Fiction|Challenge|Fantasy|Adventure
Life Sustaining Mission
60 of 💯 — KIM’s search to sustain life.
This is in response to my Hodgepodge Challenge — No 1. Why not partake yourself?!
“Core battery at 45%.”
The persistent voice in her head updating her status was growing more frequent, and becoming more irritating — part of still having some human functionality.
KIM pushed the reminder from her mind as she rummaged through the dumpster, seeking items to repair her power core. Finding nothing discarded, she climbed on the moped and continued to another section of the run-down city.
She gazed at the fall foliage — beams of light shone through the leafy canopy as the motorbike puttered along. She was thankful she could still enjoy it in her mediocre existence. She breathed deeply of the drying leaves as her eyes tracked a scampering squirrel, bounding across the ground.
Turning the moped off, she continued her all-too-frequent search for parts, wishing the ‘powers that be’ had just let her die rather than become their failed experiment. She was blessed to have no recollection of life before being integrated with machines — only the fear after awakening.
Most of the residences in this area of town had been abandoned for nearly a decade. The homes lost the battle with decay long ago and were overrun with plants. KIM rode to the dumpster at the edge of town and searched for parts. Climbing out empty-handed, she paused. “That smells like…smoke. I thought I was alone…” Curious, she abandoned her quest to find the source.
She quietly peered around the corners of crumbling buildings. The scent of smoke was growing stronger, with something else intermingled with it. Something sweet?
One mechanical eye peered around the corner of the brick building as her body conformed to the crumbling surface. About fifty yards away, KIM saw smoke rising. From a campfire? Her bionic eye adjusted to the distance, allowing her to see a human roasting something golden brown and somewhat oddly shaped.
She searched her memory bank, taking about three nanoseconds, to discover it was a marshmallow. “They still exist?”
Changing tactics, she rode to a large country farmhouse with a caved roof and peeling paint — giving it the texture of tree bark.
She strode to the back of the house, hopeful a barn would be intact. She noticed a scarecrow slumped on a pole with a few volunteer crops drying amidst the tall grass, waving in the breeze.
KIM was walking towards the barn when she thought she saw the scarecrow move.
“Core battery at 43%.”
She dismissed the updated status and went to examine the straw figure more closely.
As KIM approached, the scarecrow became very animated, its arms flailed wildly. She searched her memory bank for an appropriate greeting.
“What’s up Buttercup?”
She waited for a response. Receiving none, she walked to the back of the scarecrow. Checking the neck, she read ‘Scaring Crows Algorithm Maintenance 1.0.’
Stepping back to face the scarecrow, “Oh wow, you’re the first SCAM I’ve come in contact with! I am Kinetics Integration Mechanism, but you can call me KIM.”
She paused, running a query on SCAM to discover they were not given voice capabilities. KIM felt a twinge of compassion for the machine and loosed it from the pole, likely anchored for decades — being such an early model.
After some time, SCAM found his balance, much like a newborn foal. He continued to flail his arms at her, looking frantically around the property for something. It didn’t take long for KIM’s humanity to find this annoying.
“What is wrong with you? We need to work on your communication before I attach you back on that pole.”
SCAM’s shoulders drooped dramatically before quickly straightening again. He pointed to the barn, or past it, as he got in her face — waving his arms and shaking his head.
She peered past him at the goal, just yards away, possibly containing her future livelihood, then back at SCAM. “Is there something urgent you are trying to tell me?”
SCAM jumped up and down, waving his arms. He shook one in the direction of the barn while holding the other to KIM, telling her to stop.
“I need to check the barn for parts. My core battery is depleting.”
Again, SCAM shook his head vehemently.
KIM eyed their surroundings but could see no imminent threat. Walking around him, she continued towards the barn. He ran after her, tugging her arm.
She sighed in exasperation. Stopping, she turned to SCAM, picked him up as his eyes widened in shock, then placed him in a peach tree.
Before she was fully turned to continue her mission, she witnessed the tree fold its branches around SCAM. He flopped within the wooden confines like a fish out of water.
KIM stared in shock as she took a step back. “Genetically modified trees! I thought they went extinct!”
“Core battery at 40%.”
She considered finding a way to release him from the wooden prison but was on a timetable.
Nearly to the barn, she saw a large pond in the distance with a horse near the shore. Her eyes lit up, the mechanical one glowing amber, “I’d not seen a live horse in decades!” She drew near, as quietly as she could manage in the tall grass, littered with leaves. As soon as the horse saw her, it backflipped and dove into the watery depths.
KIM froze, jaw slack, as she couldn’t believe what she’d witnessed. She played back the memory, slowing it by half. When the image was shown completely out of the water, she paused it and began searching her memory banks. In a brief moment, her optical image matched the description of a mythical hippocampus.
“Wonder of wonders!” She added the video to her internal storage as she rerouted to the barn. Pushing the door open wide to the natural light, her eyes focused on minuscule dust particles dancing in the sunshine. Looking further in, she found some of the last farming equipment manufactured. Intact!
Smiling at the goldmine that would sustain her for many decades to come, she set her sights on freeing SCAM.
Both word prompts — 2 points
All 5 elements — 5 points
1,000 words — 1 bonus point
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Inspired by Zane Dickens’💯 Story Challenge.