Writing for Fun
July 2018
Catch Me If You Can - Pete Norman
‘Are you alright in the back there?’
The question did not elicit a response.
Arthur glanced in the rear view mirror – Robert was staring directly ahead of him, his eyes vacant and lifeless. He was seldom lost for words – at any other time he would chat endlessly to the point where Arthur had to silence him in order to concentrate on his work – but today he appeared to be lost in a world of his own. He was deceptively intelligent but sometimes that intelligence had to be gently coaxed from him, especially when he was dealing with problematic events like this and today he seemed to be somewhat overwhelmed.
‘It’ll be fine, Robert. Trust me, it’ll be fine. It’s nothing you haven’t done before, it will just push you a little harder, that’s all. Take you out of your comfort zone a bit but you’ll be fine.’
Yet again no answer was forthcoming and the expression on his face remained unaltered. Arthur sighed and returned his concentration to his driving. They were getting close now and he had to keep an eye out for the turning – it was a very narrow road.
It turned out to be even narrower than he had thought and was little more than a dirt track which wound its serpentine way through a lightly wooded area. As the van burst out into daylight again a large rough barn loomed up before him and Arthur pulled into the opening at the gable end.
It was absolutely perfect. The inside seemed, impossibly, to be even larger than the outside, it had to be at least fifty feet long and with its high ceiling there was almost a cathedral like atmosphere. The floor was solid concrete, level and free from clutter – it was absolutely perfect.
Arthur helped Robert from the van and watched anxiously as he carefully looked around him.
‘It’s big.’
‘Yes, I know it’s big, son but it’s exactly what we need – and it’s far from curious eyes.’
‘It’s very big.’
‘It is only as big as you need it to be, ok? Now, do you think can you could take a step for me?’
Robert tentatively moved his left foot forwards, committed all his weight onto it and then stopped in mid-stride. He was wobbling unsteadily so Arthur took a firm grip on his arm. ‘Come on, kiddo, you can do it, it’s just like you do it at home.’
Apparently reassured, Robert took another step and then a pause and then another and as his confidence grew his pace quickened a little. He was still lurching from side to side with every step but his gait was definitely improving. Arthur released his arm but he stayed very close beside him in case any assistance was needed.
‘There you are, you see? I told you you’d be fine.’
The end wall was looming up before them and Robert suddenly stopped a few feet from it.
‘This is further than I’ve ever walked before.’
‘I know but you’re doing great; all you need to do now is to turn around.’
‘I don’t know if I can do that.’
Arthur sighed. ‘You can do anything you want, son. You are Superman, Spiderman and Buzz Lightyear all rolled into one.’ He took a careful hold of Robert’s arm and applied a gentle sideways pressure. ‘Little steps with your left leg and longer steps with the right. You can do it.’
It took Robert a few moments to comply with the instruction but after a few slow and hesitant steps he found himself facing back down the length of the barn again.
‘The end wall is so far away.’
Arthur gritted his teeth in frustration. This was going to take a long time – but then to his surprise Robert thrust out his arm, said, ‘To infinity and beyond!’ and stepped off with renewed confidence. This time he was striding along so quickly that Arthur had to almost jog to keep up with him but all too soon disaster struck. It all seemed to happen in slow motion: a sudden misplaced foot, the entanglement of his feet, a surprised cry and Robert was tumbling towards the floor with Arthur powerless to stop him. Breathless, Arthur crouched down beside him and ran his eyes over the prone figure. ‘It doesn’t look as if you’ve hurt yourself too badly but you need to rest and when we get back we’ll make sure you get a thorough check-up to make sure you’re ok. Perhaps we ought to call it a day, do you think?’
Apart from a few superficial scratches Robert was given a clean bill of health. Arthur was relieved that he had got off so lightly because the next day he was keen to continue with the training.
Once again Robert started off quite warily – and for very good reason – but this time he seemed to settle quite quickly into the routine. His stride was becoming more confident, more stable and in no time at all they were approaching the far end wall but this time Robert did not hesitate, he made a long sweeping turn and set off again back down the barn like a rocket.
Arthur was delighted as he jogged along beside him. Yesterday had been a worrying setback but today his performance had been epic and all of his doubts and fears were evaporating. With three weeks still to go before the race day the prize was looking like theirs for the taking.
On the journey home Robert was still staring ahead without expression but this time Arthur could sense in him a feeling of deep satisfaction, after all he had done a tremendous job.
On the day of the race as they approached the track it was fine and sunny with a light breeze tickling the leaves that crowned the poplars which lined the entrance road – it was the perfect day for a special endurance race.
There were only eight contenders and Arthur managed to secure his lucky number 7 to affix to the front of Robert’s luminous orange vest, although he knew in his heart that luck was never going to play any part in today’s proceedings.
He took Robert up to the starting line where he surveyed the other competitors. At almost six feet tall Robert towered over most of the line-up and a couple of them looked as if they would barely have the stamina to move let alone achieve race-winning performance.
Robert stood motionless surveying the immense open space that stretched out before him. It was only 100 metres but to him it might as well have been infinity. He stretched out his arm and pointed towards the finish line. ‘To infinity and beyond!’
The official approached the line-up and raised his starting pistol. With a flourish he pulled the trigger and a very unimpressive dull crack announced the start of the race.
The contestant to Robert’s left – the smallest of the bunch – took three short steps and fell over. The one to the far left of the pack set off quite quickly but was soon walking off at an angle away from the track in the general direction of the car park.
Robert ignored them all, he set off with a purposeful stride, the words CATCH ME IF YOU CAN imprinted on the back of his vest as a taunt to those still capable of movement.
He powered on just as he had done in the barn. He never once looked back. Had he done so, however, he would have seen the number 5 – who had started so shakily – catching up with him fast.
Arthur watched in amazement as the yellow vest cruised effortlessly up the track. He raised his Google Smartwatch to his lips and spoke rapidly. Robert turned his head to watch the shorter competitor approaching and then he did what they had practiced in the barn – the impossible – he lengthened his stride and dug in hard. The last fifty metres were almost neck and neck but finally the yellow vest stumbled and collapsed leaving Robert to take the tape with the rest of the field out of contention.
Arthur was beside himself, a lifetime of dreams and countless years of hard work had all culminated in this magical moment.
When all of the contestants had been re-assembled in the centre of the arena the official turned to face the crowd. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to announce the winner of the world’s first ever A.I. Endurance Race . . . I give you the indefatigable – Robbie the Robot.