Crumbling, Bumbling Hope

AVAPP, (Avowed Victim And Penitent Postulate),

My fingers cramp while you spin your wonders; turning my input into word poems and telling tales.

A moment ago, I was receiving a tour, possibly mandatory but definitely trivial; however, I was distracted by a gleaming object, beckoning me towards a pile of garbage and most certain doom.

I lost track of the presence of danger amongst large, manifold machinery as I gravitated towards the gleaming in the manner of a sailor being beckoned by the siren's call.

Of course, the tale of the sailor and the siren had been altered decades ago to reflect the obvious truth that a sailor would only be beckoned by a siren if the siren was attached to the hood of an Auto-Police Adjudicator. The sea being entirely neglected as a means of transportation, since the many zip lines made seafaring redundant, only augmented the fact that nobody really even knows what a sailor is anymore, or why he would be beckoned to the hood of an APA.

Alas, I spun in the charybdis of anticipation unaware of the creaking of floorboards beneath the whirring warnings of my sneakers pre-warning unit. I can only recall that my last thought before plunging into darkness, gloom and dust was that, perhaps, I had found something valuable; although, I can't imagine what.

Amid the crashing din, I made quick prayer to the Great Machine that he may calculate my journey to the after-circuit and provide me with the needed vacuum tubes. I ended up feeling silly after all...

My fall was short and uneventful, despite the volume of the crash. Above me, the Professor howled down the hole, "Don't move!" The gift shop jingled as he ran. "Don't move!"

The scene around me proved much different than the one ten feet above. First, aside from the dust that I brought with me, everything sparkled and shined. Second, the equipment above was the brute, manufacturing-kind, while the equipment around me had the delicate aura of precision. Glass test tubes filled with viscous colors stoppered with corks sat in rows on shelves; polished centrifuges idled next to bunsen burners and graduated cylinders.

My shiny object turned out to be just that: a shiny useless consciousness unit for a Blend-O Blendermatic. When I picked it up, the tiny speaker squeaked, "What blend of fruit and wonder do you desire?" I put it in my pocket out of pity more than anything.

"Trespass! Aggressor! Violent abrogation of personal property and intellectual!" The Professor made a showy entrance, slipping on the polished floor and sending his arms into a frenzy. The short man looked graceful when he frenzied but his gift shop stayed tightly sowed into the inside of his garment.

"Is this room on the tour?" I inquired.

"It most definitely isn't." Stubble began putting delicate glass tubes into ever more pockets in the gift shop. "This is VIP. Incredibly top secret!" When Chubb hovered into the room, Stubble grabbed the centrifuge and raised it as if to attack, then replaced it on a shelf when he saw it was just Chubb.

"My life's work resides in this room, and you just crash into it as if...as if..." The professor took a seat on a nearby stool.

"This is incredible, Professor. I've never seen so much work from one human. Did robots help."

"Robots!" The Professor rose from the stool reinvigorated. He thrust a finger in the air and with his left foot kicked Chubb. "Robots are the reason this once proud factory is in a state of dilapidation. I was a captain of industry until the great Robot Revolution. I was bringing genes to the people; allowing them to be their best selves. And robots destroyed my market. Nobody wanted to be their best selves when robots could do those things for them."

"The Great Robot Revolution? That was decades ago," I said.

"A time I remember all too well. I developed the gene that does not forget."

My wrist monitor buzzed me just then; a gravelly voice emitted from it: "IP leaves in 15 and I've got no confirmation on the package."

"Sorry Professor," I said. "It was a great tour and I like your dust and garbage."

I switched Chubb into autonomous mode.

"Nearest IP zip, Chubb. Bye Professor!"

Chubb's idle light flashed green and he hovered away with me behind him. The professor sat quietly back on the stool.