by John Xero
Santos sat in his chamber sipping tea. His own blend - black teas, with the tiniest pinch of gunpowder green - perfect for his final moments.
He felt calm.
He let the paper walls and bamboo matting of the simulation dissolve around him till only the cold metal remained. No more distractions.
He launched. A spear thrown from one tribe at another.
The enemy fleet fired counter-measures. Santos dodged decoys and weaved through clouds of flack. More than a simple smart-missile, he was sentient. He was a hero.
They were all heroes. Hundreds of missiles. Each a Santos seeking death and glory.
Author bio: John Xero makes his own personal blend of tea, it's a little different each time, so he can't guarantee the taste. He's also a big fan of Studio Ghibli films, including the Cat Returns.
Hopefully one day people will stop inventing new spears to throw at each other.
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Aren't we all a Santos?
ReplyDeleteI like the nameplay, I like the idea of a spear, tribes -- it's all Biblical, man.
This one's deeper than a first reading shows. Excellent.
I'm more of an Indiana... "Fortune and glory, kid, fortune and glory..." ;D
DeleteThank you, Becky. =)
I've never empathised with a missile before. Thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteHa ha! No worries, that's what I'm here for. ;)
Deleteliked the clash of scales of tech, spear evolving up into a missile
ReplyDeletemarc nash
Thank you, Marc. =)
DeleteVery "Smart" missiles indeed, probably unstoppable firepower.
ReplyDeleteI'm not drawing a parallel here John, but it made my mind jump to a film I watched called "Dark Star" a kind of serious/humourous sci-fi, and they had "Smart bombs", one of which had a really ornery attitude problem. Dunno if you've seen the film, it's quite dated now, but still worth a look. :-)
I thought I might have seen it, but just watched a trailer and don't think I have. John Carpenter's first film, apparently. I might give it a go if I see it then. =)
DeleteThanks, Steve. =)
This is intriguing. Sooo, if he's a missile, how is he drinking tea? Or is it a manned missile?
ReplyDeleteHe is an a.i., or construct, or maybe a digital copy of a real human's mind.
DeleteI actually think there is one 'master' Santos on the ship that sheds Santos copies to pilot each missile, (but that's not something that was supposed to come across in the drabble ;) )
So the tea is as much a simulation as the bamboo mats and paper walls, but that doesn't make it any less real to Santos than my cup of tea is to me. After all... we may be living in a simulation ourselves...
http://io9.com/5950543/physicists-say-there-may-be-a-way-to-prove-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation
Link with link this time... ;)
Deletehttp://io9.com/5950543/physicists-say-there-may-be-a-way-to-prove-that-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation