The transportation of man (422 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1 on 7 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Tj Wilk <no_blank_spaces.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2008-03-30 05:49:47 EDT
Massive metal teeth dug deep into the ground harvesting the remaining minerals under the earth. Other machines trundled through buildings, recycling old metal and building materials. National icons, constructed of precious metals were knocked to the ground, where several thousands of machines - hewed at them, taking up anything of use. Other machines of different shapes and sizes whirled out across the sky towards the construction zone.
Tiny orbs span here and there recording everything: the history of the last days.
At the equator an infinitely tall series of space elevators worked fast, transporting raw materials up into space towards the orbital shipyards. Materials that could not be lifted were placed in massive capsules and shot up into space using the international Mass Driver.
In space, a ring of fire, dense with meteorites flung itself towards the ancient planet.
Down the hills, through forests, across rivers the machines moved. Coming across human areas they herded people into their massive hulks. The machines moved on, silent in their quest. Day became night and yet the machines moved on, boring deep into the ground, pulverising the sallow earth with unimaginable strength. Deconstruction continued, the elevators worked tirelessly and machines moved across the lands.
Whirling machines, with massive wings found their way to each island, great and small. They found every single person and gently took him or her inside. They moved rapidly across the skies.
The tempest of meteorites grew closer still.
Robots, small and large wandered the empty cities, cleaning the streets, tidying the gardens and empting already emptied bins. Internal clocks clicked continually.
Massive archives were drained of their texts; knowledge was sucked into never-forgetting memory banks as coils of robotic arms swung here and there.
Monolith class spacecraft positioned themselves in space, the size of continents, the four great machines eclipsed the sun. Yet the swarm of death bore down upon the planet.
With every resource absorbed, every species catalogued and sampled for later the ships began to drift off. Silently in space they ploughed the darkness ahead of them towards a new world
The cities lay in silence. The thousands of robots left went about their jobs quietly and uncomplaining. The power went off and the batteries kicked in.
The rocks plunged into the sky
The robots looked up from their task, watched the storm above, looking for some signal that something was to change in their behaviour.
As the chunks of rock buried themselves into the earth and the oceans boiled; the robots stoped their tasks. They had a few minutes now, of total freedom.
User Reviews
Submitted by ICO (user info) at 2008-03-31 13:31:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Way to AC Clarke it up.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2008-03-31 05:16:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2008-03-30 22:45:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Nice visual of the robots salvaging what they can of the doomed earth. On the other hand, what's the rush? It'll all still be here after the meteorites in one form or another. And BTW, they're technically not meteorites when they're still in space, they're meteoroids. When they reach the atmosphere they become meteors, and when they reach the earth's surface, then they're meteorites. Meteoroid, meteor, meteorite. In that order. I'm really surprised no one else picked up on that.
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When this guy dies his body needs to be held in state, like that Lenin fella.
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2008-03-30 22:45:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Nice visual of the robots salvaging what they can of the doomed earth. On the other hand, what's the rush? It'll all still be here after the meteorites in one form or another. And BTW, they're technically not meteorites when they're still in space, they're meteoroids. When they reach the atmosphere they become meteors, and when they reach the earth's surface, then they're meteorites. Meteoroid, meteor, meteorite. In that order. I'm really surprised no one else picked up on that.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2008-03-30 21:28:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Leggo my eggo.
Submitted by Banjo (user info) at 2008-03-30 12:46:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I think you need to build on this a bit more. You've got a lot in a short piece of text. It could be really good, there are some nice concepts in here.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2008-03-30 11:05:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Interesting. You planning on continuing this?
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2008-03-30 09:29:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
There's a lot going on here. It doesn't seem rushed, but it does seem like you could elaborate and refine a bit. It can stand on its own, but it would make a good beginning to a much bigger story.