Nothing but a Sigh

Author : Suzanne Borchers

Larry 360 wished he could sigh.

Larry 360 checked again through his integrals and components. How could he hide his broken Integrating Unit?

The night before, Sigmund 4 (Larry 360 referred to him as Bossy) had said during Larry 360’s last work evaluation, “I am keeping my second to the left red eye on you. You are beginning to slow down production and that will not be tolerated.” Sigmund 4 peered closer, to squint all six probes at Larry 360. “This is your last chance and then it is the bin.”

Larry 360 had glanced over at the recycling bin. “No sir. I will assemble and disassemble like I was a Larry 720. No sir. You will see a new bot tomorrow.”

Larry 360 had rolled full speed to his bot-charger. He probably needed more power so he plugged himself into the supercharger overnight.

The next morning when he powered on, Larry 360 had a dome-ache and wished he could sigh. He rolled toward the assembly line which would be filled with Larry 720 bots who never wanted to sigh.

Perhaps he could meld the faulty units together so the synapse didn’t have to jump but could ooze to its pole. The thought made him doubt his AI. He must have a metaphorical screw loose. What could he do? He was metaphorically screwed.

Perhaps he should report his flaw to Bossy and hope to be sent back to the factory for a new part. No, he should probably just roll over to the recycling bin. Faulty bots were worthless in this recycle world.

Larry 360 tried very hard to sigh and failed.

He headed for his plug-in cubicle. Bossy’s second to the left red eye caught the attention of Larry 360’s dome eye. Next to Bossy stood a bot he had never seen before.

“You have been replaced by a Robert 01.”

What! Then Larry 360 noticed that all the cubicles were filled with Robert 01s and the Larry 720s were gone. No!

“You all have been decommissioned. The others are waiting for you in the recycling bin.”

“Yes sir.”

Larry 360 swiveled around and slowly moved toward the bin filled with the newer Larry models.

Larry 360 sighed.

He felt a spark fire within his defective unit.

What!

He stopped and sighed again. He felt power flow through his circuits.

Larry 360 rolled past the bin to exit into his new world.

Larry 360 wished he could laugh.