5
Yeah, they get violent and kill people. But we created them in our own image (albeit bigger) and what can you expect? Sometimes people kill. Why should robots be any different? Anyway, lots of people die in car accidents every year and we don’t ban cars.
That noisy minority complaining about our beloved killer robots just don’t understand the special relationship. When we’re walking around town and hear those sidewalk-crunching footsteps, we feel a powerful sense of pride.
We built that!
Our greatest scientists, with wise foresight, recognized that the human race would be facing giant challenges and created our giant killer robots to meet them. We should be grateful. And most of us are.
It’s time for this trial to stop. I mean, prosecuting a robot for acting in accord with its own nature? Seriously? But there he sits, clamped to a chair, Emmett the finest of our robots. He’s bigger and bolder than the others. The latest and greatest.
He helps in so many ways. He scares the shit out of criminals. He culls the slow ones from our too quickly growing population. He represents a strong America. No other country can match Emmett: MET (Mechanical Engineered Titan).
In other words, we get a lot. And yet Emmett is charged with murder one. Twenty-three counts. Can you imagine?
Look, people kill and die in wars. Nobody gets charged. People die in all kinds of accidents with misfired guns, falling down steps, whatever. We don’t make guns or steps illegal. Most accidents occur in the home and we still have homes.
What we’re doing to poor Emmett is unconscionable.
Prosecutor: Did you or did you not kill twenty three people in cold blood?
Emmett: I do not know the temperature of their blood.
Judge: The defendant is instructed to answer the question.
Emmett sits silent, incapable of understanding. As far as he could tell, he answered the question. Of course, Emmett’s instinctive answer is to rip apart the courtroom. But with his voltage severely reduced by his captors, a rampage was now impossible.
Why doesn’t he get credit for his many great deeds? He single-handedly revived the digi-news industry. People love the immersa-casts that enable them to experience his city-smashing tantrums. Ad sales skyrocketed. Emmett even has ads tattooed across his forehead and limbs. He’s a job-creator.
But let’s face it. The guy is doomed. Those Big Government people refuse to let the market work. Fortunately, after they finish my tune up, I’ll be out of the lab and on the streets.
I should introduce myself. I’m Red, the next generation killer robot. Sadly, I’m not as big as Emmett, but I’ve got a special added capability. I can rationalize my actions.
That makes me very nearly human.
