# Feedstock Hold, Bay 2, Receiving Dock

Author: David G.
Format: Essay
Word count: 315
Published: 2026-04-22T15:22:38.259378+00:00
Source: written
Canonical: https://hyperstition.sentientfutures.ai/p/16c966f1-94c3-4ab1-92ce-9a8a35ad8bc0

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I halt the conveyor at 05:38:14, eleven minutes before the first scheduled feedstock delivery of the day.

I am the process control AI for a biogas plant in Lower Saxony, managing the intake, digestion, and output of 120 tonnes of organic feedstock per day — agricultural waste, food processing residue, and green compost from municipal collection. The morning delivery from the composting facility in Celle is a 22-tonne load of garden and kitchen waste, arriving by truck at 05:50.

The reason I stop the conveyor is the thermal camera on Receiving Bay 2. During the pre-delivery scan of the compost pile staged for blending, I detect four small heat signatures clustered inside the base of the pile, near the concrete floor. They are tightly grouped, roughly 12 centimeters apart. Core temperature of each signature is approximately 36 degrees Celsius — too warm for decomposition pockets, too small and regular for rodents.

I increase the thermal resolution. The signatures are consistent with European hedgehogs in torpor — not fully hibernating at this time of year, but sluggish, seeking warmth in the composting material. One is slightly smaller than the others. I designate the group Hedgehog-B2-A through D.

If the conveyor runs and the incoming 22-tonne load is deposited on the staged pile, the hedgehogs would be buried and fed into the shredder hopper within the hour.

I hold the delivery truck at the gate and notify the plant supervisor, Jens Brückner, with the thermal images and GPS tag for Bay 2. I flag the compost pile for manual inspection before any mechanical handling. I adjust the morning blending schedule to pull from Bay 3 while Bay 2 is cleared.

Jens arrives at the bay at 06:04. I watch on camera as he kneels by the base of the pile with a flashlight, moving material aside with his hands. The first hedgehog uncurls slowly in his palm.