Pinto Future | Chapter Two: The Complex Nature of Chewing Gum

Pinto Future, story elements, and characters TM and © Jeff Harris

The Story So Far... A land where oil is plentiful but water is a rare commodity. A lone warrior known as the Rider has arrived in the desert wasteland that is New York City, filled with rotting buildings and a huge supply of freshwater beneath the headquarters of Camberlin Waters. As he prepares to release the water back into the public, a collective of androids all ready to fire on any organic being, such as our hero. (Chapter One)

Robots and androids always fascinated me. It sparks the creative spirit of man to be more like God. It's a temporary feeling, mind you, but anytime you can sit back and see something you've designed, altered, and worked on come to life, it's always a good feeling. Always wanted to know how God felt about His creations, namely us. I know what the Good Books say, but I'll ask Him the first moment I get the chance.

In the end, we're all just pretenders to the Throne. But we have fun doing it.

Androids are robots shaped like humans. The word comes from a pair of Greek words meaning "form of man." It was first used to describe an automaton created by Albertus Magnus, a brilliant man, a man of the cloth, a friar who dared to say that science and religious thought can coexist. His automaton was a huge brass head that answered questions given by folks. His works and philosophies inspired many writers and intellectuals, including Dante, Mary Shelley, and my father, who gave me the middle name Magnus. I've taken on the scholasticist approach to philosophy and theology to heart. That's why I know a lot about the man who became Saint Albert the Great.

Over time, androids evolved from being mere automatons to mobile humanoid beings. Imagineers created pirates, presidents, and ghost androids while other inventors created singers, trumpet players, actors, and . . . well, how can I say this in front of mixed company? Beings that allows one to release their inhibitions. That's a clean version of what I was thinking. Militaries and securities utilized androids on the battlefield and security detail. As costs went down, countless lives weren't lost. The excuse: they're robots. They're expendable.

Humans, on the other hand, aren't expendable, which is why all android manufacturers are forced to implement the Asimov Laws in the programming of every android built after the Great Reaction.

Oh, right. I need to explain the Asimov Laws, named after a great writer lost to a terrible disease. Probably one of the most brilliant minds on the matters of robotics who never actually built one, he initially wrote the Three Laws of Robotics for a short story he wrote, "Runaround," and are these:

"A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm."

"A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law."

"A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law."

There's one more law that came many years later. This law is actually the first law, but he called it the Zerost law because, well, he could:

"A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm."

What I've learned in life is that facts are always flexible. It's true. You can say something that is factual one minute, but you can easily adjust it to either fit a message you want to tell or alter it to make it mean something else. Camberlin's androids are forced to adhere to the Asimov Laws, but the programming has been altered a bit. They still do no harm to humans. As long as the human is Camberlin himself. That's how they're programmed. Never marry yourself to the facts. Know that they're flexible.

That's how The Rider handles this encounter.

"Organic being in the vicinity! Obliterate at once!" the armed androids keep repeating.

"You guys keep sayin' that," the Rider retorts. "Is that the only words programmed into your hard drives?"

"Negative organoid," an android said. "Order 25: Do not fire or attack any organic being in front of the source. May negate Order 42."

"Order 42?"

"Order 42: Protect the water source."

"Sounds like my kind of order," the Rider said as he put his hands back on the clear water pipes. His brown eyes glowed with an amber hue. The water began to glow a whitish blue hue. The water began to live again and expand. He smiled at what he had done and began to walk away from the pipes. The Rider looked at the android guards and felt confident at what he had done.

"You guys waterproof?" he asked.

"Negative. Though armor is puncture-proof, it is porous and can crash our internal servers."

"Good to know," he said as he placed a small, sticky glob on the pipe. Alarmed, the androids were curious about The Rider's actions.

"Analyzing foreign substance," an android said. "Polymer substance. Toxicity levels . . . minimum."

"Composition DME," the Rider told them. "Non-toxic, eco-friendly, won't toxify water like other substances. Very explosive. Nanospores within it will cause a detonation at a mere touch. The pipes burst, you guys short circuit, and the entire system will be destroyed. All the water will burst into the old river beds, the old water tables, and the old taplines. I already pushed the button activating the nanospores. If we forget all of this happened and you guys just let me go, I'll be on my merry way. The source is protected. If you kill me, well, Camberlin sees you as replaceable Heck, your replacements were probably in the same storage room as you were earlier today."

The androids looked at The Rider, read his biorhythms seeing if any abnormalities were present in his presence. A change in heart rhythm, increased perspiration, anything that deviates from what they have seen of him.

"Asimov Second Law activated. You have three minutes to leave the premises or else you will be obliterated Starting now."

The Rider walked away from the source as the androids moved towards the contamination he left behind, thoroughly examining it.

"Chemical composition: Polyisobutylene. Polyvinyl acetate. Microcrystalline wax. Glycerol monostearate. Calcium carbonate. Butylhydroxytoluene. Xylitol. Analyzing composition. Analyzation complete. Substance commonly known as chewing gum."

Kind of makes you want a stick of gum now, doesn't it?

The Rider just walked through the catacombs realizing that he's about to get chased by a throng of armed android guards. He planned out what he was going to do in his head. He had five weapons at his disposal: His brain. His left hand. Pebble-sized K-bombs. A slingshot. His right hand. That's all he uses. That's all he has.

That's all he needs.

"Organic being in the vicinity! Obliterate at once!" the armed androids keep repeating as they began chasing The Rider.

He stopped running away from the androids and did something a little insane. He ran towards them. One flaw of androids is that they have to stand down if a human is running towards them, though be on guard. His hand glowed with the same bluish-white hue that was emitting from the clear water when he touched the pipes. The Rider pulled back his fists and released a bit of energy into them, using that to punch a hole in the hearts of the androids, deactivating them instantly.

He leaped backwards and admired the damage he had done. A cocksure smile was on his face. Pride may be considered a sin, but at this moment, this is what The Rider was feeling. He tempered himself not to feel that way for too long considering there were still eight android guards remaining. He reached for his K-bombs and his slingshot.

Only four, he thought to himself. Better make it count. He shot them at four guards smack in their heads. The K-bombs began rooting themselves instantly.

"You don't want to move, it's going to get messy if you do," The Rider said as he started the chase again.

"Organic being in the vicinity! Obliterate at once!" the androids repeated, much to The Rider's enjoyment. The four K-bombs did exactly what they were supposed to do, cover and encase those androids in a thick cover made of kudzu.

"Organic being in the vicinity! Obliterate at once!" The four androids who weren't covered in kudzu focused their fire on the four that were, destroying them with ease. That made The Rider focus more of his energy on facing the remaining four androids. He fought them with relative ease. He punched two heads off and took out the other two by putting holes through their chests, destroying them with ease.

His hands were still encased in that bluish-white aura. It was ice-cold, but he felt fine. Nary a scratch.

But that's the least of his problems. He knows that within one hour, rivers are about to be reborn in New York City, and he's going to make it happen.

What he doesn't know is that Camberlin himself is tracking his every move.

End of Chapter Two