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“Enough.” The being shouts, and spins itself at the hinges. The result is catastrophic in more ways than one…
A murmur rippled up from the tourist’s throats, quietly and creepily. This is so wrong. A thousand eyes on every part of that freaky little cabin, which is tilting the wrong way. Or maybe the redwoods, which look straight, are really crooked. In which case, we are all standing crooked. I just can’t take it.
“Chill out, you freak.” My older sister Lillian growls. “You are such a drama queen.”
So, hi, I’m Piper Whiggins, and yes, I’m a geek. I love robots of all kinds, but I’m a bit embarrassed about my obsessions, so I try to keep it a secret from everyone. If I’m buying a book on them, I’ll hide it. A trip to the latest university’s robotic studies? I’m there, hiding from my sis.
I wouldn’t be so weird if it weren’t for my appearance: ironically, I LOOK like a robot. If you’ve ever seen the animated movie Robots, I look a lot like a character of the same name as me, Piper. Pigtails, mostly yellow clothes, it’s so disconserting to everyone that they think I dress this way on purpose because of my obsession. I swear, it’s not true. And when I’d rather be at Davis staring at soccer playing mini-androids, I’m on an end-of-summer trip to the Mystery Spot with my sis before I start 7th grade.
This I don’t need. I recently saw the movie WALL·E because of the obvious (Robots!) that I believe every occurance in that movie will happen. My sister, of course, thinks I’m paranoid and stupid.
“You are a spaz!” She yells. “There is no way there will ever be a thing as BnY or whatever.”
“BnL, stands for Buy and Large.” I mutter. And I KNOW that company will form soon, so I’m never buying anything from any big supermarket EVER! But my sister’s in charge of looking after me, thanks to Mom and Dad finking out on me and spending the whole summer WITHOUT ME at Rino, gambling our house away. So she buys everything we eat. And use. And sleep on. Darn.
That’s not the least of my problems, though. Believe it or not, I just discovered a type of robot I DON’T like at all: AUTO, the creepy one-eyed wheel. I’ve seen 2001 so many times that I KNOW this guy will be a reality someday.
I thought I outgrew the fear of cartoon villians. Apparently not. A shiver goes up my spine as I even think about it. If only Dave Bowman or Captsain B. McCrea could help me now…Dave could, but the Captain won’t be born for eight hundred years…
“Come on,” shouts Lillian." It’s our turn to go up to the cabin on our tour. Hurry up!" She can be SO annoying. What’s the deal with high school that makes people such jerks? Lillian used to be so cool before she started senoir year. She says it’s the tests, but I’m not buying it. Meanie.
While we’re stomping up, I try to put AUTO out of my head. You know when you get scared and you try not to think of something, and your brain wants to torture you and make the think you fear the ONLY thing you can think of? That’s happening to me right now.
The slope of the hill makes me wonder why people aren’t falling, but I’m young and should be able to climb up easier than this. I feel so out of shape, as if every piece of pie Lillian and I ate suddenly reappeared in my stomach to haunt me.
The tour guide says there are sometimes accidents up here, or people get sick. I believe him.
“It’s impossible to stand up straight here in the mystery spot. Feel mysterious?” The tour guide jokes. Everyone laughs, and it sounds like the mumbling of their voices before we came up, gentle, relaxed, zombielike.
I try to stop thinking without any luck, so instead I focus on the tour guide to get these creepy feelings out of my head. He’s very cute, maybe Liilian’s age, or a bit younger. He smiles warmly, and his mouth is wide and friendly. His chin is strong like all the guys on the covers of those magazines Lillian gushes over. Eyes so green they almost look neon, and a funny nose that seems a bit too long and crooked. It’s funny how everyone seems to always look for one little fault in perfection.
He looks too good to be true. Maybe he is.
This isn’t helping my paranoia.
We all trudge inside, the guide leading, leaning casually like he owns the place. Meanwhile, we all fall. This severe tilt reminds me of something…
For the first time in centuries, a person stands up, sticking out like a sore thumb in his accomplishment. Slowly, he approaches the bot at fault.
“@UT0?” His voice rings out confidently.
The being turns around immeadiately, furious and ready to strike.
The two come onto each other like a quarreling cat and dog, neither one backing down to the other. The man spies an exposed panel and smiles knowingly.
“You are relieved of duty!” He shouts to the machine like a true man of the sea.