Stephen Drivick's Blog - Posts Tagged "robot"
A Little Something from Facebook...
From time to time, the Facebook group - Band of Dystopian Authors and Fans - posts an apocalyptic or science fiction photo and asks for a 300 word story. Here's one that I posted a couple of weeks ago. It was about 340 words...still working on my editing skills. :)
“The signal is gone,” the mechanical voice reported.
“Find it,” Maize said. “We can’t lose another one.”
RUNNER, Model number 231 waited for headquarters to get things straightened out. It needed that signal to get to the evac vehicle some distance away from the bunker.
A humongous machine shook the ground nearby. RUNNER shrank back, trying to be as small as possible. The whole area vibrated as the enemy robot ambled by. Humans called them Stompers, and they had a simple job. Lock onto human life signs, and stomp them.
RUNNER had a job, too. Get the delicate babies to the evac vehicle, and get them away from here. Humans were too slow. They built RUNNERS to get their most precious resource to safety. RUNNER was fast. Faster than the Stompers that patrolled the area.
“I can't find it. It's blocked.”
“Dammit!” Maize said. “RUNNER 231 you have to move.”
“Roger.”
The robot burst out of the hiding spot at full speed. The Stompers had all moved on. RUNNER found the evac vehicles heat signature. It waited ahead, perched on the remains of a building.
A Stomper came out of the haze, and blocked the road. The enemy machine raised up one of its giant feet to flatten RUNNER and its human cargo. With a horrible squeal, the foot moved downward.
RUNNER was too fast. It ran right under the beast machine and out the other side. It cradled the baby in his arms. Almost as good as a human mother. Almost, but not quite the same.
The Stomper flipped over onto its back, legs flailing in the air. The hero robot ran to the evac vehicle, and handed the baby to the human hanging out of the door.
“Thanks,” the human said. “Good job.”
“You are welcome,” RUNNER said.
The robot turned back towards the bunker. The job wasn't done. More vehicles were on the way, and there were many babies to save.
“The signal is gone,” the mechanical voice reported.
“Find it,” Maize said. “We can’t lose another one.”
RUNNER, Model number 231 waited for headquarters to get things straightened out. It needed that signal to get to the evac vehicle some distance away from the bunker.
A humongous machine shook the ground nearby. RUNNER shrank back, trying to be as small as possible. The whole area vibrated as the enemy robot ambled by. Humans called them Stompers, and they had a simple job. Lock onto human life signs, and stomp them.
RUNNER had a job, too. Get the delicate babies to the evac vehicle, and get them away from here. Humans were too slow. They built RUNNERS to get their most precious resource to safety. RUNNER was fast. Faster than the Stompers that patrolled the area.
“I can't find it. It's blocked.”
“Dammit!” Maize said. “RUNNER 231 you have to move.”
“Roger.”
The robot burst out of the hiding spot at full speed. The Stompers had all moved on. RUNNER found the evac vehicles heat signature. It waited ahead, perched on the remains of a building.
A Stomper came out of the haze, and blocked the road. The enemy machine raised up one of its giant feet to flatten RUNNER and its human cargo. With a horrible squeal, the foot moved downward.
RUNNER was too fast. It ran right under the beast machine and out the other side. It cradled the baby in his arms. Almost as good as a human mother. Almost, but not quite the same.
The Stomper flipped over onto its back, legs flailing in the air. The hero robot ran to the evac vehicle, and handed the baby to the human hanging out of the door.
“Thanks,” the human said. “Good job.”
“You are welcome,” RUNNER said.
The robot turned back towards the bunker. The job wasn't done. More vehicles were on the way, and there were many babies to save.
