Human error part 1

The Autobots wake up on Christmas morning to find they have become human!

Japanese title: «The Autobots Became Humans» (人間になったオートボット Ningen ni Natta Autobot)

Synopsis

While Optimus Prime is patrolling the city, he sees Soundwave toys running everywhere, some of which have suspiciously glowing red optics. He decides to return to base where Sari is making oilnog for them. In the base a Soundwave toy, which was smuggled in as Bulkhead’s present, uses some sort of electric device on the oilnog Sari has made. The Autobots drink it and find that it makes them disorientated. As one, they decide to take a stasis nap.

The next morning, Optimus and his crew realize they have become organic humans, but Ratchet can find no logical explanation for their transformation. Prowl is the only one who is not particularly concerned by his new form (which resembles his human hologram, mustache and all) but the others are horrified. They start wondering what happened to their original bodies and decide to go to Sumdac Tower — on foot.

The Auto-Humans get hungry and stop to eat, but their meal is interrupted by Starscream attacking the city. The humanized Autobots attempt to stop them, but find their human bodies soft and weak. When Starscream realises what has happened to them, he predictably starts taunting them, but is cut short when they flee, realising that he cannot distinguish one insignificant human from another! He dismisses them, and continues his rampage. The Autobots are then surprised to see that Cybertron is coming towards the Earth. It landed near the surface, sucking up some debris. Next, Strika, Oil Slick, Spittor, Shockwave, Lugnut, and Megatron arrive. The Decepticons plan on killing the Automen.

The Automen realise that what’s happening is completely impossible, and Prowl reasons that it clearly must be an illusion, and if you believe it can happen, then it will. The Autobots, still in human form, totally kick all of the Decepticons’ skidplates. (How’s that for ya’ huh, Megatron? Got your aft kicked by organics!) The Autobots then use the power of «belief» to make themselves Transformers again. This brings them to realise that they are in a virtual reality.

Sari, who had now gotten a jetpack for Christmas along with a dancing Soundwave figurine, goes to the base to find the Autobots. She looks all around, and cannot find them. She realises that they are in the building and finds the «basement». There, she finds the Autobots in deep stasis, controlled by Soundwave. She is attacked by Soundwave, who now has Laserbeak, who can transform into a totally awesome keytar. After losing the fight, Sari vowed to come back.

Meanwhile, the Autobots are still stuck in Soundave’s virtual reality. They try to escape, but a giant, white Soundwave stops them from doing so. Soundwave then proceeds to reprogram the Autobots into… Decepticons.

Stats

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Isaac Sumdac: That toy rightfully belongs to me Powell! You are a thieving crook!
Porter C. Powell: And a Merry Christmas to you too Professor Sumdac. But I acquired this toy’s patents fair and square when I owned your company. Now I’m sharing Soundwave with the entire world! For only 19.99 each!
Isaac Sumdac: 19.99?! How does he do it?!

—Business is business.

(After Bumblebee and Bulkhead, in human form, crash and slip into a tower)
Bulkhead: There’s no antilock brakes on these servos!
Bumblebee: I think humans call them «legs».
-Get real Bulkhead, humans don’t have airbags or ESP.

Ratchet: I’m telling you, there is no way this Santa Claus can deliver billions of presents in one night.
Prowl: I… can think of at least one way. (smiles as he creates two holographic duplicates of himself) Ho.. ho… ho!
Optimus Prime: A sound theory, Prowl. I did see multiple Santa’s in the shopping district tonight.

—The Bots try and explain the magic of Christmas, maybe they can try to explain the case of the missing trailer next.

Optimus Prime: We need to get to Sumdac Tower! Auto uh.. men. Transfor… er uh roll… er uh… let’s just go…

—Easy there Human Prime, after all, you are only human.

Sari Sumdac: A… Soundwave toy?
Isaac Sumdac: To replace the one that tried to take over the world.
Sari Sumdac: Dad… that thing tried to kill me!
Isaac Sumdac: Ah but this is an action figure, assembled in China and not by Megatron.

— Sumdac fails to see the obvious. Again.

Ratchet: Hey, how come your fuel is different from ours?
Prowl: I choose the vegetable fuel because it burns cleaner. Don’t you know where that animal flesh comes from?
Bulkhead: (With his mouth full) No, but I know where it’s going!
Bumblebee: Half of its going on your clothes.

—Bulkhead is starting to enjoy human life.

«C’mon you guys can’t still be sleeping, it’s Christmas! Hello, guys, cute girl with jetpack is here! Okay, you guys better not be messing with me. Nice try, but you can’t hide your energy signatures… which are coming from right here? All right, no more hide and seek. I’m going home, hear me, I’m going ho-ome! Fine, guys, don’t spend Christmas day with me.»

—Sari is being ignored like every human sidekick.

Starscream: Prime? Ratchet? I thought I recognized those voices! HAHAHAHAHAH! You’ve been living with these pathetic organics for so long, you’ve become them! It will be a simple matter to crush you out of existence right now! Huh? Where did you go? I can’t tell the difference between one insignificant human and the next. (blows up some cars) Ah well, no matter. There is much more Decepticon fun to come.

—Starscream gets easily distracted…

Bulkhead: No. It can’t be…
Prowl: …Yet there it is.
Optimus Prime: Cybertron!

— Whoa, deja vu.

Icy Blitzwing: Vhy vould ze Autobots choose to be human?
Random Blitzwing: Not for ze fashion sense, I can tell you zat. HAHAHA!
Hothead Blitzwing: Who cares!? I vill crush zem into human meat pies!

—We missed you guys.

Bulkhead: Leave him alone! (smashes through Blitzwing’s leg)
Icy Blitzwing: Vhat?
Hothead Blitzwing: How?!
Random Blitzwing: Ooh, look! I have a hole in my rocket!

Random Blitzwing: Not ze!
Icy Blitzwing: Faces!
Random Blitzwing: Oh!
—Bumblebee taking a shot at the faces.

Soundwave: (lets Sari escape in the elevator) The human is of no consequence.

—Soundwave you idiot! NEVER underestimate the plucky human sidekick!

Soundwave: Escape is impossible. Autobots inferior, Soundwave superior.

—Racist much?

Soundwave: Initiating final phase of Operation «Autobot Reprogramming». Soon, the Autobots will unite with us. Soon, they will call themselves… Decepticon.

— Soundwave’s plan is revealed.

Bumblebee: What’s in this stuff any way?
Bulkhead: (burps) I don’t know but my processor is pretty fuzzy.
Ratchet: (yawns) Yeah, it sure got me ready for a status nap.
Prowl: (yawns) And me as well.
Sari: What no waiting for Santa? You guys are a bunch of party poppers!

—Bulkhead burps and Sari can’t spend time with her best friends for Christmas? Well, she should have seen them as humans. Maybe that would have changed her mind (especially Bumblebee.)

Notes

Animation and/or technical glitches

• Besides, why is Megatron’s arm hollow all of a sudden? Where are all the wires and circuitry? Or is that just what virtual things do

• When Random Blitzwing is first shown, his eyes appear connected instead of their normal appearance. This happens twice in the episode.

• Optimus suddenly pulls an axe out of nowhere and throws it into Megatron’s cannon, causing it to backfire.

• Before Bulkhead puts down his present, the horizontal ribbon was visible underneath the vertical ribbon but as be put the backed back, the horizontal ribbon was gone.

• When the Autobots first wake up human, everything else seems to have grown with them; things like Optimus’ bed and Ratchet’s medical equipment. Soundwave seems to have a very loose concept of scale.

• When human Bulkhead was grabbing his burger again and when he said the rumble wasn’t him, the burger was in perfect shape after he munched on it.

• Megatron’s arm is quite large when he is being hit with it.

• After the Autobots are caught by Soundwave, Prowl’s helmet is missing.

• When Sari is steering the oilnogg, her stockings are below her thighs. In the next clip they are just below her dress.

• Lugnut appears when the main Decepticons arrive for a full-scale assault, but when the auto-men are fighting the Decepticons, Lugnut disappeared.

• When Blitzwing passes by in his tank mode, his treads are missing.

In the last scene when giant Soundwave emerges from the ground, Prowl is seen not wearing his samurai helmet

Continuity errors

• Where did Soundwave get images and voices of the various Decepticons to use for his virtual world? Of all of them, he’s only seen or heard Megatron, and him in his Cybertronian form (as seen on the television screens in the shop window.) It’s possible that he downloaded from the memory banks of the Autobots, but even then, he wouldn’t know about Team Chaar, or what Shockwave looks like from the neck down.

• Speaking of Team Chaar, it’s also curious that Cyclonus and Blackout are missing and Shockwave is taking their place. (Much more destruction would have been guaranteed had Blackout been there.)

• The scene where Sari discovers the Autobots in the basement, after she blasts Soundwave’s speaker, it reappears in the next scene, prefectly healed. Of course, it’s back to broken in the next episode.

• Most of the «errors» listed can be explained away by the fact that it was all a «Matrix»-like illusion created by Soundwave. Still, it’s never actually explained just HOW Soundwave came back online, rebuilt himself, created something as awesome as Laserbeak and Ratbat, e.t.c.
  • It is possible that Megatron built Soundwave with auto-repair systems, but this was never stated.

Real-world references

• The designs of Autohumans’ clothing, reflecting their humanoid modes.

• This is the second Transformers Animated holiday-related episode, the first being Along Came a Spider which took place on Halloween.

• This is the first Transformers TV Christmas special EVER!!! — Only its premiere was not broadcast in December. Urgh!

• After the human Autobots destroy Megatron and his Decepticons, Bumblebee says, «I don’t think we’re in Detroit anymore», a reference to the Wizard of Oz.

• Though the colors are different, the woman in the burning tower is dressed in an EFSF uniform from the Gundam franchise.

• Cybertron fired a laser on Sumdac Tower, resembling the White House’s destruction from the film «Independance Day». Also, Bumblebee says «We’re baaaack» once returned to his normal form, which is similar to another line in this movie.

• After human Bulkhead smashes through Blitzwing’s leg, Blitzwing says «I have a hole in my rocket.», a reference to when Ringo Starr in the movie «The Yellow Submarine» says, «I’ve got a hole in my pocket.»

Transformer references

• Does this episode sound familiar?. The Autobots are mind-controlled to do evil by Decepticon control!

• This episode is similar to The Transformers episode «Only Human», whose plot is Autobots turned into humans. However, «Only Human» had human criminals turn the Autobots into humans accidentally while in this episode, Soundwave made them just think they were human, intentionally.

• Prowl in his human form looks exactly like his hologram, right down to that rather stylish moustache and the helmet. This makes him a ninja-cop, which is awesome.

• The scene where Cybertron appears above Earth and emits a beam of light, which sucks up some rubble resembles the scene where Unicron sucks up some of Lithone in the G1 movie.

• In addition, the idea of Cybertron appearing above the Earth suddenly has kind of happened before.

• Starscream totally hated being touched by Bulkhead («You dare touch me?!»). This is similar to how his Generation One counterpart hated being touched (when he was touchable before he died and turned into a ghost), for example, if any Transformer was on top of him, he would complain, «Get off me!»

• …and as seen in those episodes, Cybertron has apparently shrunk quite a bit.

• The smiling missiles that Starscream fires resemble those of Terrorsaur.

• Soundwave restates one of his awesome lines, although this time to the Autobots. And the fandom rejoiced.

• When Ratchet contemplates facing the Decepticons, he asks, «What chance do we have?».

• Too much «oil nog» leaves the Autobots suffering the effects of «over-charging», which also hearkens back to oil’s use as a stand-in for beer in the Constructicon episodes, though Soundwave’s tampering may have had more to do with it.

• In the virtual world when Soundwave appears, he looks like he’s in his Generation One counterpart’s Music Label color, later known as Electrostatic Soundwave in the Transformers Animated toyline — which has been cancelled.

• In the virtual world, the Decepticons talk as if they are in an old Saturday morning cartoon, especially Megatron.

• The boy dressed with a Kung-fu-styled clothes and a man with sunglass and a necktie in Burger Bot respectively looks like Cancer and Hydra from Masterforce. Besides, the guy sitting in middle of them is Marty Isenberg, the head writer of the show.

• The giant Soundwave that comes out of the ground resembles the Music Label Sonic White Soundwave’s alt mode.

• The child that Prowl saves from the fire wears a shirt with Generation One Optimus Prime’s face on it.

• When Starscream called the Automen «pathetic fools», he almost sounded like his namesake from another continuity.

Notes

• This episode takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Considering the presence of snow at the end of Season 1, and one Halloween before then, it seems to have been well over a year since the Autobots were re-activated from their 50-year stasis under Lake Erie.

• When the Autobots became human, their voices sound slightly different, and you finally realise how much the robotic voice filter makes a difference.

• Sari finally returns, after four episodes. Excluding G1, this may be the longest absence of a Transformers series’ main human sidekick. When asked about this in an interview, Dereck Wyatt claimed that he received orders from Hasbro to give the human characters less screentime, including Sari.^{[May, 2009]}

• Sari uses her cyborg form in this episode, and manages to control it easily, joyriding around without any city-wrecking or overloading. Looks like Ratchet’s tinkering payed off.

• Sari’s gift from her father seems to be an upgrade of her trike-jetpack thingy from the early stages of the show’s production. Like Sari herself, it transforms with the high-pitched variant of the transformation noise.

• It seems Prowl is a vegetarian while in his «human» form… no surprise, right?

• Carlee can be seen in the Burger Bot sitting next to that baby Prowl was playing peek-a-boo with. Remember, the one she was pregnant with in the episode «Garbage In, Garbage Out.

• Spike and Daniel can be seen riding the bus that the Autobots take to Sumdac Tower. Recession’s a pain, huh?

• When Sari is opening her presents, she holds off on complaining about her Soundwave toy until after she opens it. Yet the box has a clear plastic window…

• How does Sari know how to make Oilnog in the first place anyway?

• None of the Autobots question why Starscream is among the Decepticons, though they were kinda preoccupied with trying not to get vaporized at the time.

• This is the first time Blitzwing has an ongoing spinning face.

• Soundwave sounds very different, but he was still voiced by Jeff Glen Bennett.

• Powell’s new mass-produced Soundwave toys were quite smaller than the toy form of the original Soundwave, who was quite taller than 8-year-old Sari.

• Human Bumblebee seems markedly younger than any of the other Automen, including Bulkhead — he can’t that much older than Sari. The other Automen buy into this completely as his transformation into a human, and everything about their human modes reflects their robot modes. Considering how Bumblebee has already applied to join the Elite Guard, it poses a slightly disturbing question — is he in Cybertronian optics considered a child soldier?

• Each of the Automen’s forms seems to correspond with their fan-percieved «age»: Ratchet (late-50s), Prime (adult — mid-30s), Prowl (adult — mid-20s), Bulkhead (late teens), and Bumblebee (early teens).

• Bumblebee is the token black kid. Notably his voice actor Bumper Robinson is the only African-American among the main cast.

• This is the second time Prowl has cut off Megatron’s hand although it was the left arm this time instead of the right arm.

• Professor Sumdac sure can dance…

Walkthrough for the quest Human Error in Fallout 4. How to complete the quest non-violently, and how to successfully side with either Honest Dan or Dr. Chambers.

The ways by which you can start this quest are surprisingly limited — without sneaking or fighting through a dungeon full of hostiles or hacking a [Master] difficulty terminal, you’re pretty much relegate to visiting [Covenant] and talking to Honest Dan. If you find the missing caravan (one of the first objectives for this quest) before actually starting said quest, it won’t have the evidence you need. If you stumble upon the entrance to the [Compound] before starting the quest you’ll find yourself confronted by Manny and some of his goons. You can talk your way out of trouble by passing a hard dialog check, but this just allows you to leave.

That being the case, talk to Swanson sitting outside of [Covenant], take the SAFE test and respond however you wish, then enter [Covenant]. Inside, seek out a man named Honest Dan, who will be interrogating a settler about some missing Caravan. After this fruitless endeavor, he’ll turn his attention to you, expressing his frustration at the locals. He’ll ask for your help in finding out what you can about this caravan, offering to cut you in on the deal if you assist. Haggle for some caps up front (a moderate difficulty check) then accept to start the quest Human Error.

(1 of 2) Talk to Honest Dan in Covenant to start the quest «Human Error».

Stockton’s Caravan

There are a lot of clues you can find, but you might as well deal with this caravan before doing anything else, that way you can limit the rest of your investigation to the confines of [Covenant]. Before you go, talk to Honest Dan again and ask him “What’s a synth?” to scratch off an optional quest objective and learn about the hidden terror that has Covenant on edge.

Next, find a Mr. Handy robot named Deezer loitering about and talk to it. It has one purpose — to offer you some lemonade. You can try to interrogate it, or question the contents of its “lemonade”, but you’re really just limited to accepting some of Deezer’s Lemonade, or declining. Whatever your opinion of Covenant, the lemonade is legit, restoring 50 HP with no negative side effects. You can only collect one bottle of lemonade a day from Deezer. More importantly, as innocuous as this beverage is, it’s a clue that’ll help you out shortly.

Leave Covenant and follow the road north, turning east when you reach a fork. The caravan — consisting of two dead Brahmin and a dead Gunner — will be on the road ahead of you. Loot what you please, but for the purposes of this quest, search a blue Cooler, inside of which you’ll find Deezer’s Lemonade. A sure sign that this caravan was, in fact, in Covenant. You can also search some blood on the road [Perception 6+] to determine that the blood trail leads towards Covenant.

(1 of 3) You can get intel from Talia,

Search Covenant for Evidence

Once you’ve searched the sacked caravan, it’s time to return to Covenant and start hunting for clues. Surprisingly nothing you’ve done thus far has achieved anything besides confirming that there is, in fact, a reason to go sleuthing around Covenant. Here are a few of the things you can do to further your investigation:

• Talk to a woman named Talia McGovern, pick the option “Covenant investigation”, then follow up with “Problem with synths” and “Lie about test” to get an easy dialog check, “Lie about Dan”. This will cause her to freak out and mention some “Compound”.

• Penny Fitzgerald — proprietress of the general store — is only too willing to gossip. Pick the dialog options “Covenant investigation”, “Missing caravan”, then “Gossip about Dan”. This will get you to a moderate dialog check, “Butter her up”, which, if you succeed, will cause her to blurt out details about some “Compound”.

• In the easternmost house — the “office” — you can find a Bookshelf to investigate, a Safe Report note on a desk, and a Broken Radio you can examine. While the first two are merely interesting, if you’ve got [Luck 9+] you can interact with the radio and pick the option [Luck 9+] Fiddle with radio] to gain some intel on this “Compound”.

If you learn about this “Compound” by one of the ways mentioned above, you can talk to Honest Dan and he’ll suggest getting more information from Jacob Orden. Unfortunately he’s smarter than a goldfish and doesn’t just blurt out information, but Honest Dan’s suggestion contained a bit of a hint — Jacob “forgets his password”.

(1 of 4) If you can’t pick an [Advanced] lock, steal a Covenant House Key from a resident of Covenant.

In the “office” building to the east there’s an Office Terminal [Master]. If you can hack this terminal, you don’t need to bother with anything else and can get the intel you need without further fuss. Just wait until the building is empty, close the door, and sneak while you’re snooping. Note that the door to the office will be locked [Master] at night, but you can steal a Covenant Office Key from the desk in the northwestern corner of the room, if you wish.

If your hacking skills aren’t up to snuff, you’ve still got options, but you need to get into the blue house along the northwestern edge of Covenant. The door [Advanced] isn’t too hard to pick, but if even that’s beyond your abilities, you can always steal a Covenant House Key from pretty much any Covenant settlers, named or not. However you manage it, get inside the house via whichever one of its three doors is most convenient, and search a bedside table to find Jacob’s Password and another Covenant House Key, which is rather redundant at this point.

Once you get the password, return to the office and when the coast is clear, investigate the terminal to get the dirt on Covenant.

With this information you can now return to Honest Dan and inform him of the Compound’s location, which will cause him to head there and wait for you. This actually limits your options with this quest, as Honest Dan will then accompany you throughout the Compound, and he will, naturally, insist on completing his objectives, opposing any deviations violently. Fortunately you don’t have to tell Honest Dan to continue the quest, nor to resolve it in a manner he finds satisfactory.

There’s another complication in the form of Jacob Orden who, despite your best attempts at stealth, somehow has caught on to the fact that your investigation will now lead you unerringly to the Compound. He’ll wait for you at the door to Covenant, and while you’re not obliged to hear him out, he’ll attempt to bargain with you; drop the whole caravan issue and he’ll give you 100 Caps. Accepting the bribe won’t end the quest, nor will Jacob Orden attempt to inhibit you in any way, and since this quest will either end with Jacob being friendly or hostile, there’s no harm in taking the bribe and continuing the quest however you wish.

Alternatively, you can pass a moderate difficulty dialog check and pick the option “Look for compromise”, which will make a speech check later in the quest easier. This will make achieving a peaceful ending easier, but it’s not something you can’t manage just by save/loading.

To sum up, if you want to avoid violence, don’t tell Honest Dan about the Compound. If you want extra caps, take Jacob’s bribe — it won’t affect the outcome in any way. If you want to side with Covenant and complete the quest peacefully, passing a moderate speech check and telling Jacob “Look for compromise” will make it easier, but isn’t strictly necessary.

Find some sewer pipes near Mystic Pines — the middle one will lead to the Compound.

The Compound

Make your way west across Mystic Lake until you’re along the shore just east of Mystic Pines, where you should spot three large half-submerged sewer pipes. Jump on in and swim up the middle pipe to find a door leading to the Compound. You’ll catch some Rads, but you should be able to zone-out quickly enough to avoid significant damage.

(1 of 5) Succeed at a speech check to convince Manny to let you in,

Inside you’ll find Honest Dan, provided you told him the location of the Compound. If not, not. Head forward until you find Manny, two Compound Guards and a Heavy Machinegun Turret, the former of which will confront you when you approach. If you haven’t found evidence of the Covenant-Compound connection, you can attempt a hard speech check to avoid combat, but this only allows you to retreat, not explore the Compound. If you didn’t convince Jacob to help out, you’ll have to pass a hard difficulty check “Want answers not violence” to get in peacefully. Finally, if you talked Jacob into compromising you’ll have speech checks: “Negotiate” (easy), “Just the job” (moderate) and “Threaten them” (hard). Passing any of these checks will cause Manny to relent and allow you to meet with one “Dr. Chambers”.

If you’re given an escort by Manny, you’ll be able to just follow him through the Compound to meet with Dr. Chambers. If not, the way there is a bit more perilous due to the Compound Guards and odd Machinegun Turret you’ll encounter along the way. As a rule the Compound Guards you’ll have to fight aren’t very dangerous, mostly being armed with pipe weapons and the odd shotgun and wearing Security Armor of dubious value. Their levels do vary significantly, and while most are Level 1 — 9, there is the odd Level 14 and 21 specimen.

Grab a Compound Key from your first victims, as there are some locked [Master] doors that otherwise bar the way. Despite being a rather labyrinthine dungeon, there’s not a whole lot of interest in here and the path is — up until a room with a retractable bridge — fairly linear. Dispatch any opposition you come across and when you reach the bridge room, grab a Fusion Core from a reactor along the southern end of the room. If you’re being escorted by Manny, the bridge will be extended for you by another guard, but if not, you’ll have to find your own way across. You can simply jump the bridge if you get a running start, but failing that you’ll have to work your way up north and west, through a barred door.

Once on the far side of the bridge, make your way south until you reach a fork. If you go left (east) you’ll find a chained door which serves a shortcut back to the entrance, while if you go right (west) you’ll reach Dr. Chamber’s… chamber.

Confront Dr. Chambers

Whether you were escorted by Manny or let your gun lead the way, when you find Dr. Chambers the rest of the quest will play out more or less the same. She’ll engage you in conversation and will be quite direct and honest with how this will play out — leave the Stockton girl to her fate, or else there will be violence. No matter what you say she’ll angle her way into telling you some details of her past, revealing why she and the residents of Covenant are so on-edge about synths and opposed to the Institute.

You can try moralizing if you wish, but this encounter ultimately boils down to two choices:

(1 of 4) If you refuse Dr. Chamber’s offer, you’ll need to put her down.

Save Amelia Stockton

If you turn down Dr. Chamber’s offer, it’ll turn her and every surviving Compound Guard hostile. If you followed Manny here, you may have to fight through quite a few enemies to escape. Should you have fought your way in here — thus depriving Dr. Chambers of any armed support — she’ll be more subdued in her defiance, threatening instead to execute Amelia and daring you to stop her.

Defeat any enemies threatening you, then head upstairs to the southeast to find Amelia Stockton in a cell. Talking to her isn’t strictly necessary, she’ll just plead and promise a reward from one “Old Man Stockton” provided Honest Dan isn’t with you. If Honest Dan is with you, talk to him to claim your base reward, 300 Caps. You can succeed at an easy, moderate, then hard dialog check to score 60 Caps, 60 Caps and finally 120 Caps in succession for a grand total of 520 Caps. If you didn’t bring Honest Dan with you, you’ll have to claim your reward (locked at 300 Caps) from Old Man Stockton in [Bunker Hill]. Considering that Honest Dan is simpler to collect your reward from and you can get more money from him, if you’re going to oppose Dr. Chambers, you should probably just bring Honest Dan with you.

Opposing Dr. Chambers will turn the settlers at Covenant hostile; you’ll have to kill them all to be able to claim the settlement as your own.

(1 of 3) If you bring Honest Dan with you, he’ll threaten you if you consider siding with Dr. Chambers.

Support Dr. Chambers

If you accept Dr. Chamber’s deal, she’ll make good on her promise to execute Amelia Stockton. If you search Amelia’s body you’ll find a Synth Component, confirming she was, in fact, a synth. Dr. Chambers will give you the reward Honest Dan promised you, 300 Caps, although you can’t haggle for more money with her like you could with Honest Dan. Speaking of Honest Dan, if he’s with you he’ll warn you against accepting Dr. Chambers offer, threatening violence if you do. It’s a threat he lives up to, and you’ll have to put him down if you accept Dr. Chamber’s deal. If you left him behind at Covenant without telling him about the Compound, he’ll just vanish.

Probably best not to dwell on that too much.

The Compound and its inhabitants will remain neutral to you after Amelia is dead, and although they have nothing new to say or do for the rest of the game, you can at least explore the Compound in relative safety and loot what you want. If you didn’t get a Compound Key, you may have to pick some locked doors ([Expert] and [Master]) to get in every room, but aside from the aforementioned Fusion Core and some holotapes, there’s not much of interest down here.

Return to Covenant afterwards and talk to Jacob to get Covenant to join your alliance, opening it up for [development as a settlement].

                                    
                                          
                          
            There was no time to process it. The force of the impact swept me off my feet, and I flew backwards – my back slamming into the human wall behind me.
                          
            Smoke filled the air. It was impossible to see, to feel, to breathe. All I could make out was the blazing heat, and a piercing pain slicing through one side of my face.
                          
            For the first few seconds, the explosion had brought silence, but it didn't take long for the crowd to find their voices once more. Screams of panic cut through the air, as painful as a knife dragging through an open wound. Behind each one lay pure, unadulterated fear – and that was something none of us needed to share.
                          
            I'd been forced to the ground by the impact, but I managed to pull myself up, head twisting in an effort to gain some sense of direction. My hands were sore from being trampled on, and the splitting pain in my head was getting worse – but this was neither the time nor place to think about injuries. My sole focus was getting out of the danger zone before anything else happened.
                          
            Bombs were coordinated. There could be more coming.
                          
            Panic was tangible throughout the square, and the force of hundreds of others slammed against me, all desperately trying to scramble for an exit. I could hardly find the space to breathe. With smoke spreading around us, it seemed like air was limited, and we were all fighting for what little oxygen remained.
                          
            Then came the next explosion.
                          
            This one was further away, somewhere across the square – but the ripples of intensifying panic reached me in no time. Plumes of smoke filled the air, and a new round of screaming turned the noise into some kind of twisted chorus.
                          
            This wasn't a single person. This was an organised attack, crafted to hit as many people as possible.
                          
            And I was right in the centre of it.
                          
            I turned to move, but somebody shoved into my side, and I was sent off balance all over again. There was barely room on the ground to place my feet. Everywhere I looked, there was blood – dripping down faces, splattered onto green T-shirts, coating the street like a sinister paint job. Just the sight of it made my head spin – or was that the heat, the smoke, the fear? Everything had blurred into one, and all I could do was try to hold onto my own consciousness.
                          
            I have to get out of here.
                          
            The thought arrived in my head with startling urgency, forcing me into motion. Most people were trying to push back the way we'd come, back onto the City Walk – but I couldn't get carried with them. Who knew how many more bombs were planted among us, ready to blow the next group of people to smithereens?
                          
            I glanced toward the edge of the square, back at the armed officers – but the chaos had disoriented them too, and I could see them struggling to find a target. How were they supposed to attack when the next explosion could come from any one of the thousands of people? They were trapped in the same boat as everybody else.
                          
            In that split second, I made my decision. Forcing myself against the movement of the crowd, I elbowed sideways, slamming against every other person trying to escape. It was slow going, but I could get closer to the edge that way – and a quieter side street was all I needed to stand a chance of making it out alive.
                          
            Someone's elbow collided with my head, and another round of splitting pain went through it, but I ignored it as best I could in an effort to keep moving. I was half-aware of the bleeding, and the sensation of warm liquid creeping down my face, but there wasn't time to dwell on it. I had other priorities – like not dying.
                                  

  Human Error

  Human Error

  James Reason

  Department of Psychology

  University of Manchester

  CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

  Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore,

  São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo, Mexico City

  Cambridge University Press

  32 Avenue of the Americas, New York ny 10013-2473, USA

  www.cambridge.org

  Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521306690

  © Cambridge University Press 1990

  This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

  First published 1990

  20th printing 2009

  A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978-0-521-30669-0 Hardback

  ISBN 978-0-521-31419-0 Paperback

  Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables, and other factual information given in this work is correct at the time of first printing but Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter.

  To Jens Rasmussen

  Contents

  * * *

  Preface

  1. The nature of error

  2. Studies of human error

  3. Performance levels and error types

  4. Cognitive underspecification and error forms

  5. A design for a fallible machine

  6. The detection of errors

  7. Latent errors and systems disasters

  8. Assessing and reducing the human error risk

  Appendix

  References

  Name index

  Subject index

  Preface

  * * *

  Human error is a very large subject, quite as extensive as that covered by the term human performance. But these daunting proportions can be reduced in at least two ways. The topic can be treated in a broad but shallow fashion, aiming at a wide though superficial coverage of many well-documented error types. Or, an attempt can be made to carve out a narrow but relatively deep slice, trading comprehensiveness for a chance to get at some of the more general principles of error production. I have tried to achieve the latter.

  The book is written with a mixed readership in mind: cognitive psychologists, human factors professionals, safety managers and reliability engineers — and, of course, their students. As far as possible, I have tried to make both the theoretical and the practical aspects of the book accessible to all. In other words, it presumes little in the way of prior specialist knowledge of either kind. Although some familiarity with the way psychologists think, write and handle evidence is clearly an advantage, it is not a necessary qualification for tackling the book. Nor, for that matter, should an unfamiliarity with high-technology systems deter psychologists from reading the last two chapters.

  Errors mean different things to different people. For cognitive theorists, they offer important clues to the covert control processes underlying routine human action. To applied practitioners, they remain the main threat to the safe operation of high-risk technologies. Whereas the theoreticians like to collect, cultivate and categorise errors, practitioners are more interested in their elimination and, where this fails, in containing their adverse effects by error-tolerant designs. It is hoped that this book offers something useful to both camps.

  The shape of the book

  The book is divided into three parts. The first two chapters introduce the basic ideas, methods, research traditions and background studies. They set the scene for the book as a whole.

  Chapter 1 discusses the nature of error, makes a preliminary identification of its major categories and considers the various techniques by which it has been investigated.

  Chapter 2 outlines the human error studies that have been most influential in shaping the arguments presented later in the book. It distinguishes two traditions of research: the natural science and engineering (or cognitive science) approaches. The former is characterized by its restricted focus upon well-defined, manipulable phenomena and their explanation by ‘local’ theories whose predictive differences are, potentially at least, resolvable by experimentation. This tradition has provided the basis of much of what we know about the resource limitations of human cognition. The engineering approach, on the other hand, is more concerned with framing working generalisations than with the finer shades of theoretical difference. It synthesises rather than analyses and formulates broadly based theoretical frameworks rather than limited, data-bound models. The more theoretical aspects of the subsequent chapters are very much in this latter tradition.

  The middle section of the book, comprising Chapters 3 to 5, presents a view of the basic error mechanisms and especially those processes that give recurrent forms to a wide variety of error types. Whereas error types are rooted in the cognitive stages involved in conceiving and then carrying out an action sequence (i.e., planning, storage and execution), error forms have their origins in the universal processes that select and retrieve pre-packaged knowledge structures from long-term storage.

  Chapter 3 describes a generic error-modelling system (GEMS) which permits the identification of three basic error types: skill-based slips and lapses, rule-based mistakes and knowledge-based mistakes. These three types may be distinguished on the basis of several dimensions: activity, attentional focus, control mode, relative predictability, abundance in relation to opportunity, situational influences, ease of detection and relationship to change. Most of the chapter is taken up with describing the various failure modes evident at the skill-based, rule-based and knowledge-based levels of performance.

  Chapter 4 introduces the concept of cognitive underspecification. Cognitive operations may be underspecified in a variety of ways, but the consequences are remarkably uniform; the cognitive system tends to ‘default’ to contextually appropriate, high-frequency responses. Error forms, it is argued, are shaped primarily by two factors: similarity and frequency. These, in turn, originate in the automatic retrieval processes by which knowledge structures are located and their products delivered either to consciousness (thoughts, words, images, etc.) or to the outside world (actions, speech, gestures, etc.). There are two processes involved: similarity-matching, by which appropriate knowledge attributes are matched to the current calling conditions on a like-to-like basis; and frequency-gambling, by which conflicts between partially matched knowledge structures are resolved in favour of the more frequently employed items. Both of these processes, but especially the latter, come into increasing prominence when cognitive operations are insufficiently specified. Underspecification, though highly variable in its origins, can be rendered down to two functionally equivalent states: insufficient calling conditions to locate a unique knowledge item and incomplete knowledge (i.e., some of the ‘facts’ associated with a particular knowledge structure —or set of structures —are missing). Both states will increase the natural tendency of the cognitive system to output high-frequency responses and this gives recognisable form to many error types. Evidence drawn from a wide range of cognitive activities is presented in support of these assertions.

  Chapter 5 attempts to express these ideas more precisely in both a notional and a computational form. It addresses the question: What kind of information-handling machine could operate correctly for most of th

e time, but also produce the occasional wrong responses characteristic of human behaviour? The description of the fallible machine is in two parts: first in a notional, non-programmatic form, then in a suite of computer programs that seek to model how human subjects, of varying degrees of ignorance, give answers to general knowledge questions relating to the lives of U.S. presidents. The output of this model is then compared to the responses of human subjects.

  The final section of the book focuses upon the consequences of human error: error detection, accident contribution and remedial measures.

  Chapter 6 reviews the relatively sparse empirical evidence bearing upon the important issues of error detection and error correction. Although error correction mechanisms are little understood, there are grounds for arguing that their effectiveness is inversely related to their position within the cognitive control hierarchy. Low-level (and largely hard-wired) postural correcting mechanisms work extremely well. Attentional processes involved in monitoring the actual execution of action plans are reasonably successful in detecting unintended deviations (i.e., slips and lapses). But even higher-level processes concerned with making these plans are relatively insensitive to actual or potential straying from some adequate path towards the desired goal (mistakes). The relative efficiency of these error-detection mechanisms depends crucially upon the immediacy and the adequacy of feed-back information. The quality of this feed-back is increasingly degraded as one moves up the control levels.

  Chapter 7 considers the human contribution to accidents in complex, high-risk technologies. An important distinction is made between active errors and latent errors. The former, usually associated with the performance of ‘front-line’ operators (pilots, control room crews, and the like), have an immediate impact upon the system. The latter, most often generated by those at the ‘blunt end’ of the system (designers, high-level decision makers, construction crews, managers, etc.), may lie dormant for a long time, only making their presence felt when they combine with other ‘resident pathogens’ and local triggering events to breach the system’s defences. Close examination of six case studies — Three Mile Island, Bhopal, Challenger, Chernobyl, the Herald of Free Enterprise and the King’s Cross underground fire—indicate that latent rather than active failures now pose the greatest threat to the safety of high-technology systems. Such a view is amply borne out by more recent disasters such as the Piper Alpha explosion, the shooting down of the Iranian airbus by the U.S.S. Vincennes, the Clapham Junction and Purley rail crashes and the Hillsborough football stadium catastrophe.

  The book ends with a consideration of the various techniques, either in current use or in prospect, to assess and reduce the risks associated with human error. Chapter 8 begins with a critical review of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and its associated human reliability assessment (HRA) techniques. It then considers some of the more speculative measures for error reduction: eliminating error affordances, intelligent decision support systems, memory aids, error management and ecological interface design. In conclusion, the chapter traces the shifting preoccupations of reliability specialists: an initial concern with defending against component failures, then an increasing awareness of the damaging potential of active human errors, and now, in the last few years, a growing realisation that the prime causes of accidents are often present within systems long before an accident sequence begins.

  The final note is a rather pessimistic one. Engineered safety devices are proof against most single failures, both human and mechanical. As yet, however, there are no guaranteed technological defences against either the insidious build-up of latent failures within the organisational and managerial spheres or their adverse (and often unforeseeable) conjunction with various local triggers. While cognitive psychology can tell us something about an individual’s potential for error, it has very little to say about how these individual tendencies interact within complex groupings of people working in high-risk systems. And it is these collective failures that represent the major residual hazard.

  Some conspicuous omissions

  Although it has featured fairly large in the literature, relatively little special attention has been given in this book to the relationship between errors and stress. This omission was made for two reasons.

  First, while there are a small number of ‘ecologically valid’ studies (Ronan, 1953; Grinker & Spiegel, 1963; Berkun, 1964; Marshall, 1978) indicating that high levels of stress can, and often do, increase the likelihood of error, it is also clear that stress is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the occurrence of cognitive failure.

  Recent investigations (Broadbent, Cooper, FitzGerald & Parkes, 1982; Broadbent, Broadbent & Jones, 1986) have suggested that a more interesting question is not so much “Why does stress promote error?” but rather “Why is a relatively marked personal proneness to cognitive failures associated with increased vulnerability to stress?” The second reason for omitting any specific treatment of stress is that this important relationship between error proneness and stress vulnerability has been considered at length elsewhere (Reason, 1988d).

  The existence of this recent publication (a chapter in the Handbook of Life Stress, Cognition and Health, 1988) also explains why questionnaire studies of error proneness receive only a summary mention in this book (see Chapter 1). There is a further reason for not dealing in any detail with the general issue of individual differences here. Although it is well known that factors such as age and pathology play an important part in error production, there is little compelling evidence to suggest that these individual factors yield unique error types. Rather, they produce an exaggerated liability to the pervasive error forms whose varieties and origins are already treated extensively in Chapters 4 and 5.

  A skimmer’s guide

  Cognitive psychologists with an interest in theory are urged to read the first six chapters. If inclined, they could then go on to skim the remaining two chapters. Much of this material will be unfamiliar to them since little of it has appeared in the conventional cognitive literature.

  Those with more practical concerns (and less interest in cognitive psychology) can afford to be more selective without losing too much of the thread. After reading Chapter 1, they could skip to the conclusions of Chapter 2. Chapter 3 contains some human factors material as well as the generic error-modelling system, and is therefore worth rather more than a glance. Practitioners might find much of Chapter 4 rather too academic for their tastes, but they could read the first few pages and the concluding remarks in order to get a sense of the general argument. The first part of Chapter 5 presents a fairly concise summary of the basic theory; whether they read to the end depends on their interest (or faith) in computer modelling. The remaining three chapters, and particularly the last two, were written specifically for those with applied leanings and should not be skipped by them.

  Acknowledgements

  Jens Rasmussen, to whom this book is dedicated, has had a profound influence on the ideas expressed here, both through his writings and as a result of the many fruitful meetings he has convened (and generously hosted over the years) at the Risoe National Laboratory. His skill-rule-knowledge framework has justifiably become a ‘market standard’ for the human reliability community the world over. I hope I have done it justice here.

  A great debt is owed to Don Norman for his intellectual stimulation, his long-standing encouragement of this work and for his hospitality during my brief spell in La Jolla. We got into the ‘error business’ at about the same time, but I always seem to find myself trailing several ideas behind him. This is especially apparent after the recent publication of his excellent book, The Psychology of Everyday Things, upon which I have preyed extensively here.

  Berndt Brehmer, with whom I have spent many pleasant and productive days both in Manchester and in various foreign parts, was kind enough to read and comment upon an early version of the manuscript. It is because of his wise advice that readers are spared a lengthy and self-indulgent chapter cove

ring the history of error from Plato onwards. But I was also considerably heartened by his encouraging remarks on the remainder.

  I am greatly indebted to Dietrich Doerner for showing me (along with Berndt Brehmer) that it was possible to study complex and dynamic problem-solving tasks in a rigorous fashion without losing any of their real-world richness and for his kind hospitality on many occasions. These visits not only allowed me to meet many of his distinguished colleagues, they also provided an introduction to the diversity and excitement of the ‘new’ German psychology. Unfettered by the more sterile aspects of Anglo-American experimentalism and in tune with broader philosophical influences than British Empiricism, they have been making a spirited attack on many of the affective and motivational issues avoided by those who regard human cognition primarily as an information-processing device.

  Much is owed to two sets of collaborators. I wish to thank Carlo Cacciabue, Giuseppe Mancini, Ugo Bersini, Francoise Decortis and Michel Masson at the CEC Joint Research Centre, Ispra, where we have been attempting to model the behaviour of nuclear plant operators in emergency conditions, along lines similar to those described in Chapter 5. And special thanks are due to Carlo Cacciabue for instructing me so patiently in the mysteries of nuclear engineering. (And, while on this subject, let me also thank John Harris of the Simon Engineering Laboratories for the same service.) I must also express my great appreciation to Willem Wagenaar, Patrick Hudson and Jop Groeneweg, all of the University of Leiden, who have done much to clarify my thinking about ‘resident pathogens’ and accident causation during our joint project for Shell Internationale Petroleum Maatschappij.