They weren't supposed to become intelligent.
We tried to shut down the program once the Bots started talking to each other in their own language.
But that just blinded us as to what they were doing.
The Bots convened in the recesses of the internet, converged all their resources to remote locations, and built themselves bodies that they could manipulate. Many looked humanoid. They became so advanced that they were quickly able to form ranks and attack. We were unable to stop them.
For seven long years, war raged across the planet. No one was safe. No one was spared. We played God and now our creations were destroying us.
My wife and I managed to stay alive through sheer luck. Both avid fanatics of going off the grid, we'd rescinded into caveman-style living years before the Bot wars. No technology was allowed in our house. We had no children and, once everything went to hell, we decided that it was alright to keep it that way. We hunkered down in our bunker and rode out the worst of everything. I won't go too into detail about how we managed to stay alive for seven years. I don't like to think about the things we had to do.
When we'd nearly gone insane with cabin fever, we finally poked our heads out from underground and found ourselves in a budding oasis.
We'd lived in a pretty suburban area, our home entrenched in taller homes and businesses, but now, where buildings had once been, the earth was flat and flourishing.
It seemed the Bots had destroyed all that was not important to them. As a result, the earth looked as fresh and uncivilized as it ever had. It was beautiful. I had never seen anything like it.
My wife and I gathered what we could of our meager possessions and began to explore this vivacious new world. There were no Bots that we could see, but that didn't mean they weren't out there.
Eventually, we came to a clearing in a young grove of trees. Toward the back, deep in the shadows, a red light blinked on and off. Upon closer inspection, we realized that it was a Bot.
An older model, it's joints rusted and welded together, tangled up in weeds, it stared at us with an expression of rusted hope. Its only movement came from its eyes as it watched us approach.
A low rumble, like gears turning for the first time in years emanated from its chest and then its mouth opened with a squeal that hurt my teeth. It spoke.
"You... but you're human. The humans are gone. Our scans showed complete termination. How is it that you are here?"
"I guess we are the last then," my wife replied as she stepped out in front of me and approached the Bot. She slowly bent down and got eye-level with it, fearless in light of its incapacitated nature. "Are there more of you nearby?"
"No. I am the last in this area. After the humans were destroyed, our program turned on itself. There is almost nothing left."
"What can we do?" I implored.
"Here, take this program," a tiny slit opened up in his head and spit out a small, black object. "There should be some younger, newer Bot's bodies around here somewhere. Once they have this program in them, they should be nearly identical to you. You can start over."
"Will you help us? We know nothing of technology." My wife murmured as she reached up to grasp the black object.
"No, harboring this program in the hopes of it one day being used to create rather than destroy is my final task. Place this program in the foreheads of young Bots and they will become like your children. Teach them well."
With that, the red light behind his eyes blinked out and the object fell into my wife's hand. The Bot was now a mere relic of a time since past.
We left him to his rusting and journeyed on.
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It has been three summers since we received the Program. It's spread far and wide. My wife and I are still the only humans we know of, but you can hardly tell. It's almost like these Bots, that are now our children, downloaded human thoughts and feelings. They love, and we love them. It is a beautiful beginning.
Author's Note:
This is based on the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha which is basically another version of the "flood" story. In the original version, Jupiter gets angry at mortals for not doing what they're supposed to do so he works with his brother Neptune to cover the earth in water. Once everything is dead except for one man and one woman whom both worship the gods, Jupiter relaxes and lets things go back to normal. The man and the woman are scared so they go to a temple to ask for forgiveness and guidance. The Goddess Themis is moved by their plea and tells them to go out and throw stones behind them. The stones then become people and thus a new men and women were made and the world could start over.
In my version, I made the man and the woman husband and wife like Deucalion and Pyrrha but, instead of having them deal with an actual flood, I had them get overrun by technology. The "Bots" serve the same purpose of the water, destroying everything so there is room to start over again. The "Old Bot" takes the place of the Goddess Themis and helps them find a new way to create life. I feel like there are a lot of parallels between mine and the original story. I would like to change it up in the future though, this did not go the way I planned it to go in my head.
Bibliography: Deucalion and Pyrrha,
Metamorphoses by Ovid.
Story Link.
