CHAPTER ONE – The Robots under the Stairs



​​(Please note that this sample chapter represents only first draft of the work, and is such unedited and so on and so on. Any feedback is welcome and as always  all material is my own and copyright remains with the author, being me, Gareth John Doble.)



It was a horribly grey and grumbly rainy day. It was the very sort of day that normally only happened at weekends or during the school holidays when little children just wanted to play outside in the sunshine.

Little Alec Lewis sat with his head in his hands staring out of his bedroom window, watching the raindrops rolling down the glass in little rivers. The gutters above his windows had filled and a small waterfall was streaming down hitting the window sill with loud splishing, sploshing sounds.

Alec let out a gigantic sigh. “I'm so bored!” he said out loud to himself. He turned away from the window and looked around his bedroom at all his toys and books.

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There was nothing he felt like playing with today.  His dog Jasper lay at the foot of his bed, with his head between his paws, also looking up at the window, with big sad brown eyes. Jasper was a jet black spaniel, with big clumpy paws, and huge floppy ears that flapped about like mad whenever Jasper was excited, which was most of the time. He was still a puppy and for the most part was very much like Alec, so they were best of friends. Just like Alec, Jasper actually loved the rain, because rain meant puddles and mud, two of the things that little boys and puppies loved the most in all the world. The problem was that Mom did not like puddles and mud, and would not allow Alec to go out and play when it rained, so Jasper was also forbidden.

He thought back to the weekend before. It had been his eight birthday party. It had been sunny that day and he had spent the day jumping on a great big bouncy castle with his friends and eating loads of sticky sweets and birthday cake until he felt sick. He smiled to himself as he thought about sweets, cake and sunshine.

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Suddenly there was a tremendous crack of thunder, which made him jump and very nearly fall of the bed. Sighing again he jumped down from his bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Jasper had  disappeared to hide under the bed after the thunder crack, but the second Alec opened his bedroom door, Jaspers head shot up, and he bounded after him.

He opened the fridge and then looked in the cupboards, but found nothing to eat. It was then he remembered it was Saturday, shopping day. Mum would be out shopping and would still be gone for hours. He poked his head round the corner, looking into the lounge. His dad was snoring loudly, asleep on the couch using his newspaper as a blanket again.

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There was no sign of his older sister Katie either. She must have gone out with Mum.

It was just then the Alec noticed the door to the basement was open. Gasping in surprise, he felt a sudden rush of excitement. The door to the basement was always locked. No one was allowed down to his dad's workshop. He stuck his head round the corner again to make sure his dad was still asleep, then made  a break for the stairs leading down to the basement, Jasper following close behind. Pausing briefly, he looked down the dark stairway, feeling suddenly scared. He took a deep breath, his curiosity took over and he closed the door behind him, after flicking the light switch. A dim light flickered to life behind him above the doorway, casting a long shadow down the stairs  before him.

He made his way down the stairs as quietly as he could manage. Reaching the bottom of the stairs he felt his heart beating fast against his chest. He fumbled in the dark to find the next light switch. Shivering a little with excitement and fear, his fingers found the light switch and he flicked it up. The click was loud in the silence of the basement. Barely a second passed while the light stuttered, then a bright white light flooded the large basement.
Little Alec Lewis stood open mouthed in disbelief at the sight before him.



His dad's workshop was ginormous. Stretching before him it seemed to him to be about the size of a football pitch. Alec could not move for a good few minutes as he stood looking at row upon row of machines and workbenches, filled with jars and tubes of strange looking experiments. The tubes and jars were filled with wonderful liquids of all sorts of colours, some bubbling away, some foaming and fizzing. The walls were covered with computer screens and cabinets with strange looking tools and various other parts. Alec started exploring, still afraid to touch anything. As he walked he wondered now exactly what it was that his dad did. He knew that he used to work at the big university in town, teaching something or other, and that he now worked for the government, but his dad never talked much about work, always saying his work was just boring scientific stuff.

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He stopped for a moment, listening out for any sign of his dad. It was just then that he noticed a row of screens above a great big computer terminal. Looking at the screens one by one he realised that each one showed a different room in the house. As his gaze came to the third one along, he could see his dad now, still snoring away on the couch, covered with his newspaper. He smiled to himself as he realised that he could see anyone coming from down here. A sudden loud beeping somewhere ahead made Alec jump. He walked ahead past a couple of huge metal boxes covered with flashing buttons, gauges and dials, which were whirring away.

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He felt a fresh surge of excitement. In front of him was a large open space, which seemed to be near the middle of the room. There sat a mysterious looking round platform, enclosed in a large glass dome, which looked like a curved upside down ice cream cone. The platform was made from a very shiny metal. Alec could not believe how big it was, reckoning that a fully grown elephant would fit comfortably inside it. He had to pinch himself just to check that he wasn't dreaming. How could all of this be underneath their house and garden and he not even know about it. He walked up to the big metal platform, placing his hand on the glass of the upside down ice cream cone, trying to imagine what it could be.

It was only then that he noticed the big computer station just behind it. Amongst the hundreds of buttons, flashing lights and levers, a screen near the middle of the machine caught his eye. As he walked up to the screen, it suddenly burst to life, with buttons suddenly flashing all sorts of colours and making soft beeping noises. Alec looked at the screen, reading the letters that came up now in large purple letters on the white background of the screen.

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“M. I. N. D,” he read the letters out loud to himself. He was a little confused, until he saw a big thick book sitting on the desk below the screen next to the keyboard. He saw the same letters on the cover of the book, but there was more on the cover of the book. He began reading it out aloud to himself again.
“M. I. N. D. Mind, image, nano-building, device. Instruction manual,” was written underneath the  heading. Alec had no idea what it meant, but he knew very well that he had never been so excited in his entire life. He felt like a secret agent, just like in the films he watched on TV.
He glanced back nervously  at the monitors to make sure no one was coming, then realised he couldn't see Jasper. He whistled and called him “Jasper, come on boy,” he called, trying not to be too loud. Jasper, who was just as curious as an eight year old boy, was somewhere else in the big lab, sniffing and exploring all the new sights, sounds and smells. After a minute or two, he listened to Alec's calls and ran back to his side.

“Good boy Jasper, sit there,” Alec said. Jasper obeyed and lay down next to the chair that Alec had sat down in.

Alec picked up the great big thick manual, and started paging through it. From the very little he could understand, amongst all the big words, diagrams and numbers, he did manage to work out that this was some sort of device, designed to build anything that the person controlling it could imagine.

Being an eight year old boy, made Alec very impatient, and after a few minutes he could not read the manual any longer. The fact that that he was almost trembling with excitement at this amazing discovery in his own basement, did not help either. Putting the manual down, he suddenly had an image of his mum rolling her eyes and sighing, whenever Dad was trying to put something together and refused to look at the instruction manual. He looked at the security monitors, just to make sure she wasn't on her way down to tell him off.



He turned his attention to the screen and keyboard in front of him. He was just about to press a big green button that had “START” printed in white lettering on it, when he suddenly heard a strange whirring noise, faint at first but getting louder, like something getting nearer. Jasper's  head was in the air and his ears upright, listening to the peculiar noise. Alec nearly fell off his chair, and Jasper sprang to his feet, when suddenly from around the corner, behind another row of large metal boxes, there appeared a small robot. It stood about four feet tall and moved along on two sets of four wheels either side, which ran inside caterpillar tracks, just like a tank. It had a rectangular body, painted white, with two shiny metal arms and its head was oval shaped, with two large eyes that looked alarmingly alive and almost human. Humming and whirring its way toward the boy and his dog who were frozen to the spot watching this peculiar little robot coming toward them, the robot stopped right next to Alec, and looked straight at him. Alec's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of his head. The little robot turned and looked up at Alec, and then spoke. Alec nearly fell off his chair again.
“Good morning Master Alec,” said the little robot. The robots voice sounded strangely similar to his dad's voice, so much so that Alec quickly turned his head toward the security monitors again, certain his dad had woken up and was now playing a cruel trick on him. When he looked however, he saw his dad still on the couch, snoring away. He had now rolled over and was cuddling his newspaper like it was a teddy. Nervously he looked back at the little robot, and tried to speak.

“H-H-Hello,” he said, pausing for a moment, trying to think of what to say next. He had never had to talk to a robot before, especially one that knew his name.
“W-W-What's your name?” he managed to stammer. Jasper was sniffing the robot suspiciously and started licking its wheels and walking around it in circles, getting more and more excited.



The little robot peered down in confusion, at this strange little creature that was sniffing and snuffling and licking him all over. After a minute, the robot looked back up at Alec. The robots eyes seemed to have a confused look to them, like it was stumped by Alec's question.
“My name? Well I'm not really sure what my name is?” said the robot, his voice also sounding slightly confused. After another slight pause, the robot opened a small flap on the front of his body, revealing a mass of wires and circuit boards. Above one of the circuit boards there was a small metal plaque with the letters H.E.R.M.E.S Model number A5000.

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The little robot pointed to it, and looked at Alec again. “Is this my name? I am H.E.R.M.E.S. Human, Emulation, Robot for Mathematics, Exploration and Science. Model number A5000.” said the robot.

Alec looked at him and scratched his head thinking hard, no longer afraid of the little robot. After a few moments, he smiled suddenly and said, “That's a little long and not much fun. From now on, I will call you Hermy! OK?”

The little robot copied Alec previous action and placed his hand on his head, scratching as he thought about what Alec had said. After another pause he blinked, and his eyes seemed happy now.
 

“Yes. I would like that very much. Hermy,” he repeated his new name back to Alec, like a small child who had learnt to say its name for the first time. Alec smiled, the laughed.
 

“Good. That's settled then. Hermy, meet my dog, Jasper. Jasper, meet Hermy. Hermy the robot!” Alec said feeling a new surge of excitement.
Hermy looked at Jasper, and Jasper stared back at Hermy. Neither of them knew what to make of each other. Hermy looked back at Alec.
 

“Very nice to meet you both, but why does Jasper insist on licking me and sniffing me all over,” said Hermy as Jasper went back to his previous exploration of their peculiar new friend.

Alec laughed again. “Oh its just his way of saying hello, and getting to know you. Its what dogs do. It means he likes you,” replied Alec. “Jasper, that's enough now, leave Hermy alone now, Sit!” he continued pointing to beside his chair. Jasper begrudgingly gave up his exploration and sloped over the chair and sat down next to Alec.

“Now, Hermy, tell me. What does this machine do and how do I use it?” said Alec pointing excitedly at the computer terminal connected to the metal platform and its great glass upside down ice cream cone.

Hermy whizzed his way over to the platform and stared up at it. His eyes became big and wide, like a child looking up at his mum or dad. He placed his metal hand on the glass and paused for a moment as if reliving a happy memory. “This is the Great creation machine, Master Alec. It is the machine that built Hermy. It is a wondrous and magnificent machine. It built us all,” said Hermy turning back, and whirring his way back to the computer terminal where Alec sat.

Alec thought for a moment, thinking about what Hermy had said. “What do you mean, it built us all?” he said confused. Hermy looked up at Alec, his eyes widening again like an excited little child.
He grabbed Alec's hand and said. “Come see. I'll show you.” Alec barely had time to stand before Hermy had dashed off, toward another part of the room, pulling him along with him. Jasper jumped up and followed them both. Alec had to almost run to keep up and stumbled a couple of times.
“Slow down, Hermy,” he said, but Hermy was whirring along furiously on his caterpillar tracks.
 

Hermy did not stop until they had reached a set of five large metal lockers, stood against a wall in a row. Alec looked in amazement as he saw that each locker had a glass door, and each one apart from one empty one, housed four other robots, similar in design to Hermy, but each with their own distinct features and colours. Jasper ran back and forth between them all, barking excitedly and sniffing each of the lockers in turn. Alec scolded Jasper for barking, worried that the noise would wake his dad. He turned to Hermy, who stood looking at the other robots, his eyes looking a little sad now.

“Wow! Hermy, who are these other robots?” asked Alec not noticing the little robots sad eyes.
Hermy made a sound which almost sounded like a sigh.

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“These are the others like me, made by the Great creation machine. They were all made before me. I am the youngest. At least I think I am. They were all there when I opened my eyes for the first time when I was switched on. They are all switched off now,” said Hermy, pausing now and sighing again. Alec noticed it now, and looked down at Hermy and saw that his eyes looked sad, and forgot for a moment how excited he was to learn how to use the Great creation machine, feeling sorry for the little robot, although he wasn't quite sure why. He looked closer now at the other four robots, noticing for the first time, something rather odd. The robots in the the first two lockers were both larger than Hermy and the other two robots in the last two lockers, beside the empty one, which Alec guessed must belong to Hermy. Stepping closer he also noticed that the two larger robots, looked to have different features. The one on the left was definitely male, and the the one to the right was female. He then looked at the two smaller robots, and again at Hermy.
He felt sudden rush of excitement and sadness all at the same time as he worked it out.

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“Hermy! This is your family!” he said excitedly.
 

Hermy's expression was one of confusion now, as he looked up at the boy.
“What is family?” asked the little robot looking up at his new friend with an enquiring gaze.
Alec suddenly realised how crazy it sounded. After all, Hermy was just a robot, wasn't he? How could a robot understand the word family, let alone have one? He couldn't quite explain it, but he knew he had to try and explain it to Hermy. There was something in his eyes, which suggested that somehow he knew these other robots were important to him, even if he didn't understand the idea of family. He stood scratching his head again, thinking hard, aware that Hermy was staring at him waiting for an explanation. He tried to think about what his Mom would say. After a good few minutes, he finally spoke.

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“Well, Hermy, its a bit like this. Family are the ones you live with, and share things with. You help each other with stuff. Sometimes you get along, sometimes you don't but you always stick together and no matter what happens you always love each other,” said Alec, listening to the words as he said them and realising that he was probably just going to confuse the poor little robot even further now, especially talking about love. Alec was a human and he was still learning about what love was.
Sure enough Hermy looked even more confused now. Alec could almost hear his circuits overloading as the little robot stared up at him, saying nothing. Alec continued.
 

“OK, how about this. Why are all the other robots switched off?” he asked Hermy.

Hermy's expression flashed from confusion, quickly back to a hint of sadness before he answered.
 

“Master Lewis turned them off long ago. Hermy does not know why. We all used to be on, and worked together on the experiments and helped Master Lewis build things and work with the numbers,” replied Hermy.
It took Alec a moment to realise that Master Lewis was his dad. Alec pointed back over to the security screens. “Yes, Master Lewis. He's my dad, part of my family. He looks after me and my Mom and my sister, Katie, although if you ask my mom, she will say that she looks after us all really, and that dad's head in always in the clouds,” Alec was babbling now.
Hermy looked up at the screen, and nodded. “Yes, that is Master Lewis, but I still don't understand what you mean by family,” replied Hermy.
Alec stopped, scratching his head yet again. He was confused, that Hermy seemed to display the subtle hints of emotions, without having any understanding of them. He felt a real connection with Hermy, as he reminded him of himself. He was like a child growing up, trying to understand all the complicated things in the world and how things worked. He realised this was going to take a lot longer to explain than he thought. He walked up to the first of the larger robots and peered through the glass.
“Hermy, tell me something. Did you notice anything different, after the others were turned off I mean? What changed?” asked Alec, looking back at Hermy over his shoulder.
 

There was a pause, then a whirring, as Hermy came and stood at Alec's side again. Jasper had long since lost interest in the other robots and was off roaming around another part of the lab.

Hermy seemed to be lost in deep thought, and was silent for a few more minutes before he spoke again.
“I am not sure how to explain it..... I think the correct word for what changed that things seemed empty. It was good I think, having the others around and working with them. Does that make any sense?” Hermy said still staring absently at the other silent robots.

Alec nodded. “Yes. I think you understand more than you know about what a family is, Hermy. Would you like me to speak to my Dad, about getting the others turned back on?” said Alec, placing his hand on Hermy's head.
 

After another slight pause, Hermy replied. “Yes. I think I would like that Master Alec. It would be most kind and thoughtful of you. What can I do in return to repay such kindness?”

After a slight pause, and a good deal of head scratching, Alec suddenly remembered the mysterious machine in the middle of the laboratory. He was excited all over again, and jumping up and down he pulled on Hermy's arm.
“Show me how to use the Great Creation Machine, please, I want to make something of my own,” he said, almost bubbling over with enthusiasm now.

Hermy seemed to hesitate for a moment, then seemed to think about it for a moment.
“Yes, I will show master Alec how to use the Great Creation Machine. Master Alec is very kind. What would you like to make?” said Hermy, following Alec now as he made his way back towards the central area of the large laboratory, back to the massive upside down glass ice cream cone.
Alec flopped down into the chair in front of the large bank of screens next to the large platform.

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To be continued........

(Jasper returns from exploring the laboratory
Alec asks Hermy what he can make with the machine.
Hermy explains that because the machine is called M.I.N.D it can basically create anything that the boy can imagine)