Tuesday, December 3, 2013

A robot rescues a human infant


http://io9.com/concept-art-writing-prompt-a-robot-rescues-a-human-inf-1457152211
The sound of whirring from rapidly moving servos and motors fill the air with the perfectly timed Ker-Chunks of metal feet against the hard cold stone of the earth. The sun's hard light bouncing off the glossy azure metal.

It wasn't long before that all was peaceful, the bustling of marketplaces and the sound of laborers hard at work yelling and barking orders at one another. But, swiftly and without warning they struck. Colossal metal objects raining from the sky, the sound of impacts and humming as the machines came to life, wearing the Dahridian coat of arms on the massive steel legs and standing many times higher than the buildings.
The machines stood unmoving while chaos swelled up in the streets below, steam hissing from the joints and seams of the man-made beasts. I was activated by a woman on the same day, a self conscious automaton originally made for house duty, but destined for so much more.
As my systems booted I was met with a fearful gaze from the woman, yet she spoke with a calm tone.
"Danny..." she said in a soft yet firm voice, "we need you to guide us through the city, u-u-using the tunnels"
"Scanning... Is there something wrong?" I answered in a concerned tone as I tilt my head to the side like a confused puppy.
"Yes Danny, but too much to speak about in a single sitting" she replied in an ever increasing worried tone.
A loud crash sounds overhead shaking the structure to and fro, causing a murmur in my joints as my still booting systems try to adjust to the shifting of the ground. "Scan complete, there are 132 exits found in the underground tunnel system, 73 collapsed and two nearby."
"How soon can we get there?" the woman said very rapidly
"Right now!" I replied as my hand folded into my arm to reveal a large warp blade.
I cut into the metal flooring to reveal a hidden entrance way, the woman's family lowered themselves down as I switched my welding blade back to a hand to lower myself.

The family and I were searching for hours, my scanners constantly running and re-adjusting to the dead ends and new openings.
Crashes and gunfire is heard above the labyrinth of tunnels and turns, caves and climbs.
We turned a corner to a very long, very wide cavern, my lights adjust to view whats ahead. A very low rumbling fills the cave and my sensors detect energy sources powering up, two large Daedalus class power cores, the type normally used in Dahridian boring machina.
Loud whooshing is heard from steam vents and the gargantuan drills come into view.
"Daniel!" the woman's husband yelled over the now roaring engines, "I want you to take Paul and run as fast as you can to Damascus!"
The woman turned to her spouse and glared at him.
"Merriam, we have no choice! It is the only way we can guarantee he gets there!"
Merriam turns to Paul, the squirming baby looking around oblivious to the machines in the background, Merriam reluctantly hands Paul to me, Paul's big bright green eyes staring back in amazement.
Merriam turns back to her husband, "I hope you know what you are doing, Aaron" She says with worry and fear.
Aaron turns to me as the monstrous machine crawls towards us at a pace slowly increasing speed.
"Daniel, run quickly now, we'll catch up!"
I ran as fast as the hydraulics and motors in my body would let me, Aaron an Merriam ran to the machines.

I finally reach the exit to the "Ratways", Paul in arm, My forward optics adjusting to the red tinted atmosphere and rear end LADAR gathering data.
The sound of crashes, gunfire, and screaming echo across the ruined landscape.
The baby coos and babbles unaware of the destruction.

Large steel servos and hissing steam sound off in the distance as two large cannons turn towards Paul and I.
The cannons are Marauder class, meant for taking out walkers and tanks, Power surges to the machinery in my legs and my feet split apart down the centre to reveal semi-circular "skates" as my fore and lower legs do the same to expose turbines.

1 comment:

  1. james we need to finish this tomorrow please send me a message

    ReplyDelete