A Troubled Invention (Part 1)

Title: A Troubled Invention (Part 1)

Author: Haripriya

Authors Note: Hello everyone! I hope you have a great Sunday! This story was a little hard to come up with because as I was writing, I wanted it to fit another prompt, but in the end, it fitted another, so I had to tweak some things here and there. But in the end, everything ended well! I hope you liked reading this story!

The year was 2060. It was a normal Sunday morning on Baker street. The trees were swaying to the cool breeze, and the sun was shining, gleaming into the bright sky. The clouds were extra puffier and fluffier today. Everything seemed so normal. This town was named the most advanced town out of the entire world. It was a different town. 

In usual places, people don't live under a dome. But in this town, they live under a large oval-shaped dome that stretches all across the place. People built it to protect the citizens from any harmful weather and other conditions. So the sun and breeze and clouds we talked about earlier were all effects the people made so that citizens won't miss nature. 

Animals or I should say wild animals aren't allowed inside the dome. It's only pets. Animals like dogs, cats, bunnies, squirrels, and others. So farmers never have to worry about their hens or chickens getting eaten or lost. Wolves aren't even near the dome. 

What these people did was they separated wildlife and human life by the dome. The animals live a normal life, without any domes. But the humans on the other hand have domes and other things to provide their safety.

But other than those little things, everyone's life goes on normally. Only a little advanced. All homes have at least four electronic devices, everyone now usually has virtual reality systems, and have smart homes. All they need to do is learn all the programs on their controlling device, and their home will always be safe. 

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The only thing this town doesn't have is robots. They think that robots make people lazy, instead of making their lives easier. Also, people in that town fear them because people nowadays have programmed these "cyborg creatures" (as the people in this town call them) to have feelings. So if humans do anything which hurts them, robots can harm people. They know how to outsmart humans. They are actually programmed to know everything to be assistance for humans. People in the town never even try to smuggle any robots into the town because they are afraid these creatures might turn evil. All children in the town are taught of their villainous behaviors and how they should never be messed with.

People in this town valued hard work, though they were technologically advanced, they still believed that everyone should work hard to achieve their goal or daily task. People in the town believe that they don't need any android's help to do something they could easily do. They believe that humans themselves are smarter than these robots. 

That is why this town is also called the safest town in the entire world. There actually have been many cases and reports in the news where these robots have gone rogue. They have teamed up with other robots to destroy the entire city, and sadly they have. Many people have died. Many families got threatened by these robots and split apart. Many children lost their lives. It was even worse than if all natural disasters came in that town in one day. 

It was chaos. But still, people from other parts of the world wanted these pesky creatures in their house. The people in this town always wondered how people from across the world even trusted these things. Who knows when they could turn on you? One second they can pretend to be nice and your best friend, then the other second they can betray you. 

So many rumors have passed that soon, say in about thirty to forty years, robots will conquer the world, and there will be no more humans left. The entire world is debating on whether or not people should sell robots. Scientists are trying to disable the feelings they once programmed inside them, but they are still trying to figure out how to do that. 

Many robot companies favor the side that robots should exist or else they'll go bankrupt! Money is increasing every year, and if people can't sell robots, how else are they going to live? 

Others (like this town) favor the side in which people say that robots are dangerous to humans. People need to be cautious about their own safety and their own health, shouldn't they? People should care for themselves and their kids. If robots do everything for us, then why are humans even born? We will all feel useless in this world. Simply born for absolutely no reason.

At least twenty years ago, humans were working with robots. People were still making discoveries, building monuments and structures, and basically working. Now, there are fewer and fewer people working for themselves, because they take advantage of the fact that robots will do everything for them. Humans' health is also spoiling slowly and steadily.

People now have a higher chance of dying because of their muscles and organs not moving. Since people are not moving from their seat, their heart is also slowly stopping to pump blood. Now people barely even walk! Other than this town, robots are like servants for everyone. 

All humans ever do is eat, sleep, and sit all day long. Robots are taking care of everything. Soon, all robots in the world will ditch their jobs and destroy all of mankind! To prevent any of that from ever happening, this town banned robots from anywhere in the world. Besides, their economy is already strong. They don't need any robot business to keep them going. 

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Anyways, getting back to the original thing. It was a very pleasant Sunday in Baker Street. All the folks were happy and cheerful as always, living under their dome. People almost forgot that they were living under a dome because of how realistic the sounds of nature and how everything else looks like. The sun looked very real, the air felt very real, all the animal noises also felt very realistic. 

Everyone loved to live in this little town. Nothing out of the ordinary happens, right?

In that street, there lived two engineers named Warring and Harris. They were known for, let's just say out of the box ideas. Everyone viewed them as mad people for their way of dressing and their entire aesthetic. These two men were unique, a little too unique to be more specific. They were considered a little weird by all the townsfolk. No one wanted to be around them too much for people feared that they were dangerous. No one in the town really talked and conversed with them that much and people rarely even said hi to them, or smiled at them.

These two engineers weren't just any two men, but brothers, twins. Though they looked nothing alike, they were still twins. Warring was the elder one by just one minute. These poor twins were orphans for their entire life. They never had parents, or have never claimed to see their mother and father ever in their lives. It was just the two of them, living their lives with multiple foster mothers and fathers. Some of the homes they lived in also had siblings who continuously made fun of them.

As you can tell, they have lived a very harsh life. But throughout their forty years, they both loved the idea of building and crafting things. That's why when they grew up, their whole lives they wanted to be engineers. They wanted to make inventions of their own, and sell them to the world. 

But everyone considered them queer, and a bit odd because they kept judging them based on the way they look. Never bothered to ask them, never wanted to talk to the poor men. Just made fun of them, and laughed at them. The two brothers were simply just tired of people always underestimating them. They were tired of others always laughing at them. 

So what if they lived in a basement? So what if they didn't have that much money to buy clothes? They had the talent of making their own things. 

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The brothers had a dream. Actually, only one of them did. Warring. He wanted everyone to respect him, and treat him like a royal king. Harris only wanted to build for himself, and get money by doing a part-time job. Harris didn't care what others thought of him. He valued more what he thought of himself as a person. His goal was only to live. He wanted a nice peaceful life.

Warring on the other hand had a bigger goal, a bigger dream. He wanted everyone to change their way of thinking. He wanted everyone to think that he is the best inventor in the entire world, and he swore that he would pull any dirty trick to any length, no matter what it cost him. 

"I am almost done with it. It will only be a matter of time before everyone will clap for me. Will praise me." Warring spoke as he continued to fix his invention.

"No Warring, brother, please don't. Don't do it, please. You know how everyone feels about this..." Harris advised Warring, nervously.

"Ha! Little brother, I know you don't care about how people view you, but I do. We won't be known as weird anymore, for when I present this to everyone tonight, they will be astonished. A robot who has no feelings! No scientist could ever deprogram this, other than me of course. I will show everyone how this happened, and they will all appreciate me. Soon, the entire media will come and cover this. The entire world will know about this little brother. Trust me, it will all work out."

"Warring, I don't agree with this. What if it doesn't work?" asked Harris.

"Nonsense! You listen to me Harris, I am older than you," replied Warring coldly.

"By one minute! It doesn't make much of a difference," said Harris.

"Well to me it does. Now you listen to me and get out of my way. I have got a robot to show to the world. Plus, I am such a kind brother that to show my gratitude towards you, I named this robot Harris 2060. You like it?" Warring asked.

"Oh, you nasty scoundrel! Don't try to make me change my mind by naming this creature by my name! I still don't like this idea! Why can't you show some other invention?" questioned Harris.

"How dare you talk back to me like that Harris? I know what's best for both you and me. If you don't like my idea, then you can leave this garage right now, and I won't care about you at all."

Harris didn't say anything and stood there. The poor man didn't have anything to say. He knew he couldn't his brother now. 

"Ha! See? You coward, I knew you would only stay there. You are not brave enough to disrespect me. Do you now understand little brother? Now be a good boy and help me pack this robot to stun the world. Now, what are you waiting for you buffoon? Come help me! The time is ticking, and I've got no second to waste!" replied Warring. 

By what Warring had said, Harris got mad, very mad. He knew he wasn't a coward. He knew he wasn't a buffoon. As a matter of fact, Harris knew he was doing the right thing, even if it meant no shelter or no food for some time. He knew that what Warring was doing is completely wrong, and only Harris could stop this. Harris had to stand up for his own rights, even if it means risking the chance of destroying his closest, and only relationship.

"I said no Warring. I don't agree with this entire scheme you've plotted. I don't think this is safe. You're not doing this because you liked to build this robot. You're doing this for your own greed, for your own good. You're doing this to take revenge on everyone who has made fun of you, aren't you? You are so cold-hearted, so rude. You're risking the safety of an entire town. I actually care about the people here. I care about the children and their futures. Please brother, this is the last time I'm warning you, don't do this. Please." now Harris was almost begging Warring to stop.

"You really think your puny woes could ever stop me? I am this close to achieving my lifelong goal, and if that means me not being your brother, so be it. I don't care about you, I never have. You're the reason I also got humiliated by all these people. So you may go. Sayanora!" Warring evilly chuckled, mocking Harris.

"I didn't want this conversation to come to this brother, but I'm afraid it has. I'm sorry, I tried to warn you. Since you're not listening to me, I must take leave. Goodbye broth... I mean Warring. It was nice knowing you."

~The End~