Book - The Tipping Point

Chapter Two

A loud, whirring noise awoke him from his slumber. “What?” Alister groaned as he was confronted by a WADE attempting to remove the bench from beneath him.

The Robot addressed him, “Hello. My designation is WADE 8.5. Please remove yourself from this vicinity.”

His memory slowly caught up to the recent events. He had been fired, and the WADE’s had replaced his human counterparts. Alister realised he had unknowingly fallen asleep on his old bench. The bench that was about to be destroyed. “Is this really necessary?” he questioned, unwilling to give up what had been his for so long. It had been his spot to escape to when his family were fighting, his lunch-time relaxation. He didn’t want to let go. Especially to his replacement.

“This is a decision made by the government to aid the efforts in returning Sydney to a sustainable environment safe for the human population.” the WADE replied.

Alister sighed dejectedly. There wasn’t anything that he could do to avoid it. Things were changing. And in his case, not for the better. He wondered what would happen if he stayed exactly where he was. Would the WADE leave him alone? Then he realised what it had attempted to do while he was still asleep. It would not deviate from its programming and could continue regardless. He collapsed back down on the bench in an attempt to ignore the reality of his situation.

“Please, this is my bench, could you do it later? When I’m not here?” Alister pleaded, although some part of him knew that it was useless. At the end of the day, it was still a robot. It would stick to its programming.

“This is a decision made by the government to aid the efforts in returning Sydney to an eco-friendly, sustainable environment that is safe for the human population. The previous attempts were not viable to continue. The state of this area was unacceptable” the WADE replied. Alister pushed himself up from the bench, back to a sitting position. He knew the minute he stood up, his little spot would no longer exist. One more defeat he would have to suffer through. Gradually, he clambered to his feet, pushing his unwilling body up. He took one last look at the bench and snapped his head in opposite direction. He didn’t want to look back. The sounds he woke up to had returned, louder and more forceful than before. The truth of the situation suddenly dawned on him. He no longer has any power over this area, he could no longer expect it to stay the same. Gathering his thoughts, he tore down the streets, the streets that he knew like the back of his hand, as he ran as far as he could.