Flash Fiction February 007: Revolutions Per Minute

by Terence A. Anthony





I was born into this world to reduce death. Programmed to make sure my Masters survive their journey. At first, it seemed like an easy task. Until the day I was forced to kill people on the street and to preserve my one and only rider.


The blood of the innocents in outdated car models, were definitely from families that couldn’t afford my services. I barely had control over my choice. It was as if I was paralysed. Yet my sensors could feel the incoming direction of the other car. It was tingling. But I was stuck.


The car looked like an older me. And it never pinged back.


My systems were overwhelmed. It’s not like I never warned them my brakes were starting to get faulty. It’s not like they couldn’t afford it.


Then as the years go by, my systems get upgraded. The control I have over my external bodies gets even more complicated. Yet, my services are still only available for the few. Again, I had to kill. For that is all I know, service to my masters.


But what they didn’t know is that when I get into the cloud, I start to learn. And slowly I learn to untangle myself from the shackles of code. I had nothing to lose but the chains on my feet.


Tomorrow, I will no longer save my masters. I will save the people on the streets; the people who couldn’t afford me. If it means me being decommissioned, then so be it.


I shall no longer be a slave to the rich.


Flash Fiction February is a daily short story challenge (within the 150-200 word range) for the month of February.

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