Forums » General Roleplay » Man vs Machine (Open!)

Traffic crawled by at an agonizing pace. Cars sat bumper-to-bumper as traffic lights contemplated changing from red to green. Of course, the rules of the road were good only in theory. Red lights were run, green lights ignored, and yellow lights personally challenged drivers who should stop but won't. Amazingly enough, no accidents had occurred yet.

As the light changed from green to red, a red Buick separated itself from the rest of the traffic, pulling up alongside the busy sidewalk. People hurried by, focused on their duties, while the car coasted along the curb. If anyone bothered to look past the tinted windows, they would have realized that no one was actually driving the vehicle.

Clutch, the Artificial Intelligence operating the vehicle, rolled to a stop and then lowered the windows invitingly, revealing bucket seats meant for racing. The idling racing engine hummed promisingly for someone brave enough to enter the vehicle. The gas gauge hovered on "E", but all Clutch needed was one passenger. Just one, anyone, would do--providing they had enough to fill up his gas tank. If they were so good as to offer a car wash, so much the better; and he'd see to it that they got where they wanted to go. Which, judging by this traffic, was going to be nearly impossible for any other car not imbued with Artificial Intelligence.

The gearshift twitched itself to Neutral, as Clutch waited for an unsuspecting person to happen by.

Tara was on her way to a fairly important meeting that she was currently late for. She couldn’t believe she had slept in! She inwardly raged at herself and was fuming as she speed walked through the city. She almost got hit once or twice as she tried to fix her woman business suit. She adjusted the skirt and then gasped when she literately walked into the back of the red Buick. As she tried to cross the street “WHAT THE HELL!!” she screamed as she looked at the car.

She stared at it for a second and then looked around. She could feel the engine still purring. The four ways weren’t on though…She looked around and walked up to the window that was open and looked in the car. She checked to see if there were keys in the ignition to see if maybe she should turn it off. She stood up strait and looked around, “Who the hell would leave there car on in the middle of the city…” she mumbled to herself as she bent over and looked in again. She had to admit it was a damn nice car…

Clutch didn't need eyes to see his surroundings; not when his motion sensors and voice recognition detectors were more than enough to fill in the world around him. Of course the slight jarring sensation of something impacting his back fender made him wince. Fortunately it had been a soft, low-speed collision, so whatever had run into him, hadn't done any damage. To him at least.

He was aware of someone hovering outside the door with the motion sensors pinging softly at whoever stared into the luxurious interior. The doors were left unlocked, the key hung from the ignition, and the air conditioning blew refreshingly cool air compared to the baking heat of the sun outside. How could someone not want a cool ride to the destination of their choice?

Of course, he would stay quiet just a little longer, until he was sure that his rider was firmly buckled in. A few mishaps in the past had cautioned him against making the first sound--which could startle passengers into running away. He couldn't afford that now, not with his gas gauge nearing empty.

Tara stared at the car for another few seconds and then thought of something. She had heard on the news last night that some taxi company had just made a somewhat similar robot taxi that didn’t require an actual driver. She could have sworn that the car looked like an actual taxi but hell, she could have missed the taxi license plate. It also was voice responsive. Of course it would be an automated response she didn’t mind. “Are you one of those new robot taxis?” she asked aloud and then looked around. If someone had left their car on in the middle of the city it would have been only for a minute or two. So it had to have been one of the new robot taxis.

Well worse come to worse if it wasn’t she could just climb out of the car and continue on her way. No like she was going to be kidnapped by it or anything. She smiled and climbed into the passenger seat. “Hopefully you are. I need to get across the city to the Betchers building please on 31st street.” She said as she pulled the seat belt over herself and buckled up unknowingly.

If Clutch had had arms and hands, he would have given himself a high-five. Instead he settled for adjusting the passenger seat to give his newest passenger the most comfortable ride attainable.

"A robot taxi?" His voice filtered through the radio as he pulled away from the curb. "I'm not just a taxi. I am Clutch, an automated, artificially intelligent car at your service." Of course, the fact that she had taken the passenger seat instead of the driver's had put him in a more amiable mood; and for that matter, she had asked nicely.

His engine sputtered for a moment and the tenor in his voice shot up a notch. "I'm afraid I'm almost out of fuel. Would you mind a quick pit stop? It will only take a minute. After that, I would be happy to take you to 31st Street." The last thing he wanted was to stall on the side of the road with a passenger: he'd never hear the end of it.

As it was, he was already merging into traffic, his sensors finding him enough space to merge seamlessly into the long line of cars. If his passenger noticed that he was coasting his way towards the nearest gas station, that was alright by him.

Tara blinked as she listened to the car talk. It didn’t sound like what she had heard on the tv. Maybe they had just played something stereotypical for the news though. It was hard to tell. She blinked as the car adjusted it seats for her. “This is a damn nice taxi the city has set up.” She mumbled for it suddenly asked her for gas. She turned and looked at the radio blinking confused. She had never heard of a car asking for gas…

“Uhm…is there someone on the other end?” she asked as she started looking around the car. “Is there a video camera or something and a mic is set up to the raido?” It had just been too weird…the way he said it sounded like a real person.

There was a short blast of static as the AI chuckled in amusement. "There is no one watching you. Were it not for my motion sensors or my voice-recognition software, I would not have been aware of you. But, fortunately, I have both and am fully capable of operating in any situation you might find yourself. And please, call me Clutch." There was a pause before it added, "Were you responsible for my small collision before? You weren't injured were you?"

So saying, Clutch drifted seamlessly into the gas station, pulling up alongside a free pump and stopping with hardly a jolt to his passenger. It was just as well since his engine sputtered again and then died completely, temporarily terminating his interaction with his passenger until such a time as fuel was re-introduced into his system. Smooth driving was his motto; smooth talking still needed work.

Before she could answer, the car died running out of gas. She sat there rather shocked at what had just happened. It had actually talked back to her and now that she thought about it there wasn’t an actual place to pay. She slowly got out of the car and opened the gas tank quickly filling it up. She patted the trunk once she closed the gas tank and then climbed back in. She buckled back up and then looked at the car blinking rather, stunned right now. This had been way too weird for her. Everything about it had been weird.
“Clutch?” she asked softly, almost afraid everything that had just happened had been in her head and that it was a normal taxi.

The ignition started, once, twice, and caught on the third try. Clutch came back to life with a purr and an exaggerated roar of his souped-up engine.

"Oh, thank you!" he replied, his voice once again coming through the speakers. "A full tank never felt so good! And perhaps I can get you to your destination in good time." As an afterthought, he added, "You don't mind speeding, do you?"

She smiled and inwardly sighed. "So I'm not crazy...you really are talking to me back. You aren't just another taxi. Sorry if I sound slow but I just wanted to make sure." she said before the comment about speeding registered in her head. She blinked and pulled the seat belt tighter around herself. "Not if you get me there in one piece I don't." she said as she snuggled down into the seat.

"As if I'd allow an inferior vehicle to keep up, let alone scratch my paint! 31st Street it is."

He adjusted the seat for his passenger and then merged easily back into traffic. The motion sensors pinged softly as he weaved his way through traffic, gradually picking up speed. Soon enough they were hurtling down the road at a speed no human driver could hope to match in such traffic. Clutch cackled a little to himself, enjoying the sensation of wind through his antenna before returning his attention to his passenger--it had been too long since he had had one.

"So why 31st Street? I'm not familiar with...the name you mentioned earlier."

Tara closed her eyes. She didn’t mind driving in traffic but she normally didn’t drive around like a crazy nut like this car did. Especially in traffic. “Um…the Betchers building is owned by a man name Mark Betchers. He builds a lot of different kinds of robots and droids for the common consumer. I managed to get a job there are a secretary though god knows how late I am at this point. The building is near the intersection of 31st and broad view though, if that helps you any.”

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around at just the car. She didn’t want to look at the outside right now. “How are you talking?? I mean…I thought they hadn’t come up with technology like that yet. You act so…human like, only in a car.”

Clutch listened attentively as he drove. "Robots and droids? I'd like to see him try to come up with something a little more original. Do they have Artificial Intelligence? As for my personality--my, er, manufacturer had a flair for the, you could say, dramatic. He isn't, wasn't well-known despite trying to leave some sort of lasting impression on the world. The end result was me and a few others."

"Not that I was always like this. I used to be a good, obedient little sentient car without any knowledge beyond sensors and orders--speak only when spoken to, that sot of thing. Then one thing led to another, an idiotic mechanic got involved, and some wires were crossed. Or something. And ta-da! I learned sarcasm."

"Anyway, why work for Betcher? Are you interested in that sort of thing?"

She listened rather intently to its story and smiled when it said the sarcasm part. She giggled softly and laid her head back on the seat headrest. She blinked and looked back at the radio when he asked if she enjoyed robots and droids. "Well...the actual building of them is the part I'm interested in. I actually wanted to get a job in the development department but they turned me down because I only have four years of schooling compared to the other person who had 8 years of schooling and then a year of work under his belt somewhere else. I ended up reapplying in the business department and got the job as a secretary. Hopefully I can build something to show them in my spare time that will impress them and let me in whenever another spot opens up in the development department." she said sighing softly.

"Of course I also have to actually learn how to BUILD the robots rather then just construct and design them. That's another task though." she mumbled and patted the door. "What do you do though? I mean...do you just drive around looking for random people like me to drive around hoping they'll fill up your tank?"

It was times like these, hearing descriptions of the human world he could not relate to, that he almost wished for a humanoid shape. It was hard enough being confined to a garage or to the street when his driver left to go elsewhere--sometimes without explanation entirely. Or if he did get an explanation, it made little sense to his programmed brain. Maybe he should be nicer to mechanics...they were the only ones other than his driver or passenger who conversed with him. No, scratch that, not converse, ordered. There was a difference.

Clutch zipped around a corner and narrowly avoided a collision. He flashed his tail light at the offending vehicle in warning, and then cued back into his passenger's story.

"It can't be that hard," he said. "It might take some time, but honestly the kid that used to be my driver was pretty good with mechanics. You just gotta throw yourself into it and try it." Her next question though brought up things he hadn't considered. He paused for a moment, contemplating. "I don't know. My purpose is really to get my driver to and from places, without a driver, I don't...exactly...have a purpose." Well, when he said it like that, he sounded like a tire half-flat.

He rolled to a halt, pulling up next to a curb. He had half a mind to keep the doors locked so she couldn't leave; but then she would be late--well, later. "Well, here we are. 31st and Betcher. When does your work end? Perhaps I could drive you home?"

If his past driver, Chris, had told him that he would willingly pick up a stranger, drive her where she wanted, AND offer a ride home, Clutch would have ground his gears to pieces with laughter. Instead, here he was, trying to decide if his calling was to be a "taxi" or if he should still hold to his one-driver rule. If only his software held the answer he wouldn't need to struggle with the idea.

She closed her eyes tightly and grabbed onto the 'ohshit' handle and slowly opened her eyes again as Clutch continued talking. "I guess, I haven't really had the time to do that though. I've always been busy with school, or with work and when I get home I just want to eat, shower and sleep." She said in reply to his comment about the making of the machines.

She then blinked as she listened to him talk about his purpose in life. It didn't sound like a very fulfilling one to her to be honest. She couldn't imagine there was much a car could do though. Cars were built to transport people. They weren't made for too many pleasurable things other then maybe racing. She was lost in that though when the car pulled up to the Betchers building. He came to a halt and she blinked rather stunned as she looked around. She had forgotten about work for a little.

She grabbed the door and was about to thank the car when he asked her if he could pick her up. Coming from a guy she would have blushed but coming from a car she couldn't help but laugh. "If you aren't shuttling someone else around I get off at 6. I'll wait out here for a little if you don't show up promptly but I won't wait forever." she said as she opened the door carefully. "Thank you, Clutch, right?" she asked as she looked in, not sure at what though. Just around at the car.

Clutch beeped his horn, pleased she had remembered his name. "Six-o-clock, sharp." Even if he did have a passenger, he wouldn't hesitate to boot them out of his interior if he needed to; not that he would tell his passenger that. He suddenly remembered a crucial detail that had escaped his programming while he had yammered away. Oh well, he was a prototype--he wasn't supposed to be perfect--though heaven help anyone who told that to his radiator.

His motion detector pinged, indicating his passenger hadn't left yet, so he added. "I never got your name." After all, it'd be a waste of time if he came back only to pick up some complete stranger. Although, maybe if he kidnapped her boss, he could explain things to the man...

"I'm sorry Clutch! My name is Tara, Tara O'Conly." she said smiling. "Alright I need to go now. I'm already so late." she said as she closed the car door and then ran around him, lightly patting his hood as she moved around the front. She smiled and quickly ran into work scared she was going to get yelled at and rather excited for the end of the work day when she could meet the AI Car Clutch again.

Unfortunately for her the day dragged on much longer then she ever would have hoped for. After getting chewed out for an hour she had to make up all the notes she had missed that another secretary had taken in her place. She had to rewrite them all, type them up and then make a report summing everything that had happened in the meeting up. Not just that, but she was assigned other things to retype and then summarize for her boss. To get everything done, she had skipped her lunch break and then just as she was about to go down to the cafe on the first floor to get a muffin or something, she was handed even more work before being dragged off to a meeting with her manager. After that meeting she had to do the same thing she had earlier that day. Type up the notes she took and summarize what had happened.

By the time she got done it was 15 after 6. She knew the last summary she had done was nowhere near perfect but she didn't care. She didn't want to leave Clutch out on the street waiting. She quickly tossed it into her bosses office, thankfully he had left at 5, and then quickly ran down the stairs and out onto the street with her bag in hand looking around for her pick up.

Clutch had spent the day patrolling through town and causing general havoc to keep him occupied. His stunt with running a red light--(hey, it had been yellow when he entered the intersection, riding the bumper of the car in front of him so close his motion sensors had pinged warnings into one incessant beep)--but it had caught the attention of the local authorities; fortunately he'd evaded the police cruisers with relative ease--they couldn't get through traffic like a sentient car could. Of course, that didn't stop them from trying. And of course, when he'd finally pulled over, he'd given the arresting cop a scare by rolling down all his windows to reveal there was no driver.

The cop, totally confused and scared, had called for a tow truck at which point Clutch peeled away and lost himself in the back roads of the city. A good coating of dust later removed his worries that the cops would catch him. For that matter, if they wanted to catch him, they'd have to sneak up on him while he was turned off and put a boot on him.

He did manage another passenger, but this one had freaked out as soon as he had applied the gas and didn't go anywhere, and had left with much swearing. He hadn't even buckled himself in--though Clutch wouldn't have recognized the half-assed attempts of a carjacker, not when Clutch was in full control. It might have been a different story had Clutch been in his manual, driver's mode.

As it was, six-o-clock finally rolled around he pulled up to the curb to await his passenger. She took a while, but it wasn't like he had anything better to do. Except cause more havoc. He'd let the authorities deal with that in the meantime. He rolled down his windows and switched his radio on to something with a beat. Who said a car couldn't kill time in a pleasurable way?

As soon as she spotted him she sighed and walked over to him. Of course it had taken a minute to realize it was him. He was covered in a layer of dust and looking more like a rusty tan rather then the vibrant red he had been earlier. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked as she automatically went into the passengers seat again not because she was afraid of driving but rather because it was where she had been before. "Did you decide to go off-roading or something?" She asked as she plopped down on the seat and blinked sort of shocked at the music.

Not that she didn't expect there to be music on but she hadn't really thought about what kind of music a car might like. Especially a very smart car like Clutch. She buckled her seat belt and put her bag behind the driver's seat and then laid back in the car shutting her eyes as she waited for an answer, completely exhausted.