automaton
\ aw-TOM-uh-ton, -tn \ , noun;
1. a mechanical figure or contrivance constructed to act as if by its own motive power; robot.
2. a person or animal that acts in a monotonous, routine manner, without active intelligence.
3. something capable of acting automatically or without an external motive force.
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Jeff didn’t like the new guy. He was too good. Ever since he had arrived a month ago, he had
never made even a single mistake. Ever. Nobody was that good at his job. Plus, there was his unsettling personality
that put Jeff on edge. The guy always had
a calm, deadpan expression. He never
talked outside of what was needed for the job either. He just did what he was told with almost
mechanical permission and efficiency.
Add to the fact that all the girls swooned over him because he looked
like he came out of a magazine, and it was almost too much for Jeff to
take. He knew there was something about
the new guy. Perhaps even something
sinister. Of course, he couldn’t
actually prove anything, and nobody else found anything at all odd with the
guy.
There
was only one option left to Jeff: follow the new guy and find out exactly what
he was up to. Of course, Jeff had never attempted such dubious methods
before, but he felt it was important to do so in this case. He certainly wasn’t going to get anything out
of the guy just by asking. Jeff started
by simply finding out the guy’s habits after work. When he left, which was he went after he
exited the building, whether he had a car or not, and so on. It took a few weeks, but he finally
determined that the guy walked to and from work, and so tailing him shouldn’t
prove too difficult. Finally, after a
long day of work, Jeff put his plan—such as it was—into action.
The new
guy left work every day at exactly the same time, so Jeff ducked out just a few
minutes earlier. He left and hid nearby,
waiting for the guy to leave. Sure
enough, he came marching out the building at the exact same time he always did. Jeff slowly walked behind him, making sure to
stay several yards behind his mark, a trick learned from watching spy
movies. At first, it seemed like he was
doing a good job. He always kept at
least two people between himself and the new guy to avoid raising suspicion. That is, until the crowd started to thin
out.
The guy
was walking into an older, less populated part of the city, and it was becoming
increasingly difficult to tail him without being seen. As the streets became less and less crowded,
Jeff had to be a bit sneakier. He ducked
behind buildings, hid his face as much as possible, and entered and exited
buildings at random. Eventually though,
the new guy stopped dead. Jeff froze
where he stood as his mark turned and looked right at him. They looked at each other, unmoving, for
several seconds. Then Jeff turned and
ran. He didn’t know why, he just
did. He looked behind him briefly to see
if he was being followed, but the new guy was not there. He didn’t have time to process that fact when
he ran into what felt like a metal wall.
All the air left his lungs and he fell flat on the ground, his body
aching from the sudden impact. He looked
up and saw the new guy standing there, looking down at him.
“Is
there a reason you are following me?” He
asked in his dull, monotone voice.
“Following
you? No, I’m not following you.” Jeff said, doing his best to come up with a
reasonable excuse on the fly, “I just happen to be going this way is all.”
“Unlikely. Your movement patterns indicate that you are,
indeed, following me. What is the reason
for this?” Talking to the guy was always
unsettling for Jeff. It was like talking
to a machine. He scrambled to think of
something to say, but there was nothing.
All he had left was to tell the truth, and hope nothing came of it.
“Ok,
you want the truth? I think you’re up to
something.”
“Such
as?”
“Uh,
well, I don’t actually know. But I’m
sure it’s something bad.”
“You’re
assumption is illogical, as I have given no indication of any such intent, nor
is there any reason to suspect me of any kind of wrongdoing.”
“Illogical? What are you, a Vulcan?”
“No.”
“Right. Anyway, how’d you get in front of me so fast?”
“I have
no need to answer such questions.”
“No, of
course you don’t. Maybe you’re so kind
of killer robot or something.” He
said. It sounded ridiculous when he said
it out loud. But the guy didn’t respond
right away. He stood there, unmoving and
unblinking.
“I am
not a killer robot, no.” His voice was
the same as always and gave no indication of emotion at all. Still, there was something about his words
that threw up a red flag in Jeff’s mind.
“Not a
killer robot, huh? Does that mean you’re
a different kind of robot?” Again, a
long pause filled the air.
“Yes
and no.”
“Oh my
god, you are a robot. Are you from
space? The future? Or something?
You’re not going to kill me for knowing this are you?” Jeff asked, suddenly very afraid.
“No. I am not from space, another time, nor do I
have any harmful intent.”
“Then
what are you exactly?”
“I am
the result of an ongoing experiment to improve upon the human race.”
“What?” Jeff said.
A sudden cold chill ran down his back.
“I was
once a normal human. However, I was
selected for an experiment to improve on nature by adding mechanical
parts. Eventually, all organic tissue
was replaced by mechanical substitutes.”
“Oh
god, that’s crazy. Why would you do
something like that?” Jeff asked. He started to back away. His eyes darted back and forth to find some
kind of escape route.
“As a
human, I was flawed. Now, I am not.” Jeff saw an opportunity to at least slow the
guy down.
“Really? Well I say you still are flawed.”
“Explain.”
“If you
were really perfect, I wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong with you. That robo brain can’t mimic anything human,
so you stand out like a sore thumb. The
only reason nobody else seems to notice is because they don’t care enough
to. If they did, you’d be found out in a
heartbeat.” He said, trying to sound
more confident than he was. The guy
stood there, processing Jeff’s words.
“Your
argument has merit. Further
experimentation is now warranted to perfect the human/machine conversion
process. Test subjects will be needed.”
“Yeah,
good luck with that.” Jeff said, as he started to walk away.
“You
have been selected to participate. Congratulations.” The
guy said without enthusiasm.
Jeff froze for a second when he heard the
words. He didn’t stand still very long
though, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He felt something heavy impact the back of
his head, and then darkness clouded his vision.
A week past before Jeff showed up
to work again. His coworkers expressed
some concern over his health, but he assured them that it was just a cold, and
that he was fine. He went quickly and
quietly over to his desk, sat down, and started doing his work with seemingly mechanical
speed and efficiency.
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Here's a robot, because everyone loves robots, right? Well, maybe not when a person becomes a robot, but oh well.
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