Prologue

“In the beginning, there was nothing. Then God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was still nothing, but you could see it.”
- Groucho Marx



-beep- ffsssssssh
…
-beep- ffsssssssh
…
-beep- ffsssssssh
…
[This is the life of a robot. Automatic and unquestioning. A corresponding ‘ffsssssssh’ for every propositioning –beep-. To be more specific, though, this is the life of our robot, different from any other automaton only for the task that it performs.]
-beep- ffsssssssh
…
[Except for the occasional outward flash of tiny red light, these –beep­-­‘s and ffsssssssh’s are the only time our robot shows any signs of life. The rest of the time the machine is dormant, though constantly (and unconsciously) primed and ready to follow the next –beep- with a ffsssssssh whenever it arrives.]
-beep- ffsssssssh
…
[Sometimes the pause between the activating –beep-‘s can last almost an entire day. The robot is not aware of this. It does not know time. All it knows is –beep-ffsssssssh.]
-beep- ffsssssssh
…
[This is how it has always been.]
-buzz-