The Show

'This is Brutus,' Valentine's voice echoed through the dark auditorium, 'your best friend and helper in all situations.'

At this point the hologram of the robot faded and the lights focussed on the stage again. Next to Valentine, a prototype of Brutus was elevated from below the stage on a slowly rotating platform. Its back was as high as the man's hip. Valentine gently patted the robot's side, at which it suddenly raised its head.

'This evening we will show you some of what Brutus can do,' Valentine said, 'and we will start with the basic facts.'

Brutus then demonstrated how it jumped over a 3-meter-high barrier and sprinted up to 60 km/h on a treadmill. It made its way up a climbing wall which was lowered on the stage and caught a frisbee in mid-air while making a somersault.

'This is not all,' Valentine said ,'Brutus is also able to operate in zero gravity and under water. Brutus is the robot for all your needs. He will be available with various RoboFlux modules installed and you can even exchange them to keep Brutus always serving your needs. FluxTec guarantees regular updates for the next 10 years! Brutus listens to all of your commands or those of any person you decide to give this privilege,' Valentine continued, 'this prototype is imprinted on me. I will now show you what he can do.'

A hovering tray floated down from above, carrying three fist-sized purple cubes. Valentine opened a small flap on the side of the robot and inserted one of them.

'Today I want to show you three of the modes we have in store for Brutus. First of all, the Friend and Helper Module. The perfect friend for your children, your workout partner, hiking companion and lots more. It can even project your favourite movies wherever you go!'

What followed was a demonstration of Brutus' abilities in playing ball, rock climbing, measuring its owner's vitals and assisting during workout as well as delivering a fitness plan and squeezing smoothies from fruit and vegetables. At this point Elanor was getting slightly impatient.

When the applause ceased, Valentine exchanged the cube in Brutus' back.

'With the Protection Module. Brutus will now guard anyone or anything I tell him. You have a large property? Brutus will keep anyone from entering. Have an even larger property? Get two! Brutus will defend you and your loved ones better than any bodyguard or last-generation robot – especially if you have bought from our competitiors,' he winked.

Valentine stood in the middle of the stage, with Brutus next to him. Suddenly two battered human-sized military bots appeared from behind the stage. Brutus rather forcefully and quickly deflected all their attacks, and in the end both were lying on the stage, one was twitching with an arm, the other had sparks coming from its body. There was a faint smell of burnt electronics. Valentine beamed at his audience. Then he again exchanged the module in the robot's back.

'Last but not least I will show you the Emergency Module. Brutus will now show you how he rescues me from a burning house and finds a person buried under an avalanche.'

And that's what he did. A burning shed was re-created on stage, the fire casting its dancing lights over the auditorium. Valentine was hiding under a heap of loosely arranged boards for Brutus to come and crash through doors, remove a charred wooden beam and carry him out – to loud applause of the audience.

Then Valentine put on a white full-body snowsuit over his purple suit. Suddenly a large heap of snow was raining down on the stage, burying the man beneath it. Brutus found him and dug him out in no time. It was a great show., even Elanor had to acknowledge that. Harry was completely mesmerized.

'Brutus can even connect to other RoboFlux bots to help him in his task,' Valentine explained, while peeling out of his snow suit.

It followed a demonstration of how Brutus directed two Ploughbots which dumped all the snow into a hole in the middle of the stage. At which Elanor gave Harry a meaningful look.

'Brutus can also search and rescue persons from under rubble and other dangerous situations. But what, I hear you say, if Brutus is too big? FluxTec has a solution for this, too! With a reasonably-priced upgrade, Brutus can be equipped with up to two drones which make it possible to control and overlook an even greater area and even retrieve objects up to a certain size and weight!' Valentine enthusiastically explained.

He clicked his fingers and two drones detached themselves from Brutus' back, where they had been seamlessly merged to its hull. They consisted of not much more than a small box with a set of rotor blades on top and six legs on the bottom. A searchlight followed them up to an empty theatre box where a large metal box had been placed. They proceeded to cut a circular hole into one side with a laser beam, then one of the drones went into the box and retrieved a small object from inside. As it re-activated its rotors and flew up above the audience the object exploded with a gentle 'plop' and rained golden confetti down on the audience, which erupted in ecstatic applause again.

Valentine raised his hands to quiet his fans.

'This was only the start!' he promised, 'we will bring you more exciting features for Brutus5 in the future. And now I invite you all to celebrate this new and breathtaking technology with me. Let us all meet up in the sky lounge, where I will of course be available for any questions you may have and you will have the chance to meet the wonderful team which has been dedicated to this project for the last few years.'

A group of people in purple uniforms entered the stage from the side and bowed to the audience. Harry narrowed his eyes but was too far away to see their faces clearly. Again, there was thundering applause and the lights slowly were turned on. When he looked up, Harry saw that the Duchess had already left her box.

Tavaron

10.04.23 Front Page

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