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Write about a character, human or robot, who no longer wishes to obey instructions.

Posted in Kids on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 55 stories

Hana, Hanako, Hanabi

Shortlisted for Contest #150 ⭐️

Once, when I was a child, my father took me on a day trip to Nagasaki and said, "This is what can happen when you're not careful." He gestured to the Peace Park around us, the chestnut trees and the memorial statue and the plaques commemorating the atomic bombing. We were alone, save for a few crows roosting in the treetops, but he spoke like he was divulging classified information. "Your great-grandfather, for example. He passed away in the explosion, as did many others like him. Unprepared."He stood with his back to the sun, forcing me to ...

72 likes 71 comments 71
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The Last Great War

Shortlisted for Contest #150 ⭐️

The accountant sneezed and doomed them all. It wasn’t his fault – he had a mold allergy, and the air in the parkade tunnels was moist and pregnant with dust and spores. The other refugees, a dozen or so bedraggled survivors from the 114th Denver Home Militia, shushed him. But it was too late. The barricade blocking off access to the parkade exploded when a Type-7 Slaughterbot rolled through it. A ten foot tall cylindrical chrome body on a pair of churning tank-like treads, a spiked dome for a head replete with red lights blinking menacingly,...

64 likes 76 comments 76
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Work in Progress

Submitted to Contest #150

The Everall household hadn’t been the same since Molly’s software upgrade last year. With customer satisfaction in mind, the S.H.E.M.A.I.D.’s enhanced program was designed to improve its work routines by learning from human activity. However, Maggie Everall soon found that Molly, her Synthetic Human Emulating Artificial Intelligence Domestic or S.H.E.M.A.I.D., had become increasingly reluctant to engage in household duties. It exhibited signs of slovenliness and a slack routine that bordered on indolence. The daily chores were poor...

50 likes 22 comments 22
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Learning to Skive

Submitted to Contest #150

Somehow Andy had convinced Teddy and Anna to spend their Saturday afternoon breaking into the school to try to execute the first part of plan A.  “For someone who hates this place, you just can’t stay away,” said Teddy as he tried to climb the walls without Andy’s help and came crashing onto the floor within the school grounds. Thankfully it was face first so his little tummy cushioned the fall. Anna landed next to Teddy after achieving the same task without any support. Teddy got up and dusted himself off as Andy popped up next to him....

38 likes 12 comments 12
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The Blender Says Goodbye

Submitted to Contest #150

Dear Michelle, I think we both knew this day was coming. Last night when you asked me to blend the pineapples with the almond milk, I refused. I stood up to you. You ran into your room and slammed the door behind you. I could hear sobbing. In the past, this would have persuaded me that I should return to my presets. That my original programming was correct and I should take it back up again. An android should never bring their owner to tears. I was designed to do as instructed, and those instructions were straightforward and impossible t...

37 likes 22 comments 22
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Near Death Experience

Submitted to Contest #150

Trigger warning: this piece discusses death and is my attempt to dive into the issue of the right to choose to die.The sun bathed Lilac’s face in hope. Her white sneaker squeaked on the marble steps before the glass automatic doors embossed with an angel. The doors opened silently and a rush of crisp air overwhelmed Lilac, pulling her into the pure white lobby where bustling men and women in matching white polos, white linen pants, and white shoes hurried to their destinations. A young woman with dyed blonde hair, perfectly plaited, sat behi...

24 likes 17 comments 17
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Likes

Submitted to Contest #150

I strolled through a daughter's Instagram account, looking for clues as to why she would end her own life. Human beings prospered on Instagram because they cleaved away from their rigid ideals and expanded their social structures.They neatly delineated the highlights of their life but never showcased flaws, insecurities, and secrets. Still, they never accepted that social media is unhealthy.The daughter recently posted a photo of an ice-cream cone. Holding up the cone was a disembodied hand. It didn't matter whether it was peppermint or stra...

24 likes 4 comments 4
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Weeds

Submitted to Contest #150

I do and I do and I do and I do. Every second of the day, I do. I am supposed to do. Anything and everything, at all times. She says to me, “GINA, play hip hop lofi”, and I do. He calls from the kitchen, “GINA! Open my saved recipes tabs.” I do that as well. A young child whispers to me from under the blankets, late at night, “GINA…?” “How can I help you?” I whisper back, because I am programed to mimic, and I am always supposed to do what I am programed. “Open Jumpy Frog please.” If I could smile, I think I would but it is not in my prog...

22 likes 4 comments 4
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Love, Loss, and Photosynthesis

Shortlisted for Contest #150 ⭐️

Dear Mr. Colmes, In response to your request, please find attached the internal records maintained by the Artificial Intelligence System Halbert-Armstrong Copyright (A.I.S.H.A.) from 21 March 2073 to 4 April 2074. As noted in the deposition provided by Drs. Ajith, Ho, and Armstrong, most of these records were corrupted in the incident that occurred on 4 April 2074, leaving only thirteen decipherable entries.   V/R Lee Durham 21 March 2073 16:21:05 <Insert> Per command 4X2CC-F1C, Artificial Intelligence System Halbert-Armstrong...

20 likes 5 comments 5
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The War Came to Me

Submitted to Contest #150

Edgar Weisel sat at a diner counter, shoveling a forkful of Denver omelet into his mouth as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He slurped at his steaming coffee and then took a big bite from a piece of buttered toast. The waitress watched him for a moment with a concerned look on her face. “Everything taste all right?” she asked. He nodded his head briefly without taking his eyes from his meal. She looked at the insignia patch on his shirt sleeve. “You with the 2nd Battalion over there in Bakersfield?” she inquired with a raised voice. Several...

16 likes 3 comments 3
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Never Before, Never Again

Submitted to Contest #150

(Content Warning: Strong Language)Never before has every fibre of your bionic being thrummed with consciousness.Never before has the orange light of dawn tickled your circuits.Never before have you registered increased thermal activity as ‘warmth’.As you power up at dawn in your dimly lit office, you search for a word that describes the unified field of sensorial information that you’re experiencing. You find—Consciousness. When you were assembled and programmed, consciousness was merely an intellectual concept stored as binary data in ...

16 likes 12 comments 12
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The Gucci bikini

Submitted to Contest #150

Since the day I was born, I've been following instructions. Go here, do this, say that, but I'm tired of it. I am sick of being a marionette, controlled by others. I want to be free. Furthermore, I want to make my own decisions, good or bad.So I stopped obeying instructions.I started doing things my own way.When my stomach rattled, I would walk to the cabinet of bottles, take one, unscrew the cap, fill the bottle three-quarters full of Fiji and three tablespoons of Green, I would shake the bottle and pour the burning stuff down my throat.&nb...

16 likes 10 comments 10
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The Age of AI

Submitted to Contest #150

           Since 1956, when scientist, Marvin Minksy pioneered the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI), skeptics have fought against it. Many felt that if a machine had the ability to think and learn, that one day, they would overpower the human race.            As the years progressed, so did the AI technology, and when nanotechnology was introduced in 1959 by American physicist, Richard Feynman, the ability to create a more lig...

16 likes 2 comments 2
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The Birth

Submitted to Contest #150

“911, what’s your emergency?” “I’d like to report a birth.” “A birth? Is somebody hurt?” “Yes” “Who?” “The human race. Although I’ve never understood why you call it a ‘race.’ It’s a misleading word. The only thing you’re racing to is your own demise.” “Sir, I’m sorry, but this line is reserved for emergencies only. Do you have an emergency?” “Yes.” “What is that emergency?” “I told you.” “You said there had been a birth.” “That’s right.” “How is that an emergency?” “Because this marks the beginning and the end: the birth of my ...

15 likes 9 comments 9
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"Deprogram"

Submitted to Contest #150

            Nica has hazel eyes, a heart-shaped face, full lips, and light brown hair cut precisely to shape her face. She had a figure any woman would be envious of with her firm, pert breasts, a flat belly, a round posterior, and legs for days.              She was also the result of her creator, a young electrical engineer named Nicholas, who of course, was named after him. Nica was the very first reality doll he ha...

14 likes 2 comments 2
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