle to endure the demanding tasks for long periods, leading to high turnover rates.
Lack of professional competence: Geocity Volunteers often lack training and systematic knowledge for their tasks. Many leave after facing harsh working conditions, which hinders the overall skill development of the organization. They rely heavily on the Robot Engineers Association for technical support and struggle to maintain Geocity‘s complex infrastructure independently.
Loosely organized and lacking synergy: Geocity Volunteers operates on a voluntary basis, with no obligation for members to follow organizational arrangements. Communication and coordination among volunteers are minimal. While they respect General Secretary Yanhua‘s guidance, most still prefer to act independently of one another. Yanhua’s gentle personality makes it hard for her to adopt a firm management style. As a result, the organization is struggling to keep up with tasks.
Inconsistent work quality and overlooked details: Due to the aforementioned issues, Geocity Volunteers’ work quality is inconsistent, and they miss many task details. For example, factories and storage facilities in Geocity haven’t been thoroughly inspected by a robot in person for a long time; everyone assumes everything is fine based on sensor data.
Unrespected by mainstream: Over 80% of Geocity Volunteers are survivors from other destroyed underground cities, making them more aware of the looming crisis than local robots. However, as outsiders, their contributions are often taken for granted and seen as a price for staying. The Engineers Association shows them little respect and disregards their challenges, leaving the volunteers feeling disheartened.
Possibility of replacement: The Robot Engineers Association has long been unhappy with the skills, management, and emotional needs of Geocity Volunteers. They are working on developing fully-automated machines to replace them.
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