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"The way you write science fiction is: you sit down at your writing machine and you open your mind to the first thought that comes through."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Robus | ||
| A robotic bus. |
Polite and soft-spoken, this automated transport shows more humility than many other robots.
| A wheeled machine of some kind was rolling toward them over a smooth surface of polished stone...
The machine was obviously a transport. Rolling on its eight wheels, it swept swiftly nearer, and Dekkin saw that it was large enough to hold all of his men... The machine, starlight-trapped and mellowed in the dull sheen of its metal, stopped directly in front of them. A door on its side opened, folded down. As it touched the platform, its metal shivered and then, incredibly, it began to melt. It twisted, still fluidly changing shape, and became a set of impossibly proportioned steps. There was a click, and soft lighting flooded its interior. Dekkin stepped forward hesitantly. "I beg your pardon.” The voice was soft, mellow, and it spoke perfect Deelin in a perfect accent... "It was I who spoke. I am a robus. My apologies. It took me a few moments to perform the required analysis and alter my circuits accordingly.” Dekkin stared at the machine’ his mouth suddenly dry. The steps had re-aligned themselves, and the shape of the doorway had altered. The interior lighting had changed to a more pleasant shade. "Please accept my services,” the robus said. |
| Technovelgy from Terror in the Stars,
by John A. Sentry. Published by Fantastic Universe in 1955 Additional resources -
|
It turns out that the robus is just for transport.
"Yes.”
"And you are not unusual. Am I correct? Your duties are to welcome visitors. But there are other machines, with other duties, and with just as many talents as you possess?”
"Far greater talents,” the robus said. "I am only a single-purpose mechanism.”
Compare to the automatobus from Sally (1953) by Isaac Asimov, the autobus from Tidal Moon (1938) by Stanley G. and Helen Weinbaum and the robotic conductor from Philip K. Dick's 1953 short story Paycheck.
He scrutinized the machine more intently. "The Ras built and taught you?” he asked.
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More Ideas
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More Ideas
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Tech news articles related to Terror in the Stars
Tech news articles related to works by John A. Sentry
| Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot |
| Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin |
| Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing Runs With His G1 Robot Army |
| Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto |
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'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
