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"We didn't have a telephone and our family until I was about 15, in high school."
- Ray Bradbury
 |
| Construct | ||
| An artificial being, a pastiche of living and robotic pieces. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of this expression in science fiction.
| There was a sharp click! a whirring and clattering, a stir of
massive forms all across the gloomy chamber. Magnan yipped and leaped back as a construct the size of
a fork-lift stirred into motion,
turned, creaking, and surveyed
him with a pair of what were indisputably glowing amber eyes.
"We're surrounded," Magna chirped faintly. "And they told us the planet was uninhabited'!" "It is," Retief said, as more giant shapes moved forward, accompanied by the squeak of unlubricated metal.
 (Construct from 'Retief, the Long-Awaited Master' by Keith Laumer) "Then what are these?" Magnan came back sharply. "Oversized spooks?" "Close, but not kewpie doll," Retief said. "This. is the city garage, and these are maintenance robots." "R-r-robots?" "Our coming in must have triggered them to come to alert status." They moved along the row of giant machines, each equipped with a variety of limbs, organs, and sensors. |
| Technovelgy from Retief, the Long-Awaited Master,
by Keith Laumer. Published by Worlds of IF in 1969 Additional resources -
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| Will Robots Become Family Caregivers? |
| RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots |
| Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android? |
| Robots Repair And Modify Themselves |
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'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
