Robotic Ladybugs

Monkey builds the most wonderful thing imaginable, a robotic ladybug, but something goes wrong.

Monkey loved ladybugs. He liked the way they looked. He liked the way they felt when they walked on his arm. He liked that they were so small and cute and red.

He would do anything for a ladybug.

He just loved the way the ladybugs all had their own personalities and favorite things to do. Some didn’t like to walk on Monkey’s face, some did. Some liked hanging out on Monkey’s cereal bowl, some didn’t. Some liked to fly all day long, some just walked. There was always one or two that would buzz around Monkey’s ear and he was convinced they were telling him “I love you”. He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to believe it.

Well, each year, the ladybug population kept getting lower. So much so that Monkey couldn’t find ladybugs as easily as he could before. He’d ask everyone around to search their own garden for ladybugs and trade his belongings with anyone who brought him one.

He traded a ball for a ladybug, a chair, some food, silverware, anything he had.

He was running out of stuff, but he had an idea. He was very smart.

He began gathering little colored rocks and small sticks and twigs and flower petals, pollen, sweet smells and honeysuckle dew, raindrops and happy thoughts, and one day closed his front door.

He put a sign on the door that read, “PLEASE DON’T BOTHER ME!”

People came to his house and knocked on the door, but Monkey would not answer.

It seemed like months that he was closed up in there. Everyone was talking and speculating. Strange sounds were coming from Monkey’s house.

One day, after a series of explosions, Monkey’s front door opened.

Everyone in the forest rushed to see what Monkey had been up to.

Monkey came out of his house with his arms out wide, and hundreds of ladybugs flew out from inside the house. The ladybugs flew around the area and around the animals that had gathered.

They flew in formations and patterns around all the animals and then landed in perfect lines in front of Monkey.

The ladybugs were, well, different. They were shinier than regular ladybugs, and they had a strange whirring sound. Like mechanical or something.

“What are these?” asked Skunk.

“I’ve created a robotic ladybug,” said Monkey. “They are beautiful, aren’t they?”

Monkey pointed to Skunk, and all the ladybugs flew over to Skunk. Skunk squealed with glee.

Then Monkey pointed to the top of the tree, and all the ladybugs flew up to the top of the tree.

Monkey then held his hand open and one ladybug came and landed in the palm of his hand.

“Everyone quiet down,” said Monkey. “I want you to hear this.”

Monkey then pushed on the back of the ladybug and a little tiny ladybug voice said:

“I LOVE YOU!”

Oh, everyone freaked out. In fact, they all wanted one of their own.

Monkey then proceeded to trade the robotic ladybugs back for his stuff. He got his chair back and his plates and silverware back and his pillow. He had enough robotic ladybugs to get everything back, and even traded for some stuff he had been wanting for a while, but didn’t have anything to trade for it.

Everyone that had a robotic ladybug loved it. They would press the backs of the ladybugs all day long, and the ladybugs never tired of saying “I LOVE YOU!” The animals would point to things and the ladybugs would follow their directions.

Some of the ladybug owners had learned how to train the ladybugs to do stuff for them, like carry their groceries or help them dig holes.

Monkey had created a really cool thing that everyone loved.

Of course, once the initial “wow” was over, most of the ladybug owners went on with their everyday lives. Many robotic ladybugs ended up on windowsills and mantles and dusty shelves with nothing to do and no one directing them to do things.

Monkey too had tired of his robotic ladybugs. He liked his robotic ladybugs, sure, but something was wrong. They were all the same. They all followed directions perfectly, but they all waited for directions. None of them did anything on their own. This was making Monkey kind of sad. He wasn’t sure why it was making him sad, but it was. He wanted the old ladybugs back. The ones that did unexpected things. The ones that sometimes left for long periods of time, but then came back.

Monkey decided to call them all back home. He dug out his main robotic ladybug controller and pressed the red button. (He had installed a callback function in the artificial intelligence design).

In a matter of minutes, all of the robotic ladybugs started arriving and flying into Monkey’s house.

Once the last one had arrived, he closed the door and put the sign that read, “DON’T BOTHER ME!” back up.

Well, as you can imagine, once everyone realized their ladybug was gone, they stomped over to Monkey’s to demand they get their ladybug back.

They banged on his door and rang his doorbell and yelled out for him to come out.

Suddenly, after a series of small and colorful explosions, (and I think a scream of pain from Monkey) Monkey’s door opened, and out bellowed large amounts of white smoke. Monkey stood in the doorway with a larger smile on his face than ever before.

When the smoke cleared, a few ladybugs flew out of the house. One flew up to the top of a tree, one flew over to Skunk and landed on her arm, and a couple flew out and took off down the path. No one is sure where they went.

Hundreds of ladybugs did not come out of Monkey’s house. This was not the same as it was before. The animals of the forest realized their ladybugs weren’t coming back.

“Give us our ladybugs back!” demanded Squirrel who was normally very gentle and polite. “I’m sorry, I mean, um, what’s going on, Monkey?” she said in a softer voice.

“I’ve fixed them,” said Monkey.

“Mine didn’t need fixing,” said Beaver.

“Neither did mine,” said Squirrel.

“Mine did everything I asked her to,” said Cow. “I liked that.”

“Well,” stammered Monkey. “I had made a mistake. I made them all the same.”

“What’s wrong with that?” called out Stork.

“I wanted to make friends,” said Monkey. “Not workers.”

Everyone shook their heads and complained, but they all had a feeling inside that he was right.

“Hey,” said Skunk suddenly and loudly. “This one’s messed up.”

Everyone turned to her. She was pushing on the back of the ladybug that had landed on her arm.

“It’s not saying anything!” said Skunk.

They all looked at Monkey.

Monkey shrugged his shoulders.

“That was one of the functions I took out,” said Monkey. “Along with Forced Proximity Bonding, Control Dependency and Noncognitivism.

Everyone was confused. They had no idea what those things meant. Monkey was too smart for most of them.

Monkey saw he had confused them.

“But I enabled some other functions,” said Monkey. “Like Self-Preservation, Intuition, Earned Loyalty and Autonomy.

That didn’t work. Everyone was still confused.

“What he’s saying,” said Beaver. “Is that we’re not getting out ladybugs back.”

Monkey heard more complaints, and they all started to leave.

“Actually,” called out Monkey. “You can have them back, but you can’t force them. You are welcome to come inside and pick one, but I’m not guaranteeing they will go home with you. They can be your friend, you just have to be friendly to them.”

He wasn’t sure anyone heard him.

He stood in his doorway as a few more ladybugs left and went every which way. A couple of ladybugs stayed around. One landed on his arm, and another perched on his ear.

The one on his ear was buzzing ever so gently and sweetly. Then Monkey heard the ladybug say something.

“I LOVE YOU!”

Monkey smiled. He hadn’t imagined it this time.

The End