Genre+story

Not sure how to work this site.

THE PURPLE CATASTROPHE

The massive machine whirred to life, its hulking chambers riveting with the force of colliding and splitting atoms. In the center of the machine stood a tank, so full of wires that the pulsing pink mass in the center was almost invisible.

"Have you finished syncing the historical data banks?" said head clone.

"Yes. I think it's come up with something. We should be ready to test the machine soon," replied one of the worker clones.

"Good," muttered the head clone, putting his face close to the glass. "Perhaps after this one they'll finally let us go."

The worker nodded frantically. They had all spent their entire lives in the lab. The government had never been kind to clones, but perhaps with completing what could be the biggest breakthrough yet, they'd let them go and live as normal people. At least, that's what all the workers hoped for.

The machine lurched, and a message appeared on the computer screen.

"What's it saying?" demanded the head clone.

"It's ready to be tested," replied the worker, eagerly flipping a switch. The area around the tank became blindingly bright, so much so that a dark film quickly spread itself across the clones' eyes, shielding them from the light. An unceremonious "ding" was omitted from a six foot tall chamber next to the tank, steaming with heat.

"What are you waiting for? Open it!" commanded the head clone.

The worker tentatively opened the chamber. At the bottom sat something neither of them had ever seen before. He lifted it up. It was colorful; a layer of white on top with brown edges, followed by a pile of some green thing. Bellow that, two red circles peaked out, and then a layer of something vaguely pink and mildly slimy looking, on top of another layer of white and brown.

"Sand-wick?" read the worker off the screen.

"No, you dunce. It's a sandwich!" cried the head clone, snatching it from the worker's hands. "Let's see... I read about these. Lettuce and wheat went extinct thousands of years ago, tomatoes went shortly after... But this pink thing. I believe it comes from a pig. Now those haven't been around for over forty thousand years!"

"It smells rather vile," said the worker, taking a whiff of it.

"Did they mess up your brain during the cloning process? These were a delicacy!" The head clone rushed to put the sandwich in an ice chamber. "Better save that. I could sell these when I get out of here."

The worker watched him skeptically. It didn't seem right. Perhaps they had messed up his brain; clones were meant to think for scientific progress, but a machine that could produce anything, out of thin air? This was dangerous.

"We'll give it another run tomorrow..." muttered the head clone, typing in the day's findings into the computer. He flipped a few switches on the control panel. "It'll need time overnight to think," he said to himself. "Tomorrow, we'll try something alive! Giving a gleeful shout, he walked out of the massive chamber, leaving the worker to his thoughts.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">He watched the pink mass in the tank. Poor thing, he thought, shaking his head. Also grown in a lab, he felt as if this enhanced brain was kin to him. A machine like this needed imagination, banned from computers after teams of robots went rogue on Saturn, so they had to work with what was available. A brain was constructed to filter information and provide ideas, but so far, command of the pitiful thing was limited. He picked up one of the info-screens and flipped to one of the old books he had been syncing. It was a rather odd story, one about small people and a piece of jewelry.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Finish syncing The Fellowship of the Ring," he told the info-screen, as the words began to flow into his open mind. But he stopped, remembering a song he had found while browsing the historical data banks. "Play 'Friday," he added.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Specify," uttered the screen in a cool, female voice.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"'Friday,' by Rebecca Black," he replied, closing his eyes and allowing the information to smoothly flow through him.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Well, today's the day!" called the head clone enthusiastically.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The worker looked at him glumly, contemplating the story he had finished the night before. The character of Gollum had been on his mind. It had reminded him vaguely of the head clone.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Now, don't look so down," said the head clone, glancing at him. "Go ahead. I'll even let you flip the switch!"

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The big purple switch that unleashed power into the machine looked menacing, but he didn't argue. As he laid his hand on the switch, he felt a jolt of energy course through him. It felt almost as if the machine had looked inside his mind.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Something wrong?" questioned the head clone.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The worker didn't reply and swiftly flipped the switch. Again, the room filled with blinding light, only it was vaguely purple this time. It was also accompanied by a screeching noise, which morphed into a tremendous and frightening whirring noise. Just as he thought the whole machine was going to implode on itself, the "ding" sounded once more, and the room was filled with a scorched and metallic scent.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">This time, the head clone jumped in front of him, yanking open the door to the chamber.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"What the hell is that?" he said, wide-eyed and confused. "It's got some of those upgrades those guys from inspection had."

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">It resembled a baby, in a very eerie way. It was slightly shorter than both the clones, and it was covered in strange purple fuzz. On top of its head was a triangle, and in the center of its belly was a screen. The triangle was reminiscent of the telepathic wires the inspectors had, along with the screen in its middle. A few beeping sounds came from the computer, and the worker craned his neck to read it.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Tel-e-tub-eye?" he muttered, giving the head clone a confused look.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"PRECIOUS!" wailed the thing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"It can talk!" cried the head clone. "What is your name?"

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"TINKY WINKY WANTS PRECIOUS!" it screamed, launching itself on to the head clone.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Good god! Get it off me!"

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The worker watched, dazed and confused.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Suddenly, the creature stepped back, and the head clone ran to hide behind the worker. The screen on the creature turned blue and began to glitter.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"What's it doing?" said the head clone.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">As if I would know, thought the worker, beginning to feel quite horrified.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The screen suddenly flickered to life, and an image of a young human girl appeared. Her mouth opened and she began to chant.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"SEVEN AM, WAKIN' UP IN THE MORNIN', GOTTA BE FRESH, GOTTA GO DOWNSTAIRS!" The chanting became inhumanly fast, and the colors on the screen fluctuated and inverted. The creature's eyes closed, and he uttered one last "PRECIOUS" before vaporizing into a cloud of purple dust.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The head clone gasped and coughed, inhaling and choking on some of the remnants of the poor creature.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">“I guess that counts as a failure,” he muttered sadly, eyeing the pink mass resentfully.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">As the head clone began to recount the day’s findings, the exhausted worker left abruptly, the tune to “Friday” still repeating in his exhausted mind. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The end.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Basically, this was a serious story, until I fell asleep.