Science Fiction - Unfinished

The engine on the remotely controlled H45-M2 Light Assault Vehicle thrummed to life. It lifted smoothly a meter into the air, its repulsorlift coils creating the gravity nullifying cushion on which it rested. Swift but smooth acceleration followed its takeoff, but this amazing feat was nothing compared to the intricate course it began weaving through the grassy field.

A kilometer away, atop a slight hill, bleachers were set up, upon which a dozen people sat, watching the hover tank via a large holoprojection off to the side. Just as they began to tire of watching the LAV antics, a small two-meter long eight-legged metal spider undulated out from behind the bleachers and stationed itself a dozen meters in front of the spectators.

“And this, ladies and gentlemen,” said Dr. Glenn Houst, the leading engineer of the AI weapons development project, “is the new AI-145. Because of its powerful Particle Retrofactor, a newly designed weapon, this fighting robot represents the pinnacle in Artificial Intelligence weapons development research. Its advanced brain is capable of processing gigabytes of data in seconds, and because of its newly designed neural net, based on the human brain, it can reason out complex decisions logically and efficiently. Because of the Retrofactor’s massive power requirements, a very high output generator was required . . .”

As the announcer continued his commentary, the AI-145 shuffled its feet and moved into a crouching position. Hinged double doors on its top slid apart as a cube-shaped wire frame device rose and locked into place. The bottom of the weapon was connected by means of a thick and heavily reinforced power conduit directly to the matter-to-energy converter deep inside the metal beast.

“Now, please focus your attention on the LAV maneuvering down on the field and witness the destructive capability of the AI-145 and its Particle Retrofactor.”

Intense golden light spread out across the exposed wires of the cube. A faint deep rumble accompanied their movement, rising in volume as the wire transformation neared completion. This took only seconds, and was followed by the appearance of an energy shield which surrounded the robot and cut off all sound emanating from it.
In the center of the cube, a small golf ball sized blue sphere of pure energy formed directly above the conduit opening and expanded until it was roughly the diameter of a softball. The light emitted from the Particle Retrofactor brightened drastically, but was dimmed before it could blind the spectators as the robot’s shields opacified.

Just as the LAV made a sharp turn and accelerated, hundreds of tiny energy darts suddenly appeared within six meters of the LAV, shot from the sphere but remaining invisible and insubstantial until they had raced the kilometer distance to the maneuvering LAV. Within several seconds, the shredded vehicle plummeted to the ground and exploded, leaving a smoking pile of debris as a monument to the destructiveness of the Retrofactor, and the effectiveness of the AI-145.