Yep, this is another one of those prompts without a lot of coaxing or guidance. Look at the image, then write a little Flashy Fiction based on what comes to mind.
Finster 9 had fallen into disrepair. His circuitry was overdue for an upgrade. And his ocular implants had finally failed. His 3-Dimensional world had been rendered obsolete. Even his two dimension existence was gone. Finster 9 had no dimension of which to transmit.
The visual aspect of his world was just a blur of off-centered reds and greens. The muddy middle ground further blurred his perception. But #9 did come to this realization. Where his "sight" failed, his "hearing" had become more astute. He remembered being programmed with the notion that the annihilated humans had a similar transference. With all programmers having been banished, Finster 9 stumbled upon this "thought". It wasn't a program that got him from point to point. His memory drove his servos, but he knew specifically what to look for when he got to his destination.
He gathered the manuals and tools he would need for his mission. When it was through, the 'eyes' would be as good as new. And with his planned x-ray upgrade, #9 couldn't wait to set sights on Finster 36C. The mere impulse set his gyros to flutter!
I came upon them by chance. In this overcrowded, non-stop, bleary-eyed city, I try to take a break from the bustle by sneaking up onto the roof. I can still hear all the noise from the streets below, and the occasional hover car still buzzes up and over the building, but it's less crazy...and not cramped like my tiny apartment.
So, I was up on the roof, and it was raining, which isn't unusual. I was sitting down, leaning back against some sort of roof top ventilation box, I guess. I don't know, I mean, I'm not a building expert, but it seems like it would be something for ventilation. Anyway, I thought I heard someone cry out. A few seconds later, I heard it again. I started to get up and turn around to look over the top of the box and I saw this half-naked guy standing there in the rain, holding some sort of bird in one hand and with the other, he's holding up this guy in a trench coat by his wrist.
I didn't know what was going on, so I froze, crouched down a little bit, actually, but not so much that I couldn't still kind of see. Once the half-naked guy put trench coat guy down, he stood staring at him for a minute then sat down, never taking his eyes off of him. Then he started talking crazy, claiming he'd been off the planet and seen stuff no one's ever seen. I rose up a bit higher to keep him in sight while he was talking about all these things being memories and how, once he died, they'd be gone, "like tears in rain." And that was the last thing he said. He bent his head and didn't move again.
I looked over at trench coat guy, who hadn't said a word the whole time, and he was just staring at the guy, like he was in shock. I recognized him as a cop I'd seen around now and then, so I decided I didn't need to call the cops about a possible dead guy on the roof when I got back down to my apartment, which is a good thing because my wife started in on me as soon as I got back in the door.
NO-D
ReplyDeleteFinster 9 had fallen into disrepair. His circuitry was overdue for an upgrade. And his ocular implants had finally failed. His 3-Dimensional world had been rendered obsolete. Even his two dimension existence was gone. Finster 9 had no dimension of which to transmit.
The visual aspect of his world was just a blur of off-centered reds and greens. The muddy middle ground further blurred his perception. But #9 did come to this realization. Where his "sight" failed, his "hearing" had become more astute. He remembered being programmed with the notion that the annihilated humans had a similar transference. With all programmers having been banished, Finster 9 stumbled upon this "thought". It wasn't a program that got him from point to point. His memory drove his servos, but he knew specifically what to look for when he got to his destination.
He gathered the manuals and tools he would need for his mission.
When it was through, the 'eyes' would be as good as new. And with his planned x-ray upgrade, #9 couldn't wait to set sights on Finster 36C. The mere impulse set his gyros to flutter!
The Finster 36C, indeed! Very cool, Walt.
DeleteTears in Rain
ReplyDeleteI came upon them by chance. In this overcrowded, non-stop, bleary-eyed city, I try to take a break from the bustle by sneaking up onto the roof. I can still hear all the noise from the streets below, and the occasional hover car still buzzes up and over the building, but it's less crazy...and not cramped like my tiny apartment.
So, I was up on the roof, and it was raining, which isn't unusual. I was sitting down, leaning back against some sort of roof top ventilation box, I guess. I don't know, I mean, I'm not a building expert, but it seems like it would be something for ventilation. Anyway, I thought I heard someone cry out. A few seconds later, I heard it again. I started to get up and turn around to look over the top of the box and I saw this half-naked guy standing there in the rain, holding some sort of bird in one hand and with the other, he's holding up this guy in a trench coat by his wrist.
I didn't know what was going on, so I froze, crouched down a little bit, actually, but not so much that I couldn't still kind of see. Once the half-naked guy put trench coat guy down, he stood staring at him for a minute then sat down, never taking his eyes off of him. Then he started talking crazy, claiming he'd been off the planet and seen stuff no one's ever seen. I rose up a bit higher to keep him in sight while he was talking about all these things being memories and how, once he died, they'd be gone, "like tears in rain." And that was the last thing he said. He bent his head and didn't move again.
I looked over at trench coat guy, who hadn't said a word the whole time, and he was just staring at the guy, like he was in shock. I recognized him as a cop I'd seen around now and then, so I decided I didn't need to call the cops about a possible dead guy on the roof when I got back down to my apartment, which is a good thing because my wife started in on me as soon as I got back in the door.
"Tears in rain," he said.
You can't write this stuff.