Human Termination
by Jessie Spencer, age 11

"It beeped and started running, though it knew it was hopeless. The grinning girl two metres away snarled and unsheathed claws the size of boulders, crashing through the undergrowth to find the robot. She seized it, tossing Robo1651 into her mouth as a robot might toss a grape." "Robo784!" I turned and saw my superior, Robo189, standing glaring at me. "Too much imagination was put into your brain when it was assembled. You shouldn't frighten the lower robots with your stories. They hardly know anything, their storage space is only a tenth used! Get back to assembling Golo134!" "The stories are supposed to be inspirational, not scary, Robo189." I pointed out. "Don't they have to take part in H.O.T's destruction? Besides, it is pretty much what happened to Robo1654 - he got terminated by the Hand Of Truth Earth Division." Robo189 drew itself up. "Of course they aren't taking part! They're far too inexperienced! Anyway, no amount of inspiration will make up for Golo134. Too long has Io suffered from H.O.T, with their namby-pamby ideas of 'preservation of organic life'. The only ingredient left is a young female's life fluid, but that shouldn't be hard to find. With the help of golems, we can finally eliminate humans!" "Yessir," I mumbled, and got back to work.

*

Forty year old Ann Dipson often felt she had been mad to take the position of Head teacher at Inverary High. Now, with a spaceship in the playground and robots demanding a child's life, was no different. Getting the girls out the building and persuading the robots that it was an all boys school had been a difficult task, and she could feel sweat trickling down her forehead. The robots were conferring, at last one turned to her. "Robo784 has pointed out that you would do, as you are obviously under thirty. Come with us." Ann bowed her head. It would mean the destruction of her life, but the saving of her people.

*

"Why didn't you realise she was too old?" Robo1 bawled at me. "It was very embarrassing when all our golems shut down in the battle field!" "But sir, someone told me that all female educators are twenty-one," I protested. Robo1 glared at me, then said, "very well. Get back to assembling Robo8195. The humans are safe for now, but there will come another time..."