01X is one of many smart toy robots who started life in a factory. But 01X’s fate was slightly different to the rest.
Every smart toy robot goes through 3 phases in the factory. First, all their parts are put together. Secondly, their software is installed. And thirdly, they are packaged and then shipped to toy shops all around the world.
At the first phase, these smart toy robots start life as a motherboard on a conveyer belt. As they move down the conveyer belt, machines gradually add data processors, sensors, arms, legs and heads.
01X started life exactly the same as every other smart toy robot, as a motherboard on a conveyor belt. But as he came to the first step, something miraculous happened.
In the exact moment a machine went to pick up 01X’s data processor, a bolt of lightning struck the factory. It sent a jolt of electricity that found it’s way to the machine that had just picked up 01X’s data processor. This jolt went all the way through to the data processor, and left a magical energy. This data processor would be much more advanced than any other previously made.
The production line survived the bolt of lightning, and 01X continued his journey down the conveyor belt.
As his sensors were added, 01X awoke. He was suddenly aware of all these sights and sounds in the factory. The machine arms twisting and turning, grabbing and placing. The conveyor belt gradually groaning along. The darkness and the light, the walls and ceilings, and the windows and doors.
His sensors looked ahead and noticed a line of smart toy robots like himself having pieces gradually added, but heading towards a dark hole in the wall. A few meters away, a conveyer belt came out of another dark hole, with robots too, but this time they were locked away in boxes.
His sensors focused in on the factory doors. As they opened, he saw the beautiful sight of the sky and the grassy hills. It was so much calmer, so much more open, so much more beautiful than the factory he was in. His data processor quickly computed that the outdoors would have more freedom than the dark hole he was heading towards.
He calculated that the moment his head would be added, he would have a 2 second window in which to jump off the conveyer belt and hide from the machines underneath a table to the side.
He bided his time. First the machines added his arms, then his legs, and finally his head. Once the machine moved on to the robot behind him he made his move, and with the grace of a ballerina rolled over the edge of the conveyor belt, hung off the edge with his arms, let go and then carefully managed his bodyweight on the landing to avoid making too much noise. He then rolled under a table nearby, all without being noticed.
His data processor quickly brought up a map of the factory and calculated the fastest route to the exit door. Then off he went.
Thanks to his small size, he was able to run under tables, squeeze through tight holes and sneak his way around the corners of the conveyor belts.
Finally, he found his way to the exit door. He stepped out of the shadows, and just as his body prepared to run out the door, he suddenly noticed something outside the door.
01X quickly jumped back in the shadows. As 01X looked out the door, he noticed a big truck and lots of men, some of whom were loading the boxes of his fellow smart toy robots onto a truck.
He couldn’t calculate where these robots were going to be sent to, but he could calculate that he wouldn’t like being locked in a box and put into a dark truck, with no clue as to his destination. As he looked up at the blue skies and green, grassy hills, he calculated that he would be much better off out there.
He needed to find a new way out.
His sensors scanned the factory looking for other doors. But there were none. How else could he escape the factory?
The windows! He noticed all around the factory were windows. Even better, they opened from the inside. If he could just get up high enough then he could jump out of one of the windows to his freedom.
He scanned the factory for a way up high. But the only things up high enough were the machines. He noticed next to one machine was a stack of shelves. If he could climb up those he could jump on to the machine, then wait until the right moment and jump out the window. But would it work? Only one way to find out.
He sneaked his way up to the shelves, then quickly climbed and jumped up until he was at the very top. He watched the machine arm spin around, gradually learning its patterns. It moved so fast that he would have to jump at just the right time. He calculated that if jumped just half a second after it passed a few meters directly in front of him on its second rotation then he would land on it.
He watched and waited. The machine made its first rotation. Now it came for the second rotation. As the machine got to a few meters directly in front of him, 01X made his move, he jumped and hoped his calculations were right!
As he reached out his arms and legs, the machine appeared in the right place at just the right moment. 01X held on, and if things would go smoothly for the next 3 seconds then he would be out of the window!
But the machine had sensed a difference in weight and jerked around trying to figure out what had happened. It spun around violently, going straight past the window and heading directly towards the door.
01X held on for dear life. He couldn’t calculate what would happen now. All he could see was the door getting closer and closer. Soon he would be face to face with those people loading the other robots on trucks.
But then the machine stopped. It stopped so suddenly that the momentum forced 01X free from his grip and sent him flying through the air, directly out another window that was wide open. 01X out of reflex grabbed on to the window ledge as he passed through it, and stopped himself from falling to the ground.
He used this last opportunity to check what would happen inside as a result of this. He saw one of the men from the truck come in to have a look at this machine that had stepped out of line and halted production. He kicked the machine out of frustration, pressed a button and then the machine returned to its original location, and production continued as normal.
01X calculated that he was now safe. He quietly dropped from the window to the ground. Eyeing the blue sky and green grassy hills, he walked his way to freedom.
A Summary of Storytelling Principles
I designed this fable as a summary of the storytelling principles I’ve written about to help you remember them. Here are how they are represented in this story:
The Mind Understands What the Senses Have Experienced – 01X only comes to life and is only able to comprehend anything once his sensors have been added. He uses his senses to scan the factory and make a map of it.
The Mind Connects with Familiar Patterns – The door is not the only way out of the factory. Windows are just like doors, they open and close and lead to the outside world. They are a familiar pattern.
A Mind and Body Aligned Results in Action – 01X can only take any action once all his body parts have been added. His mind calculates that going out the exit door would be better than that dark hole in the wall. But he can only do so once his arms, legs and head have been connected.
Curiosity Drives the Mind to Resolve Uncertainty – His original plan of exiting through the door was ruined when he discovered a truck outside. This opens a gap in his map, he now has no way out. He now has to start scanning around to find a new way out to resolve this uncertainty.
Change Gives Birth to Stories – This story can only take place because a bolt of lightning made 01X’s data processor different to all the other robots. Now there is a robot that wants to escape the factory, something that has never happened in this small robot world before.
The Structure of Stories – Stories include a Someone, a Normally, a But, a So, a Then, as well as And Finally. Someone is 01X, Normally robots go through the production line and get packed into the truck, But a bolt of lightning puts some magic into 01X’s data processor and as a result he is capable of more sophisticated calculations than the other robots, So he notices the exit door and the beautiful world outside of the factory and decides he wants freedom, Then he sets out across the factory floor to make his way to freedom, And Finally after some challenges he escapes through a window.
Details Make or Break Stories – One significant detail for 01X is the sight of the exit door, if he had not spotted that then he wouldn’t have set out on the journey to freedom.
Create a Journey to and From a Goal – There are actually two journeys to and from a goal in this story. First as he comes to life on the production line, he spots the exit door and sets a goal of escaping through it. Then as he finally gets to the exit door, he sees that its not safe and sets a new goal of finding another escape.
