Contest 4: Entry 3: Our Little Hero
Title: Our Little Hero
Rating: K+
Warnings: Spoilers for the movie.
He was a Microbe-Obliterator. And when it came to carrying out his directive, he was good at it.
The little cleaner bot always assumed it was a part of his programming. When faced with a challenging task, such as scrubbing the EVE probes (especially Probe One, it seemed), M-O was only too eager to get the job done. He discovered that brushing off the foreign contaminant was highly satisfying. Perhaps it was uncovering what lay beneath the filth, and returning its' original shine that gave him such a feeling. Or maybe he was pleased to have his scanners declare “ALL CLEAN” and finally leave him in peace.
It could be that M-O took pride in knowing he fulfilled his duties every time, without fail. After all, he was an important step towards ensuring the health of every human on board. One microbe could quickly spawn into millions, infecting the humans on board, and possibly allowing a widespread plague to wipe out the population!
Not on his watch. He would not be the faulty connection that shut the system down. M-O followed his protocol to the nth command, and enforced the same rulings on his entire cleaning unit.
Upon activation, he was always the one to lead their procession. The others complied every time; naturally, M-O assumed this was part of their programming, as were his leadership skills.
They did not proceed until the guidelines activated in the polished floor. They did not deviate from this path. They kept pace and cleaned each unit in turn. Upon completion, GO-4, flanked by the stewards, scanned their work and swiftly departed with a satisfied beep. Then, finally, the cleaning unit would return to their docking station until their next activation.
Such was the life of M-O for over 700 years.
And then... the faulty wire sparked.
The unit had been proceeding as usual. Probe One was a bit more filthy than normal, but such irregular cases were not particularly alarming. Probe Two had very little, and Probe Three--
Whoa whoawhoawhoa whoa whoa WHOA!!
100 percent contamination?! And this was no standard Axiom-class model of any sort!
M-O's optics narrowed. So. This was a true anomaly.. one that dared to attempt escaping his obliterating function! The smaller robot considered this his greatest challenge yet. While this model of robot was unfamiliar, he knew exactly what to do about the grime!
Unfortunately, no amount of confidence could fully prepare him for the “anomaly” known as WALL·E. As soon as he began scrubbing the front of the cube, it snapped open, forcing him back. Had he somehow triggered that function with his scrub-brush? It slowly closed; maybe that wasn't the best course of action. M-O zipped to the robot's backside; finding no openings or moving panels that would hinder him from his task, M-O resumed his work.
Wait.. it was moving-- rolling forward!
Persistently he continued to scrub away, but the dirt-encrusted robot suddenly shot ahead, causing M-O to fall flat on his front! How dare he! Didn't this robot understand his role at all? M-O shot upright with an annoyed electronic groan and forced the strange cubic droid back into position.
The treadmarks!!
This was unthinkable! Unacceptable! Unheard of! M-O chittered angrily at WALL·E, who only jumped very slightly at the abruptly hostile turn he took.
It was then M-O realized this robot didn't fully grasp Axiom-class code. So with a feigned sigh, the cleaner set about scrubbing away the dirty treads, hoping this would communicate his intent.
The robot stretched one tread forward and placed another gritty mark on the floor!
Of all the nerve!! He hopped and fumed and swiped the smear away, all the while chattering about the importance of his position, of how the humans depended on him for their survival, so he'd better just sit tight and let him save them all!
The robot smeared his face.
“AAAAAAGH!!” There was just no hope with this unit!
But before M-O could order his team to restrain the offending robot while he gave it the last scrubbing it would ever need, GO-4 appeared for the final inspection. The tiny obliterator jumped - they weren't finished yet! Oh, he was going to be sent to the ward for sure... all because of that frustrating cube!
He obediently left his post and gathered with his team to the side. GO-4 scanned Probe 5... he waited for the alert... but he passed it on. M-O blinked. Wasn't that what he'd been scanning for? Or was it free of infectious microbes to begin with?
He'd even scanned the foreign unit, and very nearly passed by it without a second thought!
The bells and whistles screamed to life upon reaching Probe One, however, and by then M-O was utterly confused. She was all clean! What did GO-4 find? And was this discovery going to find M-O in the ward for failing his directive?
Thankfully, no. As she was carried into the transport, he received the command to return to the docking bay immediately. With a relieved sigh, he followed VA-QM along the guidelines, thankful that things were finally returning to normal.
But on the way back, crossing the beam of light... was a pair of treadmarks.
Sure enough, his sensors declared them to be foreign and contaminating. And they were following GO-4! Right into the ship!!
Ooooh, that unit was just asking for it now! He grumbled to himself, frowning at the dirt crossing his path... but hang on..
How was he going to clean them? He wasn't authorized to move anywhere except where guided by the lights! No robot was! He was stuck, and the rolling cube of grime was running amok who knew where!
Then an odd idea struck him. If that robot could travel freely about the ship.. then chances were, there was no real consequence for breaking that particular command. Then again, M-O was designed for the Axiom; he could be held accountable for it.
Which line of programming was he to follow? Directive, or protocol?
At that point, M-O did something only a handful of robots had been able to do before - he made a choice.
Preparing himself for the worst, M-O tucked himself in and hopped away from the line. The intercom detected the error and gave a buzz of warning. Then... nothing.
Nothing!
M-O glanced at the guideline, then at the treads. He was free! Free to save the ship from that microbe haven! Chittering quite happily to himself, he activated his emergency light, and set to carrying out his heroic task.
Rating: K+
Warnings: Spoilers for the movie.
He was a Microbe-Obliterator. And when it came to carrying out his directive, he was good at it.
The little cleaner bot always assumed it was a part of his programming. When faced with a challenging task, such as scrubbing the EVE probes (especially Probe One, it seemed), M-O was only too eager to get the job done. He discovered that brushing off the foreign contaminant was highly satisfying. Perhaps it was uncovering what lay beneath the filth, and returning its' original shine that gave him such a feeling. Or maybe he was pleased to have his scanners declare “ALL CLEAN” and finally leave him in peace.
It could be that M-O took pride in knowing he fulfilled his duties every time, without fail. After all, he was an important step towards ensuring the health of every human on board. One microbe could quickly spawn into millions, infecting the humans on board, and possibly allowing a widespread plague to wipe out the population!
Not on his watch. He would not be the faulty connection that shut the system down. M-O followed his protocol to the nth command, and enforced the same rulings on his entire cleaning unit.
Upon activation, he was always the one to lead their procession. The others complied every time; naturally, M-O assumed this was part of their programming, as were his leadership skills.
They did not proceed until the guidelines activated in the polished floor. They did not deviate from this path. They kept pace and cleaned each unit in turn. Upon completion, GO-4, flanked by the stewards, scanned their work and swiftly departed with a satisfied beep. Then, finally, the cleaning unit would return to their docking station until their next activation.
Such was the life of M-O for over 700 years.
And then... the faulty wire sparked.
The unit had been proceeding as usual. Probe One was a bit more filthy than normal, but such irregular cases were not particularly alarming. Probe Two had very little, and Probe Three--
Whoa whoawhoawhoa whoa whoa WHOA!!
100 percent contamination?! And this was no standard Axiom-class model of any sort!
M-O's optics narrowed. So. This was a true anomaly.. one that dared to attempt escaping his obliterating function! The smaller robot considered this his greatest challenge yet. While this model of robot was unfamiliar, he knew exactly what to do about the grime!
Unfortunately, no amount of confidence could fully prepare him for the “anomaly” known as WALL·E. As soon as he began scrubbing the front of the cube, it snapped open, forcing him back. Had he somehow triggered that function with his scrub-brush? It slowly closed; maybe that wasn't the best course of action. M-O zipped to the robot's backside; finding no openings or moving panels that would hinder him from his task, M-O resumed his work.
Wait.. it was moving-- rolling forward!
Persistently he continued to scrub away, but the dirt-encrusted robot suddenly shot ahead, causing M-O to fall flat on his front! How dare he! Didn't this robot understand his role at all? M-O shot upright with an annoyed electronic groan and forced the strange cubic droid back into position.
The treadmarks!!
This was unthinkable! Unacceptable! Unheard of! M-O chittered angrily at WALL·E, who only jumped very slightly at the abruptly hostile turn he took.
It was then M-O realized this robot didn't fully grasp Axiom-class code. So with a feigned sigh, the cleaner set about scrubbing away the dirty treads, hoping this would communicate his intent.
The robot stretched one tread forward and placed another gritty mark on the floor!
Of all the nerve!! He hopped and fumed and swiped the smear away, all the while chattering about the importance of his position, of how the humans depended on him for their survival, so he'd better just sit tight and let him save them all!
The robot smeared his face.
“AAAAAAGH!!” There was just no hope with this unit!
But before M-O could order his team to restrain the offending robot while he gave it the last scrubbing it would ever need, GO-4 appeared for the final inspection. The tiny obliterator jumped - they weren't finished yet! Oh, he was going to be sent to the ward for sure... all because of that frustrating cube!
He obediently left his post and gathered with his team to the side. GO-4 scanned Probe 5... he waited for the alert... but he passed it on. M-O blinked. Wasn't that what he'd been scanning for? Or was it free of infectious microbes to begin with?
He'd even scanned the foreign unit, and very nearly passed by it without a second thought!
The bells and whistles screamed to life upon reaching Probe One, however, and by then M-O was utterly confused. She was all clean! What did GO-4 find? And was this discovery going to find M-O in the ward for failing his directive?
Thankfully, no. As she was carried into the transport, he received the command to return to the docking bay immediately. With a relieved sigh, he followed VA-QM along the guidelines, thankful that things were finally returning to normal.
But on the way back, crossing the beam of light... was a pair of treadmarks.
Sure enough, his sensors declared them to be foreign and contaminating. And they were following GO-4! Right into the ship!!
Ooooh, that unit was just asking for it now! He grumbled to himself, frowning at the dirt crossing his path... but hang on..
How was he going to clean them? He wasn't authorized to move anywhere except where guided by the lights! No robot was! He was stuck, and the rolling cube of grime was running amok who knew where!
Then an odd idea struck him. If that robot could travel freely about the ship.. then chances were, there was no real consequence for breaking that particular command. Then again, M-O was designed for the Axiom; he could be held accountable for it.
Which line of programming was he to follow? Directive, or protocol?
At that point, M-O did something only a handful of robots had been able to do before - he made a choice.
Preparing himself for the worst, M-O tucked himself in and hopped away from the line. The intercom detected the error and gave a buzz of warning. Then... nothing.
Nothing!
M-O glanced at the guideline, then at the treads. He was free! Free to save the ship from that microbe haven! Chittering quite happily to himself, he activated his emergency light, and set to carrying out his heroic task.