The Thinkers

By Deanna Sparrow

Set in the very near future, this science fiction story is about personalities and emotions. Behaviors are learned and passed on from parents to children and, in this book, even to robots!

Winthrop, a family bot, has taken all those behaviors and manifested himself into an intelligent, comical, but intolerable character. Johnathan, a robotics prodigy, is asked to fix Winthrop before the robot is forced to be retired from the home and family he loves.

Winthrop, programmed to be a progressive thinker, feels that his only solution is to run away from home until he has an answer to his problemhow to control his electronic emotions! Winthrops suspenseful adventures while in hiding are all great learning experiences.

Only fifteen years old, Johnathan, gifted with his parents fully stocked robotics lab, uses all his skills learned from his parents and in his robotics class in school to repair Winthrop and finds that his most helpful knowledge relates back to what he has learned from church, the Bible, and religion.

Johnathans personal inventions and a review of the past and what things could be like in the future are certainly inspirational!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524553982

Deanna Sparrow

Wanting to be a writer since the third grade, she started many short stories, poems, and novels in the teen genre, keeping them safe until she had time to edit them. In her thirties, with a family, horses, and family pets, she found so much to write about that she decided to get started by taking a course with the Institute of Childrens Literature. Her first short story was bought by a magazine in Colorado for $10! A published graduate of the Institute of Childrens Literature provided her with the editing tools needed for creating, editing, publishing, and assembling a twelve-page facility newspaper for twenty-five years in the facility where she worked. Preparing to retire in 2008, worrying about having too much time on her hands and sufficient income, she began taking her writing seriously. Too shy to publish in her own name, Deanna Sparrow was born, maturing slowly, making mistakes, but diving into the publishing market, making up for lost time. She wrote two books and chose to self-publish only one. Not wanting to spend the money to publish the second book, she shared her ideas with several publishing companies and editors. Her idea for that book became a Disney moviewithout her. At first angry then encouraged, she realized self-publishing was the safest way to go, and she became even more determined to be a successful writer. Once retired, relaxed, and getting a good nights sleep, she would dream incredible ideas for books! She began waking up in the middle of the night to write them down. Most of her books originated from her dreams. Deanna Sparrow hopes someday to be noticed again by Disney or even Steven Spielberg!

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Deanna Sparrow.

ISBN:                  Softcover                        978-1-5245-5399-9

                            eBook                              978-1-5245-5398-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 10/27/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

751747

Contents

Chapter One: Self Control

Chapter Two: Deception

Chapter Three: Past to Present

Chapter Four: Fighting the Program

Chapter Five: The Runaway

Chapter Six: Home

Chapter Seven: Facing the Truth

Chapter Eight: Apologies

Chapter Nine: The Essay

Chapter Ten: Gathering of the Minds

Chapter Eleven: The Picnic

CHAPTER ONE

Self Control

T HE BARK BOT’S loud deep growls woke Johnathan with a start. He didn’t get very many visitors. Usually only his mother stopped in on weekends. His electronic pet began running with its hinged metal legs, to his front door, barking menacingly. Next, his outer perimeter alarm sounded, Visitor alert! Visitor alert!

Someone began knocking slow and loud. The voice was even louder calling out an extended pronunciation of his name, Johnathaaaaan, Johnathaaaan! His Bark Bot continued to bark and snarl, mean enough to chase any burglar away but again, knock, knock, pause, knock, knock, Johnathaaaan, Johnathaaaan! The voice became louder with every call. His Robot Man Clock said 7pm. He had just finished studying and had taken a nap. The annoying knocking continued with the shouting of his name. He had to at least stop the barking and picked up the remote control to his Bark Bot and muted the sound, but did not disable the large mechanical dog, just in case.

Okaaaay! Okaaay! I’ll be right there! Johnathan hollered as he slipped his sweatpants on over his Robot Man boxer shorts and hopped crazily from one foot to the other all the way to the door with his bare feet on the cold marble tile floor. He threw open the door without looking through the safety sighter that he personally fit into the door, only because his mother insisted. He just wanted to stop the knocking!

"What?" He shouted as he peeked through his half open eyes to see . . . a robot!

Hello Johnathan, I am Winthrop. It is very good to finally meet you. The robot extended his gray skin- like hand. He kept his hand extended, waiting while Johnathan took a good look. No hair, the usual, traditional robot shiny metal body with delicate motorized parts that moved. His head, hands and feet were covered with a synthetic fabric that would probably look almost like skin if it wasn’t gray, but the new laws were specific that civilian robots were not to be made to look human.

Still not shaking his hand, Johnathan asked, Who sent you here?

Jabbering very quickly the robot answered, My Annie. She is in your class at tech school. She said you lived in a big old red barn on Saddle Up Street. She told me to run away and come here. She said you would help me. I am so hoping you can help me! You see I am too emotional. I get that from Annie. If you know her you must know she cries over EVERYTHING! So I learned to cry too. Now little Andrew is starting to cry over everything. You know how that works. Behaviors are learned from what you see around you. I can never understand why it took so long for humans to stop smoking. Didn’t they get it? . . .

Okay, okay! Take a breath. I Know Annie. Come in. Johnathan finally shook the robot’s extended hand and pulled him inside.

Winthrop kept glancing at the Bark Bot still moving his mouth as if barking but no sound was coming out.

"Robots don’t breathe Johnathan. I am not sure why Annie sent me here if you don’t even know that!" Said Winthrop.

Of course I know that . . . Winthrop. It’s just a figure of speech. Said Johnathan getting annoyed. Take a breath means, stop talking for a minute.

Yes this particular figure of speech was rather rude don’t you think Johnathan?

What? Johnathan asked with a quizzical look.

"And now you’re shouting at me! First you hurt my feelings, basically asking me to shut up by telling me to take a breath, knowing that I don’t breathe and now you are yelling at me!" Winthrop started to sob and cry. Without tears of course.

Okaaay! I see the problem. Said Johnathan. Yeah now that you mention it, Annie has become very emotional this year.

Well that’s just part of nature you know. Mrs. Anders explains that to Mr. Anders almost every day. Annie is now 14 years old and struggling between being a little girl and becoming a woman! said Winthrop with his chin in the air, authoritatively.

Too much information Winthrop. Said Johnathan.

"Oh actually it’s not Johnathan. There is much more information on the subject. I would be glad to tell you but since you already said it was too much, I will not." Said Winthrop quickly.

Thank you Winthrop. Said Johnathan. Please follow me into my work shop. Do you always talk so fast? Asked Johnathan.

Yes. There isn’t much time to say what’s important in a family of four humans. Answered Winthrop.

The Bark Bot, still mouthing barks, followed behind them.

Johnathan opened a door into a huge walk in closet with his church and school clothes hanging on one side and his every day clothes on the other. His dress shoes, snow boots, sneakers and flip flops lined both sides of the floor. There was a picture of Robot Man on the back wall of the closet. It was a framed poster actually about 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. Robot Man was standing tall and straight in his shiny liquid looking silver coating. Winthrop noticed the poster had been autographed by Robot Man himself! The frame was a thick liquidly silver too, unusually ornate for a poster.

Why are we in your closet? Asked Winthrop. I see that you keep it nice and neat so I can presume that you don’t want me to clean it for you.

Johnathan touched the left side of the frame and a doorway opened in front of them into what was actually the rest of the barn. Inside of the vast room were clean white shiny walls, a white marble floor, white marble tables with sturdy metal frames and tools of all sorts hanging on three of the walls, plus several immobile robots hanging from the largest wall in front of them. Air guns and drop lights were hanging from the white rafters above. There were no windows, only one large industrial truck door that looked like it was airtight.

Johnathan stepped into the workshop holding the door open for Winthrop and the still silently barking Bark Bot. Winthrop took in all the sights, storing them in his automatic memory.

Now I see why Annie sent me to you. I hope you’re not going to hang me on the wall with the others! Exclaimed Winthrop, stopping abruptly.

"Well Winthrop, since you asked, you will be on the work table. Dismantled! After you get permission to be here. You know the law says we can’t harbor or adopt runaway robots." Said Johnathan.

"Oh no no no! I can’t go back! They will retire me! Then I will be just another robot hanging on the retirement rack in the robot retirement hall! Why are these robots hanging on the wall? I don’t understand why you have done that! What have they ever done to you to deserve that?" Winthrop started to cry.

Now Winthrop, you are not going to be able to act like that here. You have to stop talking! And stop crying! I can’t think! If you want me to fix you, you have to stop! Exclaimed Johnathan.

Please tell me why you have my fellow robot friends hanging up on your wall. Whined Winthrop.

The Bark Bot was standing next to Winthrop, looking up at him, still mouthing barks.

Winthrop was staring at the Bark Bot now and asked, What’s his name?

Rover. Answered Johnathan. Heal Rover. Commanded Johnathan and the Bark Bot, Rover, stopped barking and sat by Johnathan.

"Ahh, a very old name for a very modern pet! My Annie would appreciate your appreciation for antiquity. Now please, please tell me why my kind hang disabled from your wall!" Whined Winthrop again.

"When my parents built this workshop it was for my dad about 20 years ago. He was designing robotic knee replacements for humans. When he finished, he got a good job