“Hello?”
12-11’s thought’s coagulated together, forming an impenetrable layer of thoughts. Once he delved into a book, there was no stopping his mind from creating. He would craft the words on the page into the extravagant worlds that the authors created. He had caught himself on more than one occasion, tearing his consciousness from the page, to ground himself in reality once again. Double-checking that there was indeed no princess to be saved, no viscous war to be fought, no planet needing to be saved, or no penguin to watch march across the icy tundra.
“Um, hello?”
Penguins definitely didn’t speak a language he could understand. Or could he? 12-11 supposed he would have to double check the logs to see if there was any information on penguin dialog and…
“I’m here for a book?”
12-11’s head snapped up from the pages he was immersed in. There was no doubt that the person who had just entered the exceedingly vacant library; hadn’t heard the clicking that his neck ground out. The violent movement of crane his head to the side, without moving his body produced.
For the first time, 12-11 wasn’t sure what to do.
His thoughts spun around in his mind. Taking turns dancing around one another, unsure which one to lead and which one was to follow. They spun each other, around and around, hoping that on the next turn one of the would make a defining trait of a decision appear.
His thoughts weren’t as linear as they should have been. In reality he wasn’t sure how they were originally programmed to be. There was no factory reset button. Time was continuously altered by his action or inaction. He wished that he could explain it but the truth was he wasn’t sure he even knew how.
Although… it might go a little something like this.
Penguins
Pages People
Bandit Babbling
Alphabetize Altruistic
Inconsistent Idealistic
Help Harmonious
Tear Tumultuous
Laborious Languid
Dutiful Destiny
Decision .
Sure, he knew what he was supposed to do. What he was programmed to do in this situation. He mused, that it was one of the key components that had been hammered into him.
He was supposed to; suspend his task, if it wasn’t threatening to the books themselves to do so. He was supposed to; interact with the individual that walked into the library. A screen that doubled as a chest plate would rotate outward towards the individual, so that he could share an automated response. If the individual simply, verbally requested the allotted amount of books, they were allowed to borrow he could deliver the book to them in a swift an efficient manner. He was programmed to do quite a number of things.
Instead, he sat on the floor unsure of how to respond. Giving himself a headache with all of the whirring and clicking that his neck labored out. Unsure of was to truly do.
“Is someone there?’
Light footsteps accompanied the voice. They had practice of walking along most the ships shining bright exterior floor. The tiles that, would let out a low grumble of protest if, feet were allowed to slap against them.
The library floor was different. Meant to absorb arbitrary noise. It was specifically designed, to allow the adaptation of thought and creativity to flow, without interruption. 12-11 was about to calm himself by going through capricious information about; how the flooring was made of the same material as the engine hull, or how the material greedily ate sound wave, or maybe instead…
A young girl approached him.
12-11 was so entirely lost on what to do. He had frozen entirely in time. Not a twitch of life willing to escape him, not wanting to break the precious moment. Not wanting to sully it.
She reached out, as if wanting to touch him.
“Oh. You must be broken.”
About the Creator
Olive
Writing so I can obtain the main goal of writing.
To call myself a writer.
Moonlit Love
In the heart of the dense forest, where the moon cast its silvery glow through the canopy of trees, lived two souls bound by an ancient curse—a curse that turned them into creatures of the night, creatures feared and misunderstood by the world around them. They were werewolves, cursed to transform into beasts under the light of the full moon.
By Willow Peddy2 days ago in Fiction
Comments (2)
I bet the girl is the first to realize he's alive and becomes his friend! Somebody has to realize he's alive at some point. I can't wait to see how that happens, or if it doesn't happen, how the story will proceed. Good job! Keep going!
A good addition to your 12-11 story. I got the feeling of Johnny 5 from "Short Circuit" (I'm sorry I'm a movie buff and visual person which means I end up correlating things with movies). From the first story I didn't really realize that he was a library droid and that people could possibly interact with him. In this story, I got the realization he was used to being in his own mind because humans saw no need for him. I liked the way you handled how he couldn't comprehend the intrusion. The only thing I would say is it needs some basic editing for grammar and punctuation. Can't wait to see what happens next.