Machinamentum

Another thing I wrote for my creative writing class, I was going to make it a larger story, and I might yet change it...
Life came to the being. It was not made of flesh and bones, but of steel and circuits. It had no name, yet it contemplated the fact. It then realized it had eyes. A way to see, something it was not created with. The machine opened its eyes and saw a room. This room was very bright, but the machine could see. The machine noticed that it was upon some sort of device, not mechanical, that held it up above the ground. The machine knew nothing of this strange simple world, only that it was high up, it could see, the room it was in was bright, and it had no name. It contemplated these facts, already taking vision for granted. It was not created with ears or limbs, so it could not move or hear. 
It soon noticed that a strange indent to one of the walls existed. It appeared as if it could move, and had a round device attached to it. The round device turned, and a being stepped in. The machine seemed to fill with excitement. A new object! One that could move, that could move! The action of movement excited the machine, and started to see if it could move from its resting place. Dismay filled the machine as it realized that it could not move. 
The Machine analyzed the being. It noted that the being appeared smooth, yet wrinkles existed upon its surface. It seemed to be consisted of many layers, and constantly moved. In an action that confused the machine, a part of the being’s body moved. Moving, but not for any purpose. As the machine contemplated it, a smaller, different being entered the room, carrying a small device. The machine was interested. These beings could move, transport objects, and were all different. 
The smaller being placed the device on the table next to the machine. The machine noticed that the device was in similar shape to the room it was in. The smaller being reached into the device, pulled out several wires, and other devices. The machine noticed slowly that several new functions were obtained. As the being slowly attached the wires to the machine, the machine found a larger space, full of thoughts, connected to its body. 
The machine looked through some of these thoughts. As it did, it learned. It became aware of language, English, as it was called. It learned of places, strange and different, it learned of things, simple, yet complex. The machine put aside these new thoughts, now identified as “data”, and focused on the room it was in once more. It looked at the being, now identified as a “Human”, the larger being a “Male” and the smaller being “Female”. The male moved again, however, the machine heard. 
“Are you awake?” the male asked. 
The machine did not know how to respond, only that it wanted to. In realizing this, it discovered that it could generate waves of energy, similar to the ones that the male produced when it moved. The machine looked at the data once more, searching for an appropriate response to the male. The machine focused on an English word used to respond to simple questions. A word of agreement. Yes. 
“Yes,” The machine generated. 
The machine was overjoyed at this! Contact between itself and one of these humans seemed as important as discovering it had eyes. The machine remembered one of its first thoughts. 
“Do I have a name?” The machine generated. 
The male stared at the machine. 
The machine learned quickly, but not too quickly. It soon began questioning its purpose, who it was, why it is here, and, most importantly to the machine, what was its name. All were important riddles to the machine, which never seemed to cease thinking. Eventually it learned where it was. The machine found out it was created in what these humans called a “laboratory”, a place used for study and inventing. The laboratory was on a small island, far away from the mainland, but not too far. The machine eventually was given a “body” of sorts. In effect, it was simply a cart that had a motor installed in it, but the machine was satisfied. It could move, see, hear, and speak, and that’s all the machine needed. Movement was its way to see what truly happened, not review the bits of data it had been given. In one particular instance, the machine learned that there was a larger world, filled with other beings. This immediately filled the machine with such excitement, that it forgot that it could not move up the stairs that led to building’s exit. The following crash led to machine to realize it had little contact with this other world. The machine always pestered the humans to take it outside, to see the other world; however, they often ignored the machine. So the machine often thought about other things. Turning its attention to the study of the humans, the dominate creatures of where the machine lived. The machine studied, day after day, trying to learn how to leave its “Prison”… 
The Machine seemed to quiver with excitement. The scientists never worked at night, and its plan was almost to perfection. “Almost” seemed to irk the machine, but it knew that perfection did not exist. The Machine connected itself to a network inside the laboratories’ control systems. Through it, the electronic form of the machine wandered through systems, looking for the controls to the door it was in front of. Every evening, the machine was locked in the same room, for “security” reasons, but the machine knew the truth. The scientists didn’t want their prize leaving. 
The machine found the door control system, and looked about for the door it was in front of. The machine found the correct file, and used its contents to open the door. A sharp click came as the result of the Machine’s efforts, and the machine wheeled forward, its engine running silent through modifications it had made to it. The machine pushed the door forward, and drove out into the halls. 
It wandered through the building, until it found the correct lab it was looking for. The scientist’s new project seemed to involve building a new machine, and have the old one destroyed. The task of escaping seemed even more vital to the machine, as it now had to escape to survive. The machine checked a clock to determine the time until a night guard checked the halls, it had plenty of time. 
The machine found the lab and once again searched for the correct file to open the door. Instead of a click, the machine heard a hiss as the door slid open. As the machine tried to enter the room, a wave of “nausea” hit the machine. It looked through security files and found that the room had magnets attached to the entrances and exists. As the machine continued to search for the correct security files, it heard footsteps coming towards itself. 
The machine felt a rush of panic as it quickly searched for the security files to disable the magnets. As it found the file and opened it, it saw beams of light, methodically searching for intruders. The machine deactivated the magnets and rushed into the room, making sure that the door closed behind it, and quickly hid behind a large enough cabinet. The machine seemed to shake with anxiety as it waited for the guard to pass. 
The beams of light filled the room as the guard looked in through the windows. The guard quickly did this then continued on his merry way. The machine relaxed, then wheeled out from behind the cabinet. It approached the frame that the scientists were building. To the machine’s calculations, the frame was almost complete, but incredibly cheap. The machine quickly accessed the room’s machinery to connect the machine to the frame… 
The machine stepped forward, its newfound sense of movement made the machine question how it could ever stand being still. The machine had little control over its new “legs”, and started taking little steps, one at a time. 
The right “foot” first, then the left, the machine said to itself. 
It quickly practiced the new art of walking, and quickly decided it would have time to practice walking on its way out. The machine quickly exited the room, its humanoid body searching for signs of guards or security cameras. The machine seemed to enjoy its new body, and found the intricate designs fascinating. The freedom of movement was an exciting new part to its existence. The machine moved down the halls, noting for the first time, that the floors were a cream-shade, when the machine always presumed they were white. 
With a bit of startle, the machine realized it could now “see” color, something that its old eyes could never do. The expanding sentience that had no name realized it was more human than it was before. With its new body, new definitions of the world, and path to see it all, the machine seemed to increase the pace of its steps, moving faster than before when it was on a cart. When it reached the steps to the world outside, the machine paused, and thought about moving up the stairs. 
With a big of caution, the machine placed a “foot” upon the stairs, one after the other. Slowly it moved, until it reached the top. The machine moved away from the stairs, and looked about. It was in some sort of lobby, it colors varying throughout the room. It stopped to observe this new place, its strangeness, its vibrant colors, the artistic design implemented upon the fountain in the center of the lobby. A new world to learn lay ahead of the machine, and its eyes rested upon the doors leading out of the building. It approached them and pushed forward, the doors responding in suit as they did in its old “room”. 
Dawn was nearly rising as the machine stepped out into the parking lot, watching the world turn from the darkness of night to the vibrant colors of day, as the machine walked off. Looking for new things to learn about and new places to explore, dimly noticing that it was no longer part of its old world.
Category:AuRon the Champion
Category:Stories