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"Building one space station for everyone was and is insane: we should have built a dozen."
- Larry Niven
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| Radio-Controlled Mechanical Man | ||
| A remote-controlled robot. |
| They were terrified at what they saw. It was
described as being “a huge iron mass that resembled a man.” Violet-colored blazes raced over the
hideous giant. Brilliant red lights glowed where its
eyes should have been. The thing had arms and
legs. It stood erect, turned its head from side to
side in a monotonous manner with a mechanical
leer on its metallic features.
The salesmen were paralyzed with fear as it stalked down the aisle of the store. Its feet were shod with rubber, apparently; for when it moved there were no noises other than a slight grinding whirr. According to the Daily Bulletin, it walked, or rather glided, to the vault, reached into the trays, and scooped up a handful of blue diamonds. Depositing them in a concealed pocket, it turned toward the employees who were huddled together in a corner, and——spoke!
 (Mechanical Man from 'The Robot Terror' by Melbourne Huff) “Gentlemen,” it began slowly and in a harsh phonographic tone, “you have received me quite cordially this evening. It is well, for ‘Monarch’ is very irritable and most dangerous. As you can perceive, I am a most unusual person. ‘Monarch’ bids you adieu.” ...“Of course, Inspector,” I pointed out, “this is a most unusual case, but you must admit science has developed many almost unbelievable contrivances within the past several years. Why not a mechanical man who walks and talks?” |
| Technovelgy from The Robot Terror,
by Melbourne Huff. Published by Scientific Detective Monthly in 1930 Additional resources -
|
Eventually, the police gain access to the mechanical man's control room:
"Just before noon, a bald, bespectacled, middle-aged man climbed
through a door leading from the
broadcast room. After turning on
several dim lights on a peculiarly
shaped instrument. board a low whirring noise pervaded the room. A television-scanning disc began revolving,
and through the screen we saw the
iron robot, sitting in an armored car.
We later discovered this machine had
been concealed in the cellar of an old
house, situated near the asylum.
“Drawing my pistol, I handed another to Professor Carlton, and whispered to him to be ready to control
the madman. As we prepared to leap
a cold voice warned us to “sit still’.
I looked around into the muzzle of a
large revolver and made out the thin
figure of Dr. McMunsey standing
near the secret entrance. Carlton and
I dropped our weapons at his command. Watching us like an eagle, he
kicked our guns out of reach and
switched on a light.
“I insist that you note the one
canny ability of Eric’s servant”, he
said: “Watch him closely”.
“I looked into the screen again.
The robot was gliding along my front
walk. He lumbered awkwardly up
the steps of my home! I prayed the
doors were locked. They were, but to
no avail. “Monarch” plunged
through them as though the house
were made of tissue.
“Tense and overwhelmed as I was,
I could not bear to think of what
might happen to my daughter. I
lunged beneath McMunsey’s gun and
grasped his legs. As we rolled over,
I saw Carlton reach for Eric. A shot
was fired, and I heard a groan from
Carlton. Then I received a terrific
blow on my head, stunning me. When
I recovered, my arm was shackled to
Carlton’s with my own handcuffs and
the doctor was standing above us.
Carlton was unconscious, and blood
was streaming from his shoulder.
Several minutes passed before I could
pull myself together. My eyes went
back to the screen.
“There was my daughter in full
view. She was clinging to a pillow
and I could hear her screaming. It
was terrible. “Monarch” was standing near the foot of Claire’s bed.
We gained entrance to Eric’s
laboratory through a trap door revealed by an inmate of the asylum.
After examining the equipment, we
secreted ourselves in a dark corner of
the room—the professor and I—while
Charles Stanley slipped out to return
to the city and bring reinforcements.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Robot Terror
More Ideas
and Technology by Melbourne Huff
Tech news articles related to The Robot Terror
Tech news articles related to works by Melbourne Huff
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'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
