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"I never saw why I had to give up science in order to write, or the other way around, so I didn't!"
- Gregory Benford
 |
| 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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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
