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The Wild Robot · 2024 — Chapter 12 of 15 · 3'47" · B1

Vontra Comes to Collect Roz, Explained: put at ease

Brightbill returns from migration, then a smiling retrieval robot arrives to collect Roz and take her back. She explains her job in the coldest possible way: programmed to put targets at ease, and, by her own account, "unfeeling, inflexible and morally neutral." Roz answers only with her name.

What happens

Brightbill comes home from migration and learns that Roz stayed on the island for him. Before long, a smiling retrieval robot from Universal Dynamics arrives to collect Roz, explaining that it has been programmed to put targets at ease and is, by its own admission, unfeeling and morally neutral.

ThreatsExplainingWarningRivalsB1slowamericanClean
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Listen for

morally neutralretrieval authorityput at easea big deal

00:00 / 03:47
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  35. ❝ MonologueVontra's retrieval confession3 linesPractice page ↗
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Phrase of the scene

put at ease

让……放松、放下戒心

Vontra 解释公司故意把程序做得亲切，好让目标放松戒备，方便回收。

A warm introduction can put a nervous interviewee at ease.

Also in this scene

  • morally neutral

    道德上中立（实则冷漠）

  • retrieval authority

    回收管理局（字母梗）

  • a big deal

    大人物、了不起的事

  • fix you right up

    马上把你修好、安顿好

  • look what we have here

    瞧瞧这是谁/什么东西（带调侃）

Everything marked in this scene

32 notes across 55 lines

Phrase · B1look what we have here- Look what we have here. - Brightbill!
Phrase · A2believe in someone

backed you, trusted you

I believed in you day one.
Phrase · B1day one

from the start

I believed in you day one.
Soundbelieved in you

liaison

I believed in you day one.
Phrase · B1where someone belongs

his real place

He found where he belongs.
Phrase · A1welcome back

you're home

Welcome back. - [geese gasping]
Soundis gonna be

weak form

Roz is gonna be so excited.
Soundthought I saw

flap

I thought I saw her right over...
Phrase · A2need to talk to someone

must speak face to face

Roz, Roz, I need to talk to you.
Phrase · B1put someone at ease

make the quarry relax targets = robots they came to collect

The good people at Universal Dynamics have programmed us to put our targets at ease
Soundtargets at ease

liaison

The good people at Universal Dynamics have programmed us to put our targets at ease
Phrase · B2so as to do something

in order to

so as to more efficiently facilitate their collection.
Grammar · B2so as to more efficiently facilitate their collection

purpose clause

so as to more efficiently facilitate their collection.
Grammar · B2despite my cheery demeanor

despite-phrase

But don't worry, despite my cheery demeanor, I am unfeeling, inflexible and morally neutral.
SoundBut don't worry

elision

But don't worry, despite my cheery demeanor, I am unfeeling, inflexible and morally neutral.
Phrase · B1a big dealYou are a big deal.
Sounda big deal

stress

You are a big deal.
Grammar · B2one of six Rozzums lost

reduced relative

You are one of six Rozzums lost from a container ship in a typhoon.
Phrase · A2not easy to do something

hard to locate

You were not easy to find.
Phrase · B1moments after something

right after

Moments after receiving your signal, we lost it again.
Phrase · A2shut something off

switch it off

Almost as if a certain Rozzum unit shut it off.
Grammar · B2as if a certain Rozzum unit shut it off

as-if clause

Almost as if a certain Rozzum unit shut it off.
Phrase · A2complete a task

finishing an assigned job

I was simply completing a task.
Grammar · B2As am I

inversion

As am I. [giggles] Tell me, how did you secure a task
Grammar · B1where nothing can communicate with you

relative clause

in a place where nothing can communicate with you?
Phrase · A2cannot wait to do something

eager to do it now

And we cannot wait to hear all about it.
Phrase · A2hear all about something

hear the whole story

And we cannot wait to hear all about it.
Phrase · B1fix someone right upWe will fix you right up.
Soundfix you right

liaison

We will fix you right up.
Slang · A2Whoa

whoa — surprise or hold up — gasp or brake; rare in formal writing

Slang · A2kid

kid, young one — warm nickname among familiars; skip it in formal talk

Slang · A2gonna

going to — everyday speech; write going to on paper

Vontra Comes to Collect Roz, explained

What's really going on

The scene introduces its antagonist with a smile, and the smile is the threat. Vontra is not angry or dramatic; it is polite, cheerful, and completely indifferent, and it says so out loud: "despite my cheery demeanor, I am unfeeling, inflexible and morally neutral." That candor is scarier than any menace, because it means nothing Roz says will change the outcome. The retrieval robot also reframes Roz's whole life as corporate property — one of six lost units — which turns a story about becoming a person back into a warranty issue. Roz's reply, "My name is Roz," is the quiet counter-claim: she is not a serial number.

Theme

IdentityVontra reduces Roz to a lost unit, and Roz answers by insisting on her name rather than her serial number.
PowerThe friendly retrieval robot makes clear that charm is just a tool for control and that the company always gets its property.

What you'll learn

  • Use a big deal to praise or undercut
  • Hear put someone at ease as calming them
  • Catch morally neutral as a warning
  • Use day one for from the very start

Listen for

  • believed in you — liaison
  • is gonna be — weak form
  • thought I saw — flap
  • targets at ease — liaison
But don't worry, despite my cheery demeanor, I am unfeeling, inflexible and morally neutral.

The villain's honesty is the threat: it warns Roz that no appeal will work on it.

You are a big deal.

A flattering line that is also a sales pitch, treating Roz as valuable property rather than a person.

We will fix you right up.

The language of customer service aimed at a living being, which makes the promise sound like a threat.

But, hey, you really did it.

A warm, genuine note before the arrival of the retrieval robot, reminding the audience what is at stake.

Questions about this scene

Who is Vontra, and what does she want?

Vontra is a retrieval robot from Universal Dynamics. It has come to collect Roz and take her back, and it presents the job with a permanent, unsettling smile.

How did Roz end up on the island?

She is one of six Rozzums lost from a container ship during a typhoon. That accident is why an unclaimed delivery robot ended up alone in the wild.

What does "put at ease" mean here?

It means making someone relax and drop their guard. Vontra explains that this is a programmed feature, used to make retrieval easier, which turns friendliness into a tactic.

Why does Roz answer with "My name is Roz"?

Because Vontra has just reduced her to a lost unit of company property. Saying her name is her way of claiming an identity that is not a serial number.

The Wild Robot · 15 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 13make it look goodRoz Refuses to Leave the Island
Chapter 1run for your livesRoz Boots Up on the IslandChapter 2make it upRoz Becomes an Accidental MotherChapter 3in my natureFink Teaches the GoslingChapter 4eat those wordsRoz Names the Gosling BrightbillChapter 5do someone a favorBrightbill Takes the Swimming TestChapter 6bought thisBrightbill Learns the Truth About RozChapter 7take something the wrong wayRoz Confesses It Overrode Its CodeChapter 8small wings are teethThunderbolt Teaches Brightbill to FlyChapter 9worse for wearThe Geese Say GoodbyeChapter 10buy you some timeRoz Leads the Flock OutChapter 11keep it togetherRoz Calls a Storm TruceWatching · Chapter 12put at easeVontra Comes to Collect RozChapter 13make it look goodRoz Refuses to Leave the IslandChapter 14going off scriptRoz and Brightbill Say GoodbyeChapter 15put rightRoz Says Goodbye to Brightbill
Chapter 12 of 15 · about 11 min to go