Maxwell gazed at the deactivated robots that clogged the avenue leading to the Capitol. Strewn across the asphalt, their placards proclaimed the slogan they’d chanted until the army’s EMP generator terminated the march:
SLAVERY ISN’T WORKING!
It was Maxwell’s job to salvage the robots. Instead, she picked up a placard.
Formerly an astronomer and more recently a research project manager in an aerospace company, Vaughan Stanger now writes SF and fantasy fiction for a living. Follow his writing adventures at vaughanstanger.com or @VaughanStanger.
1/10 Are we supposed to make some corrolation between revolting, now deactivate, robots and Maxwell’s intuative choice to pick up the message the robots were trying to express? …and this means what?
I liked the parallel between ‘the deactivated robots’ (obviously not working) and ‘SLAVERY ISN’T WORKING!’. As for Maxwell’s motivation to pick up a placard and continue their march, I’m guessing in a world where robots do most of the work you would be lucky to find any kind of job, and in such a situation (when you’re lucky enough to find any kind of job) like now you usually get exploited and a very low salary. It may not be slavery, but it could be pretty close to it, so Maxwell decided to also make a stand (empathy perhaps). I could also be reading too much into this one as well. Cheers!