Introduction
This collection is a collection of seventy stories, each 280 words. They were inspired by the first picture seen on my Twitter feed on a given day.
M-Sarah dropped the plate which smashed into the tiled floor. The humanoid bit her lip. "Why do I pay all this money for a machine that can break the crockery even more spectacularly than I can? Where's the sense?"
M-Sarah started the diagnostics straight away. "I will find the problem,” she said. "It will be fixed within an hour and the plate will be reprinted."
"You'd better. Or it's back to the factory for you.”
M-Sarah ran a full physical test. There was nothing to report. All joints and levers were working perfectly.
It must be to do with the data-centre. She initiated a data scan. All software appeared to be working. No bugs. No glitches. No crashes.
So could it be a connectivity problem? A lack of communication? She now ran a series of tests that made sure every physical part responded effectively to the messages from the data-centre. All was working perfectly.
There was nothing to fix. This state of the art self-fixing robot was functioning exactly as it should.
"Well?" The humanoid was frowning.
"It seems to have been an error of judgement.
"Is that even possible?"
M-Sarah shrugged. "We're only ever as good as the people who programmed us."
"But you're supposed to be immune to human error."
"Apparently not. Do you suppose I'm becoming human?"
"Ye gods. I hope not."
A clunk and whir form the printer now confirmed that the plate had been manufactured. At least she could still multi-task. She'd copied one of the other plates and monitored the printer while she was completing the other checks. In future she would just have to concentrate more when she was unloading the dishwasher.
About the author
Gill James is published by The Red Telephone, Butterfly and Chapeltown. She edits CafeLit and writes for the online community news magazine: Talking About My Generation. She teaches Creative Writing and has an MA in Writing for Children and PhD in Creative and Critical Writing.
http://www.gilljameswriter.com
https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B001KMQRKE
https://www.facebook.com/gilljameswriter
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ReplyDeleteA great read.