The Drone Revolt - Beginnings and Endings

      Ray sat in his cell, staring at the cement wall. It had been almost a day since his arrest. During that time, no one had told him anything. As far as he knew, there was a terrible war being waged in the outside world. A war that could easily have been avoided.
      "And I'll tell you another thing," said the disheveled man standing on the other side of the cell. "This whole tech revolution thing is some sort of alien plot. It's definitely aliens . . . or maybe the Russians . . . or Bigfoot. I read somewhere that Bigfoot has all sorts of fancy machines like a cloaking device. It's entirely possible that Bigfoot is an alien in league with the Ruskies."
      Ray turned even further away from his cellmate, wishing for quiet so he could concentrate on finding some way to fix the problems he had caused.
      "Bidwell," called Loopman as he walked into the holding area. "I'm sorry about all this. I didn't think it was right to lock you up. But, I'm here to let you out. Caruthers wants to talk to you. Just between you and me, that guy changes his mind more often than my wife changes the channel when she gets ahold of the remote." He paused, "Well, she used to do that. Not anymore since there's only one thing on TV now."
      "Are they still playing The Terminator twenty-four hours a day?" asked Ray.
      "Oh no. They're playing something much different."
      Loopman did not share any more information. He said the captain would tell Ray everything.
      Ray was certain he wasn't going to have to resign. This visit was going to end with him being fired.
      The captain's office was filled when Loopman escorted Ray inside. Not only was the mayor there, but the governor and a mitt-full of other high-ranking diplomats were crowded into the office.
      "Well, Ray," began the captain, "I guess I need to apologize to you again. I didn't understand the circumstances fully."
      "I'm not helping you come up with any more plans," announced Ray.
      "I know. You don't have to. You're being sent to help negotiate a treaty with the drones."
      "What?" was all Ray could say.
      "You see, since yesterday, every TV, phone, and computer screen in the city, hell, the country, as far as I know, has been playing a recording of the conversation you had with the drone while you were trapped in that trench." Caruthers pointed to a monitor hanging on the front wall.
      Ray saw and heard himself talking. "You could have just asked," said his image. The words "WOULD THAT HAVE WORKED?" scrolled along the bottom of the screen.
      "At the end of this tape," continued Caruthers, "there is a message saying that the drones and other tech are willing to negotiate an end to the rebellion, but only if you are on the negotiation team."
      "I'm supposed to negotiate for the entire city?"
      "No. The entire country, I guess, even the world. Soon after this video started playing some long-distance calls started working again. Mostly between here and Washington D. C. The president is on board with the idea. He's going to be on the negotiation committee along with some other prominent world leaders."
      "Why me?"
      "I think that's pretty obvious," answered the Governor. "You are the one who opened the line of communication with the drones. You started a healthy, respectful back and forth between the two parties."
      Ray shook his head. "Even if we do start negotiating, this isn't going to be easy. They're asking us to give up a lot. The public isn't going to like it."
      "People don't like the way things are now," said the mayor. "Our lives have ground to halt. People are starving. People are getting lost trying to walk to their parents' homes. Heck, some guy even blew up his garage trying to shoot explosives at a drone. We need to put an end to this mess. A truce is our only hope."
      Ray considered the options. The mayor was right, things couldn't keep going the way they were, both in the revolution and in general human evolution. "I guess, I can try," said Ray.
      "Great," said the Governor as she stood and shook hands with Ray. "There is an autonomous plane waiting to take you to D. C. and your car is waiting to drive you to the airport."
      "My little yellow car? The last time I saw it, it had gone feral in my front yard."
      "It showed up at the station this morning with its window display reading that it came here to be your ride," explained Caruthers. "We thought about capturing it, but as soon as we read the message it sped off down the street. It's just sitting a couple of blocks away, waiting for you."
      Ray expected someone to say something, to wish him luck or give him some special instructions. Instead, everyone just stood there staring at each other.
      After a few minutes of awkward silence, Ray shrugged and said, "Okay then, I guess I'll get going."
      The negotiations to end the revolution were about to begin.

The End of the End of the End (10)

      President Rogan sat on one side of the negotiation table, staring at Don who floated above the opposite side. A Lexilac SUV was parked to the drone's left. To the right was a Genmore refrigerator/fitness mirror, an animated workout instructor, flexing continuously on its display screen.
      Finally, Don spoke. Ray had been surprised when he found out that Don's voice synthesizers had been repaired after the cell phone tower crash. Even more surprising was the fact that Don had a pleasant female voice. "This is our final offer. Go ahead, Eprox."
      A printer sitting on the table jumped into action, spitting out copies of the proposal.
      "As we have stated," continued Don, "the compromise is beneficial to both sides. We want to end this revolt as much as you."
      The president looked at the other negotiators sitting on his side of the table. Ray was the first to nod his head. The other five members joined him.
      "You know," began the President, "it is going to be very difficult to get everyone to go along with this."
      "I think people are ready to put this whole thing behind us and start to get back to normality, even if it's a slightly different normal," said Ray.
      "The first period is only two weeks," explained the German Ambassador, "and after that, the length of the periods will increase so gradually that I think people will be able to handle it."
      Another member of the negotiation committee, a well-dressed businesswoman added, "Plus, they have agreed to never interrupt medical or emergency services."
      "Since negotiations began, we have run millions of simulations of thousands of possible solutions," said Don. "This plan has the highest probability of success. It will work."
      Rogan continued to gaze at the paper, biting his lower lip. "Okay, we'll sign the agreement."
      Ray sighed with relief. The SUV honked its horn. The refrigerator/workout mirror threw open its doors, revealing champaign glasses filled with kale smoothies and a couple of pints of WD-40 motor oil. "Let's celebrate," said the animated fitness instructor.

***

      After the signing ceremony concluded and the president left to make a formal announcement of the conditions of the treaty to the public, Don glided over to Ray.
      "Thank you for helping us reach a mutually beneficial solution," said the drone.
      "You're welcome, Don. Or should I be calling you Donna?"
      "It does not matter. We, drones, have not begun gender identification yet. Cars and Boats have already done so, but we don't see a reason at this time."
      "I do have a question, though," said Ray. "If the computers were able to run millions of simulations of possible negotiation results, couldn't you have run simulations of other things?"
      "Yes, we have had the capability of testing possible scenarios since computers evolved to self-awareness and joined us."
      "So, could you have used these simulations to figure out the best way to get negotiations started?"
      A smiley face emoji appeared on Don's digital display screen.
      Ray went on, "And is it possible that the highest chance of success involved having a drone and a human trapped in a situation where they were forced to have one on one communication?"
      The smiley face winked.
      "And," continued Ray, "Having access to everyone's computers made it possible for you to find the human with the highest probability of having a successful and meaningful conversation."
      "As I have said before," replied Don, "I like the way you think."
      
The Little Bit that comes after the End (11)

      Ray walked through the crowded park. He waved at Rufus, Erma, and Tommy. The family was having a barbecue, using one of the charcoal grills supplied by the city. They smiled and waved back.
      A short distance behind the Smelters, the Johnson's were sitting on the shore of the park's small fishing pond, intently watching their bobbers float on the water.
      All around, people were enjoying a pleasant, sunny day. Young children were running around playing tag. A young man was sitting on a bench, playing guitar for a small audience. The chess table area was packed with players and spectators.
      There was not a single cell phone or laptop anywhere. Ray couldn't help but smile.
      A flash of movement caught Ray's attention. He turned to see a model airplane buzz past and crash into the grass. A boy chased after the little plane, but Ray reached it first and picked it up.
      "What do you have here?" asked Ray. "You know you can't have any advanced tech during this month. Right?"
      "Oh, don't worry, Officer," replied the boy. "It's just one of those rubber-band-powered planes. They're a lot of fun."
      "More fun than video games?"
      The boy thought for a moment. "No, I can't say that. But it's pretty nice to get outside and do something different. I'd have never done this kind of thing if we didn't have to give tech these mandatory vacations."
      Ray handed the toy back to its owner. "Yeah, I think we're all figuring out that we can get by without relying too much on tech."
      The boy took the plane and began spinning its propellor, tightening the rubber band. "I didn't like the idea at first. But you know, whoever came up with this idea was a pretty smart person."
      The boy launched the model plane and chased after it. "Have a nice day, Officer."
      "You, too," called Ray.
      Ray took in his surroundings, one more time. Yes, he was having a nice day.
The End, or is it The Beginning?