Sloan & Arty - The Boy & His Companion Bot | Parts I to VI

in #art5 years ago (edited)

Introduction: Sloan is a slum dweller residing in Old City, which is designated to be the waste disposal facility of the New City. The New City is controlled by the all-powerful and all-pervasive corporation, Eternal Yggdrasil Enterprise.


Day 04.png

Something, or someone? Sloan brushed away his irrational fears whilst panting heavily from the run.

He should be invisible in the eyes of the Eternal Yggdrasil Enterprise (E.Y.E.) surveillance bot: Old City slum dwellers were not ID code-tagged as alive.

Sloan gasped, suddenly realising that he had put the AI chip into his pocket earlier.

Better to be safe than sorry. Sloan braked and took cover under the scratched and bent hoods of Toyotas.

Then there was a decrescendo and the siren became a whir and the whirring got softer and softer. The bot was returning to the E.Y.E. headquarters.

Sloan stared at its ascent, transfixed by the dreadful red halo.

Day 05.png

Will he discard the AI chip or keep it?

Inspiration struck Sloan. He ran excitedly to his makeshift bookshelf in that hovel of a home on Avenue 20. Maybe he could learn how to construct an AI bot from scratch.

(Books, or germ-pages according to official E.Y.E. dogma, were strictly prohibited. However, like Old City slum dwellers, their existence was disregarded.)

Sloan pulled out a thick hardcover “How to Build a Robot from Junkyard Materials” and thumbed through the first chapter.

It was not long before he went back to dumpster diving for the bot’s head. Eventually he found a slightly bulky monitor screen. Sloan nodded to himself approvingly.

“Large and brainy.”

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Previously, on Sloan & Arty:

Day 00.png

Into a pile of rusting machinery parts fell Sloan. Hard.

“Scurry off, midget, or we’ll beat ya to a pulp!”

Still reeling from heavy punches, Sloan bit his tongue to stop the tears from flowing. “Give me some time.”

The Avenue 33 gang shook their robotic arm fists at him menacingly. “Yeah, because you’re so useless you can’t even run,” sneered the group of five older youths as they sauntered away.

He just lay there in the darkness. Whilst snatching breaths through bruised ribs, Sloan thought that as from the dung heap he came, so to the dung heap he returned.

The dung heap was where he was born and lived his life; it was all that he had ever known.

Day 01.png

Sloan gingerly pushed himself up with his palms when suddenly, his right palm dug into something sharp.

“Ow!” He yelped in pain and withdrew his arm, only to see an AI chip. His curious streak impelled him to pick it up.

Abandoned AI chips from the New City was very commonly found but this chip was shiny, glistening with strange symbols. It pulsated a life of its own.

It might fetch a good price, Sloan thought to himself as he pocketed the AI chip. In the past there were days where he spent every waking hour rummaging through trash and yet finding nothing. Today, he got lucky.

Day 02.png

The excitement was quickly eclipsed when a pang of self-pity hit Sloan. The crowning glory of his life was that he found a good piece of trash.

Shoulders slightly slumped, Sloan plodded over to Avenue 22 to continue his scavenger hunt. Junk is still just junk.

Out of all the dumping sites of Old City, Sloan liked that place best. It was only at Avenue 22 that an ethereal stream of light from New City shone down.

The light never failed to strike him blind for a minute or two – Old City was perpetually draped in a gun-metal grey darkness – but he didn’t mind.

Bathed in that white light, Sloan could dream.

Day 03.png
A soft buzzing whir, all too familiar to Sloan, disrupted his dreams. He stiffened up, back upright and eyes peeled open.

The Eternal Yggdrasil Enterprise (E.Y.E.) surveillance bot was approaching Avenue 22.

The whir evolved into a deafening siren. Sloan had to cover his ears with his hands, for the sound pierced through his eardrums and into his soul. It was shrill, like that of twice-ancient pterodactyls.

Hurriedly, Sloan ran away from the E.Y.E. surveillance bot and its red laser scanners.

More than ever he tasted fear on his tongue; it seemed that the bot was not merely here to conduct its cursory mid-day round.

Was E.Y.E. looking for something?

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The ditigal artworks and story are all original, borne from a collaborative effort by Matthew (my graphic designer boyfriend) and myself.

Get the Eternal Yggdrasil Enterprise surveillance bot merchandise HERE!

E.Y.E. am watching you!

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Hi there @joeylim!

That was a fascinating fiction story. And you added some illustrations for a better imagination. I like the idea od how you defined the EYE! Brilliant indeed.. its also like saying, EYE SEE YOU! hehehe..

Thanks for sharing your work with us.

Cheers! ❤

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@maquemali yeahh E.Y.E. know, glad you like it too! :P

Thank you 💕

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Hahahaha i was glad too.. EYE thank you! 😁

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Nice work, @joeylim! And congrats on your Curie upvote!

Aww thanks alot @jayna! ((:

Wow, cool story with cool illustrations)

@veta-less glad you liked it! 🙃

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Hi @joeylim, great work and nice story. I found you via @curie.

Your art/drawing skill is impressive. I especially like your approach of making close objectives sharp and the further you go the more blurry it gets. This feature brings more "space" into it and the drawing looks more lively.

Keep up the good work buddy,
Cheers M

@mcnestler thank you!! (:

It's actually not my drawing/art; I'm the writer. The designer responsible for all the art is my friend.

& I have conveyed your words to my friend! ((:

ooo such a great story from a great mind like yours. It is always not easy to have such a wonder idea from such places. I really enjoyed your fiction and on top of it all, the artworks in them are really making the piece a splendid one. Great work and keep feeding us with all your lovely ideas

@ferrate thank you for your kind words!! 🌻really appreciate them as they are very encouraging. (:

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You are welcome

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Hi joeylim,

This post has been upvoted by the Curie community curation project and associated vote trail as exceptional content (human curated and reviewed). Have a great day :)

Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.

@curie I'm very honoured!! 🌻 Thank you so much.

Hi @joeylim!

Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 2.788 which ranks you at #13154 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has improved 135 places in the last three days (old rank 13289).

In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 179 contributions, your post is ranked at #9.

Evaluation of your UA score:
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I wish I had seen this earlier. I would have included it in today's Spec-Fic Parade.

You would make a great addition to the Speculative Fiction Writers of Steemit group.

@blockurator thank you! (:

Haha, I don't mind joining this group - am going to check the discord channel out right now! You founded it right? 😊

Yes, I founded it. :-)

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