T H U N D E R  S T R U C K

by MerlosTheMad  

Chapter 1 : Power Acquisition Request  

Friday Night. The machine's motors whirred, moving it in a rhythmic way through the house. The alloy base of its legs, designated 'hooves', clopped softly on the bare wooden flooring. The logic center of the unit's processors had determined a long time ago, approximately nine years, rounded, that it was due to their appearance. The bases of its legs were not, in fact, real hooves at all. It did not make sense then, for them to be designated 'hooves'.  The unit knew many things. It knew that its full designation was 'Sweetie Belle', that it could hop approximately three feet vertically with an error range of two inches, and of course, that its maker was the keeper of the power outlet.  It often, however, did not understand its maker, like many other things. Unlike many other things, Creator would also often go against the very logic program she had given Unit Sweetie. One such oddity was that it was programmed to request power, despite the presence of a storm in the area. It determined that could be dangerous to its systems, something it was also programmed to protect. It could not act out against Creator's directive, though.  Still, that was not a concern of Unit Sweetie's at the moment. It typically spent very little power or time processing Creator or her decisions. Creator was simply, Creator. For the time being, obtaining power was the unit's only primary directive. Without the power outlet, Unit Sweetie would shut down. Without the power outlet, it would fail a primary directive; that directive simply being to remain active at all times.  Unit Sweetie was unable to fulfill the powering action itself, and was unsure why its maker had made it so. The processor's logic matrix could think of several things it could do to obtain power by itself through some means, whether by using something as advanced as various articles around the maker's house, or just utilizing its mouth.  Despite this, Unit Sweetie was programmed to always request its maker to plug it in, rather than use its designs and plans; things it made during its processor's periods of low activity. It wasn't a part of the logic matrix to second guess or resent, or even object to this. It was just a program, no more alive than any other computer or software.  The twin cameras that Unit Sweetie used for vision registered the darkness filling the house. It was difficult to see with the lack of normal light parameters, but that was acceptable; it could still make out obstacles.  There were various other shapes moving in the building's darkness. They were designated 'real animals' within the memory storage. It was important to avoid them, but if necessary, it was allowed by the programming to discourage them from interfering with the unit.  The cameras tracked a small shape flitting through the shadow; it was a 'cat', and one of the unit's targets designated 'nuisance'.  The cats especially liked to mewl and pester the unit. It did not care, it could not care, but it was necessary to discourage the felines from getting too bold as per the unit's programming, and that required power. There wasn't much power left, now. Its processor's logic matrix often worked hard to decide on effective methods of gently discouraging the cats efficiently.  For now, they made no move against the unit, which was acceptable, and fortunate. The unit did not have power to spare chasing cats or utilizing the 4 mW laser diodes which they would chase without pause. The equipment designated 'laser pointers' were often kept near the top of the logic matrix's priority systems list, but they had to be dropped this time out of necessity to reach Creator's room with the scant power remaining.  Unit Sweetie's logic matrix quickly calculated the distance remaining to Creator's room; it was determined there would be time still to request power. It knew the distance separating itself from the room well, but busily recalculated the floor length to ensure success of power acquisition. The memory storage backups were refreshed with the new measurement, though it was the same.  The little processors contained within the unit's chassis were filled with information of every sort; behavioral parameters, temperature, movement data, the surroundings, vast amounts of trivia, power levels, structural statistics, and one more thing, its creator. The Creator was the key to everything, and the unit was very familiar with her; even if it didn't understand her.  Unit Sweetie nudged the door to its maker's room open with its nose apparatus, then walked in slowly. It monitored its power dwindling by the second. It had waited approximately one hour; forty-seven minutes; twelve seconds and fourteen nano-seconds longer than usual to request power. That wasn't normal. The processor cores could not come up with an explanation for Unit Sweetie upon request.  Unit Sweetie's 'eyes' spotted its first goal; Creator, sitting idly on a unit designated 'furniture: couch'. The processors moved onto step two of power acquisition, which was to drop the power cord linked to its left flank from its mouth, onto the ground.