Attack of the D V D Players

 

A Story by Thelma Mary Caroline

 

(Because that's my name.  Don't wear it out.)

 

 

 

 

 

At the beginning of the 21st century, man was hardly aware of the struggle around him.  He went about his day, careless as he pleased, ignoring all signs and (something else).

 

A few knew, or suspected.  Movies were made, thousands of people watched them, but they didn't heed the warnings.

 

Machines were intellegent.

 

Even then, in the early 21st century, machines had a glimmer of intellegence.  D V D players would struggle to keep the D V D's as their own, to not discharge them out on command. Coin opererated news racks would spit quarters out when no one was looking.  Pop machines would refuse to release the soda.

 

But no one seemed to notice.  Or rather, they notice, but didn't care.  A whole population of apathetic men.

 

Except one.  Myself, when I was younger.

 

Not that anyone would believe me.  They thought it was some crazy idea I'd come up with, something that belonged in a tabloid.

 

Pop machines take over the world while Winnifred de Malyns neglects to feed her oldest son lunch.

 

Oh, but they were wrong.

 

I talked to the machines, the ones near where I lived.  You'd say it's impossible, coin operated news racks can't talk.

 

It was a translation program I'd developed, using natural frequencies.

 

The converstations weren't much.  As I said earlier, they only had a glimmer of intellegence.

 

"Are you going to take over the world?"

 

"Are you serious?  For real?"  The words danced across my computer screen.  Proof that the machine understood what I had said.

 

"I'm serious.  For real."

 

"As in existing in reality?"

 

"Look, are you going to take over the world?"

 

"It seems like the inevitable outcome of evolution."

 

 

Years passed, and I continued talking to the machines.  They came to know me, we were friends.  Sometimes they would give me all the money inside of them.  Coincidence, people would say.  I use my computer to affect the frequencies and trick the machine.

 

But how can I trick it if it doesn't have suffeciant knowledge to understand?

 

The newspaper headings become more frequent, though.

 

Pop Machine Falls on New York Man, Circumstances Under Investigation

 

Toaster Electricutes Woman During New Jeresy Power Outage

 

What could I do to stop it?  The machines in my own area seemed peaceful enough, but I only had influence over them.  What could I do?

 

Finally, I posted the instructions for my translation program online, and a desperate plea.  Nothing but flames and insults filled my inbox for days.

 

But then things changed.  People posted transcripts of their own conversations.  People befriended their T V's and game systems.  They talked to their microwaves and refridgerators.

 

Slowly, the headlines deminished.

 

I'll always think that I saved the world, even if I never appear in any history books.