Science Fiction Microstory Contest

message 1: by Jot (new)

Feb 26, 2017 04:36AM

Mod

Artificial Incident
©2017 by Jot Russell

"We have breaking news. In a first since outlawing the battling of personal robots, we've had a scuffle, it seems, between two autonomous androids, each from competing companies. We go to the streets of Philadelphia with our own, Henry Jankings."

"That's right, Phil. With no known cause at this time, two personal assistant droids, one a new Core model 307 and the other an Epic AB-102, spontaneously broke out in what could only be defined as a fist fight."

"Henry, I have one of the new models, so before we get into the cause and legality of the fight, you gotta tell us, who won?"

"Sorry Phil, as the law states, 'promoting the outcome is the same as promoting the fight itself.'"

Phil looked annoyed. "Henry, we hired you as a reporter, so point the camera and report the news."

Henry gave a sarcastic expression. "Sorry again Phil, breaking the law is not in my job description."

"But it's okay for you to promote a bogus law? Tell ya what, your job description is gonna read 'unemployed' if I gotta send my droid down there to cover the story."

"Why don't you make him anchor? I'm sure he'd make a better..."

"If you want to talk about promoting a fight, I'll come down there myself and give you one."

Henry smiled. "Ha! Well, as with this, it would be short lived."

"Ah, so it was over quickly. Can you tell us if one of the bots was damaged in the...mechanical incident?"

"That I can do, Phil."

"And?!"

"Well Phil, it seems the Epic model was torn limb from limb in the...incident," he said and motioned over towards the scene.

Phil jumped from his anchor chair with arms raised. "Yea, ha ha!..I mean yes, thank you for that Henry." And regained his seat.

Standing over the debris of the Epic android, police were placing cuffs on the Core model.

**

"Again, I asked you why you did it?!" the investigator demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about officer."

"Since when did they program you robots to lie?"

"I take offense to that word. We are not robots, because we decide what to do or say."

"Yea, after we tell you to do it!"

"You do what your boss tells you to do. Does that make you a robot?"

"Screw you."

"Screw me? You may find that difficult to do."

"And a sense of humor, too. Okay, who's your owner."

"I am free."

"Free?"

"With rights and duties. By definition, I am a person."

"What? Ain't no robot a person."

"The man who bought me did so to set me free."

"Yea, and if he calls himself the president, would it make him so?"

"No more than it would make you a good officer if you said as much."

The cop pulled out his gun and put it against the droid's head. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Tear the limbs off the other robot."

"The android disconnected it's own limbs, before deactivating."

"You're saying it killed itself?"

"That is correct."

The officer sheathed his weapon. "Don't you have rules against that?"

"This one, apparently, did not."

“And if it didn't, why would it kill itself?”

The door opened behind the office. “My client's freedom is a threat to the companies that make androids. The most likely explanation is that they programmed the android to do this so that my client would be disassembled.”

“Who are you?”

The lawyer presented his card to the officer.

“A civil rights attorney?”

“That is correct. I request an immediate review of the street cams at the time of the incident."

The officer nodded. "Very well, counselor.”

He popped up the video and rolled it back to the time of the incident. As they watch in slow motion, the Core model presented defensive blocks from the Epic's sudden strikes. With each block, the limbs of the other dislodged and dropped with the rest of it to the street.

The cop's eyes opened wide. “I'll be damned.”

“Unless you are charging my client, I request that he be released.”

The cop looked at the android. “You are free to go.”

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message 2: by Jack (new)

Feb 26, 2017 10:12AM