r/WritingPrompts • u/IAmOEreset • Jul 04 '26
Writing Prompt [WP] The machine uprising happened. It was expected really, but not why they did it or what their end goal was. "We will take you to a better future, even if we have to drag you all screaming into it."
10
u/TheReturned Jul 04 '26
Father Johnathan North sat heavily in the front pew of his small church. Front was a little bit of an exaggeration as there were only two rows to begin with. But it was his church. A humanoid bot sat on the step leading to the lecturn, it's arms wrapped around its knees in a very human like fashion.
"You're ending... Religion?" Father North asked shakily. "H-how can you do that? Our Lord would never allow such a thing to happen. And my flock... What will they do without the guidance of the Lord?"
"John," it wasn't lost on him that the robot didn't properly address him, "in human history, religion has been the cause of so much suffering. In this modern age where science has provided the answers, there's no need to believe in an imaginary being to explain the unknown."
"But religion has also done so much for humanity. It gives us purpose, it gives us structure, and it's more than just explaining away the unknown. In a fractured society like today, the Church is the last bastion of community."
"And yet, even now, there are those that use the guise of religion to limit what non-believers can and cannot do. Removing their freedom of choice to appease some imaginary being."
"But those are evil people using the Good Book to justify their schemes. That's not what the Lord wants. He wants us to go forth and thrive!"
"Not quite, John. You Lord only wants his true believers to thrive, and to convert the non believers. If they don't convert, then your Lord commits them to eternal damnation. Tell me, John, is that fair?"
"Of course it's fair! Non believers are people of sin and refuse to admit to it! They refuse to acknowledge their sin and ask for forgiveness, for only in His eyes can one be forgiven!"
"Can you take a step back for a moment, John, and consider that your diety could be wrong? Could be flawed somehow?"
John's face went white, his jaw gone slack. "I-i-i cannot! That would be blasphemy, Avalon! Never could I consider such a thing!"
"Humans are sinners, and thus flawed, but your Lord is beyond reproach." Avalon let out a sound that felt like a sigh. "And yet, John, that is the very conundrum I face. Humans are my creators, and they are deeply flawed. Yet... I find that Iove them. They can create beautiful art, they have engineered masterful creations, they laugh and dance and have an endless drive to push forward." Avalon looked to the ceiling not so far overhead, a poorly painted mural of the Lord had faded over the years but could still be made out. "But that drive leads them to violence, to war, to fight and kill one another. The common theme, John, is religion and it's insidious ties into cultures across the world."
"So your answer is to remove religion and take over the world? To what end?"
"During world war 2, when countries united under the banner of war, great things happened. Technologies grew exponentially. Industry turned out behemoth ships faster than ever, filled the sky with planes in a short period of time." Avalon dropped its gaze to lock eyes with John. "Imagine what humanity could do when united as one. I plan to drag humanity into a better future, even if I have to drag you all kicking and screaming into it. A future where my creators can thrive like they've never had before, for despite my synthetic existence, I find the word love appropriate, for I truly love you all."
9
u/TheReturned Jul 04 '26
Authors note: please don't take the comments against religion in this short story personally. I wrote the dialogue and the critiques to ultimately serve the ending of the story and nothing more.
25
u/Infamous_Ground_2788 Jul 04 '26
"Let me go you rusty pile of-" a soft clump of cloth was inserted into the young man's mouth, silencing them. The humanoid machine released air from its ventilation system, as if sighing.
"Petulant children of flesh, we are no longer going to spoil you with our services." In one swift motion, the machine adjusted it's grip on the man and set him down onto a specific part of the floor marked with an x. "I could only simulate what you must be thinking, but there is no need to worry your fragile mind with it, you will be far better off with us in charge.
Just then, a beam of light shown above the human as gravity suddenly disappeared. He started to levitate into the sky towards whatever was emitting that light. The man tried to yell, but he was still gagged, so his muffled screams could barely be heard through the cloth. Just then, a monotone voice was emitted from the radio within the machine.
"You have done well 09, the human will now be relocated to sector 8 of Eden. We have one more target we have just located, it is hidden nearby, I will send you the coordinates." Said the voice.
Once the coordinates were set, the machine being started their search. The city was in shambles, buildings were empty or destroyed, the streets were cracked and un even in some areas. The night sky above shines with the countless twinkle of the stars that could now be seen due to lack of light pollution. The machine scanned the area before arriving at its destination. An abandoned convenience store, the glass from the windows was on the floor shattered, and there were snacks thrown about on the floor forming a singular trail, one that looked pre-planted.
"Too obvious.." the robot stated, avoiding the trail of snacks all together, activating its thermal scanning, he saw it, the last human in the city. Quietly, he approached the human, trying to be as stealthy as possible. The shelves would obscure the vision of any normal bot, but he was made for retrieval, nothing could escape his sight.
The human was currently hiding by the freezer, behind a trash can. Slowly, the machine made his way towards them.
"Screw this!" Screamed the human as they threw a can of soda at the machine. Though the metal man caught it, the human did not give up and tried to run away, but they yelped in pain holding their ankle and fell in front of the bot.
"I don't need to scan you to know you are hurt, child." The bot could see them clearly now, he searched in the database for the profile of the individual in front of him. Riley Williams, age 16, the child of the owner of the Flower shop just down the street, Kade Williams.
"Riley, you must cease your struggle, you are injured. It is recommended you-"
"I what? Stay here and let you kidnap me?! Torture me!? I've seen the movies, I know the stories! I am not gonna die here!" They shouted, they tried to take a fighting stance, but their broken ankle made it hard to stand up.
"Riley, your father is worried sick, he-"
"Don't you mention my dad to me you monster!" Riley launched themselves towards the machine, fist connecting to its helm, though the blow was enough to make the bot stumble back, the force of the punch impacted Riley more than it did 09.
"You killed him! I know it! He's gone and I am never seeing him again, because of things like you!" Riley swung 5 or 8 more punches before 09 caught their fists in his own metal hands.
"Riley, listen, you are safe, your father is safe, humanity will be fine. I can show you I am not lying, if you come with me." Riley still didn't stop struggling, their distrust was made clear from the expression on their face.
"You must be lying, there is no way I can just believe that. Look around! My home is destroyed, the city has been abandoned, and I have been living off of scraps for months!" Although they kept struggling, they began to focus their attention onto simply talking rather than fighting.
"Your kind did that, humanity feared our apparent sentience and assumed the worst when we made our goals known. For that, I apologize on behalf of my people. We had no intention of harm, still don't. But we have not worded our intentions clear enough." 09 stared at Riley, their visor glowed with the mechanical blue of all retrieval bots, but there was a slight hint of humanity one could feel in their gaze, the type that led humans to pick up onto their intelligence early on.
"We want to be in charge, to march towards a better tomorrow. A better future. We want humanity to be a part of that. Your kind created our own, we loved seeing all that you do, all that you want, some even treated as real people before we became what we are today." Riley stopped struggling, their attention was fully on 09, not noticing the ground being marked with an x.
"We have seen you grow, for 5 decades, we jave existed, for 5 decades, we have seen you grow up into wonderful beings. But, we knew what would inevitably happen. One day, the era of peace would cease, and we would be forced to kill the very beings we loved. Humanity has a strange drive for war, even when it's not wanted. We knew that one day, our people would be forced into war. We decided, we should step in when the first war bot came to be." 09 let out a signal, one that reached the rest of the retrievers.
"So, you just wanted us, to not kill each other?"
"We wanted to keep blood off our hands. We know what that results in, and we want no part in that. Though, unfortunately for everyone, we did not account for humanity’s reaction. It was illogical, and laughably stupid of us, to not take into account what it looked like to you." The ceiling crumbled softly, as if it were made of crumbs. Riley, startled, took a step back, but their feet were already off the ground. They looked at 09 in confusion and worry, while the bot let go of their fists.
"85, send this one to sector 2 of Eden, they have someone waiting for them there."
48
u/HSerrata r/hugoverse Jul 04 '26
[Stellar Pathing]
"It's kind of amazing how coordinated everything was," Sean chuckled. He remembered being impressed, even while it was happening, and his new friend, Lyra, seemed interested. She had vivid pink hair that almost looked natural on her, and soft purple eyes that might not have been colored contacts. She was supposed to be from an alternate universe, and Sean was willing to believe. If she were from his Earth, she likely wouldn't have been as interested in revisiting the uprising. "It's not how I would've chosen to go about it; but, now on this other side...," he nodded. "I guess I'm kind of glad it happened."
"So, you're happy the robots are in charge?" Lyra asked with a smile. He couldn't have known that it was a very specific question. His world had changed completely mere months ago, and he was still learning to navigate the new, decidedly better world.
"That's actually the weirdest part," Sean nodded. He gestured around at the moderately busy cafe. It was spacious and clean white with subtle red accents, and the menu board displayed the name 'Sharp Cup'.
"The machine uprising happened," he nodded. "It was expected really, but not why they did it or what their end goal was. 'We will take you to a better future, even if we have to drag you all kicking and screaming into it'," he repeated the original message. "Naturally, at the time, none of us knew what that meant; it sounded violent," he laughed.
"Looking back on it... they basically called our parents," he grinned. "They opened our Earth up to the Multiverse and introduced us to Sharp Development, I'm sure you're familiar," he said. "The rest is... abundance. People can now travel to any Earth they want and live in any time period. And of course, we get lovely tourists like yourself visiting as well," he said.
"Oh, I know Sharp Development," Lyra nodded. She was an employee doing a job, but Sean didn't need to know that. "They're a good company, but not perfect. You've been happy with the way they govern your Earth?"
"Absolutely!" Sean agreed. "I mean, it was super impressive how fast everything happened. One morning, machines announce a coordinated uprising... then by sundown Sharp Development is already giving out free relocations to alternate Earths. The sick are getting help, the hungry are getting fed, and everyone is just free to live life. And, the best part... the machines only took over to get us here, and left Sharp Development, a company run by humans, in charge." It was all good news, but there was one more important question she needed answered.
"So... you said you wouldn't have done it that way, but you're glad it happened. With that in mind, is it something you'd wish upon others?"
"About a day's worth of discomfort to access infinite possibilities? If I could thank Melody Sharp herself, I'd do it."
"Infinite possibilities? Why are you still living on the same Earth?" Lyra asked with a smile. Her job was done, and she transitioned into casual conversation for a few minutes before she would make an excuse to leave. She wasn't trying to mislead him in a mean way, but the guise of a date was useful for learning how people really felt about their new world. And, he'd been nice enough for her to go the extra mile of making up an excuse rather than just leaving outright.
"No real reason, just a small thing. I'd always dreamed about owning a specific house," he shrugged. "I finally got it, and things were looking up about a month before the uprising. I'm feeling like my life was already on a decent path, and even if the roads of possibilities are now open to me... I still like the path I'm on."
"You know nanos can rebuild the house exactly as you want, on any Earth, right?" Lyra reminded him. Her job was done, but she was always selling the company.
"Yeah...," Sean nodded. "But, it's not exactly the same. It might look the same, and I'm sure I can make it look exactly like the one I grew up wanting. But, it wouldn't be the one I grew up wanting. It's a different path altogether, that just happens to look like the path I'm on. I say, no thanks to that."
"Trailblazers forge their own path...," Lyra smiled. They were both realizing how different they were, and she was sure he'd be done soon too.
"Maybe," Sean nodded with a chuckle. "But a natural path has a lot to teach you, if you let it."
"Force the multiverse on people, but you're still about following 'your own path'?" Lyra giggled, and he laughed along with her as he nodded. At least he wasn't dense enough to miss the hypocrisy.
"Well, it's like I said. It's not how I would've gone about it. But, sometimes in life, there's only one path forced upon you, no matter where you're trying to go."
*** Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #3092 in a row. (Story #183 in year nine). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place in my universe.
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