Robot Painter

This year Fyrecon is hosting Fyretober! A month of creating for writers and artists. Here is my entry for day 1.

A city wall.

The gray cement was marred, and GRR629 was on the case.

In fact, it was its one thousandth, two hundred and thirty ninth day on the job. Gears whirling, it connected the nozzle in its arm to the full paint compartment. Its mission was simple: return the wall to uniformity.

Raising its arm, the robot spurted a stream of paint. Pressure measured. Consistency measured. Color…

Vivid blue splashed against the wall in a spray covering the graffiti below, but which didn’t match the grey above where human hands could reach.

Error.

GRR629 lowered his arm and disconnected the hose from the first paint tank, hooking it in to the second instead. Lifting his arm, he cleared the lines and prepared to spray again. Brilliant red emerged from the tank applying in a quick streak which didn’t completely cover the red.

Error.

GRR629 switch again. Yellow. And again. Green.

With each new tank the colors spread, not with the same skilled hands the humans applied their paint with, but color still. Distinction… and beauty. A concept GRR629 was not programmed for but was there.

Beauty.

GRR629 sped down the street applying colors in thick streams, ignoring the constantly flashing error. Instead, it adjusted his nozzles, the stream strength, discovering color.

Men arrived, in the overalls of techs from the company servicing center. Overalls which splattered with color quickly as they chased him down the streets.

Electricity coursed through is circuits and a stream of periwinkle splashed over the tech before its memory went dark.

GRR629 arrived at its assigned street and inspected the grey cement walls. The gray cement was marred, and GRR629 was on the case.

A city wall.

Be sure to check out all the #fyretober creations.

#fyretober #fyretoberflashfiction #fyretoberday1

“Fyretober isn’t for just writers or just artists. It’s for everyone who loves to create, and this month we’re looking to see your flash fiction, poetry, and illustrations every day. We’ll be providing daily prompts for the month and want to see what new concepts and wonders you can make with them.

Join the creation fun and share your work with us.

This isn’t a contest. But that doesn’t mean we won’t be giving out random prizes for amazing work.”