The red velvet draped over the huge device was pulled away with a flourish. Hamish was a tall and elegant man, wearing a precisely tailored suit of charcoal over a pastel green shirt.
“And this, my friends, will solve all of our nutrition woes!” He pivoted to draw attention to the large friendly looking machine. It was more or less a large box with glass sides allowing the observer to peer inside and see tubes of greenish fluid cycling around alternating with strands of full spectrum lights. “With this machine, we can feed a family of four indefinitely. A single upfront cost and it will never need replacing, never need repair, and never run out.”
There were murmurs in the crowd, skeptical of such lofty claims. The conference was mostly technology folks, but there were also investors, journalists, and the occasional science fanboy who didn’t really know what was going on but was excited to be there. One reporter however glared, he saw that Hamish was hiding something. They all watched as Hamish walked in front of the machine and requested vocally for it to prepare him a hamburger. Behind the glass walls the crowd could see a printer fed by tubes flowing with liquid of a dozen different types. A series of six nozzles danced around in all directions, extruding what looked like a fine paste onto a glass plate. For those who were not close enough to see the complex choreography of the food creation was on display on a large screen behind the presenter.
Hamish explained. “Right now the printer is combining proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, and of course some good old fashioned fats together. If you watch closely you can see the sweeps of the laser cooking them as they come down.” Indeed a fine blue light was scanning over everything as it was put together layer by layer. Already what had started as an outline on the plate was quite clearly the bottom of a hamburger bun, and a toasted one at that. The crowd watched as the burger started to be laid down, cooked moments after it was formed. “All this machine needs is water and electricity.” The front of the machine opened up and produced the completed hamburger, still warm enough that little wisps of steam were rising off the bun. Hamish took a bite out of it and swallowed. “Perfect every time… and anything trash you have leftover….” A chute on the side opened and he dropped the burger and the plate back inside. “It’ll clean the plate, break down your trash, and sanitize the materials.”
There was an excited roar of applause from the crowd. The machine was only slightly bigger than a traditional fridge, and already the investors were seeing the potential for sales. Even more, they were terrified of the chance to miss the opportunity if it indeed made appliances like dishwashers, fridges, ovens, even microwaves obsolete. The dissenting reporter on the other hand walked out from the room quietly. The technology didn’t exist to break down and reconfigure matter the way that Hamish was suggesting. There had to be something more going on.
The next day the machine would be on display again, and people would get the opportunity to take a closer look at it and try some of the food it could produce. But the reporter knew that it would be under tight control. Ducking into a broom closet as the conference was closing down for the night he figured he would get himself an up close look at the machine on his own.
“And this, my friends, will solve all of our nutrition woes!” He pivoted to draw attention to the large friendly looking machine. It was more or less a large box with glass sides allowing the observer to peer inside and see tubes of greenish fluid cycling around alternating with strands of full spectrum lights. “With this machine, we can feed a family of four indefinitely. A single upfront cost and it will never need replacing, never need repair, and never run out.”
There were murmurs in the crowd, skeptical of such lofty claims. The conference was mostly technology folks, but there were also investors, journalists, and the occasional science fanboy who didn’t really know what was going on but was excited to be there. One reporter however glared, he saw that Hamish was hiding something. They all watched as Hamish walked in front of the machine and requested vocally for it to prepare him a hamburger. Behind the glass walls the crowd could see a printer fed by tubes flowing with liquid of a dozen different types. A series of six nozzles danced around in all directions, extruding what looked like a fine paste onto a glass plate. For those who were not close enough to see the complex choreography of the food creation was on display on a large screen behind the presenter.
Hamish explained. “Right now the printer is combining proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, and of course some good old fashioned fats together. If you watch closely you can see the sweeps of the laser cooking them as they come down.” Indeed a fine blue light was scanning over everything as it was put together layer by layer. Already what had started as an outline on the plate was quite clearly the bottom of a hamburger bun, and a toasted one at that. The crowd watched as the burger started to be laid down, cooked moments after it was formed. “All this machine needs is water and electricity.” The front of the machine opened up and produced the completed hamburger, still warm enough that little wisps of steam were rising off the bun. Hamish took a bite out of it and swallowed. “Perfect every time… and anything trash you have leftover….” A chute on the side opened and he dropped the burger and the plate back inside. “It’ll clean the plate, break down your trash, and sanitize the materials.”
There was an excited roar of applause from the crowd. The machine was only slightly bigger than a traditional fridge, and already the investors were seeing the potential for sales. Even more, they were terrified of the chance to miss the opportunity if it indeed made appliances like dishwashers, fridges, ovens, even microwaves obsolete. The dissenting reporter on the other hand walked out from the room quietly. The technology didn’t exist to break down and reconfigure matter the way that Hamish was suggesting. There had to be something more going on.
The next day the machine would be on display again, and people would get the opportunity to take a closer look at it and try some of the food it could produce. But the reporter knew that it would be under tight control. Ducking into a broom closet as the conference was closing down for the night he figured he would get himself an up close look at the machine on his own.
In the limited lighting around the convention hall he had an easy time of finding his way back to the glowing food printing machine. Peering around the sides he couldn’t find an obvious way to open it and look inside. It was definitely built to be self contained. Making his way around to the back, a side no one at the convention was likely to be able to see, he pressed his face up against the glass and tried to find what it was that made it work. The only thing different in the back were that some of the tubes that had been flowing with the green liquid were coiled and empty. They looked a bit like aquarium tubes that needed cleaning, the green color must have been some sort of algae. It clung to the inside of the tubes in some places. He wondered how the machine would be able to clean them. But then he spotted something moving through one of the tubes. It was black and small. It looked like, an insect?
Sliding his face down the glass surface he got closer and could see that in fact there were a dozens of ants crawling around inside of the tubes. How did they get in? This thing seemed to be sealed everywhere except the water valve, the trash bin, and the platform where it spit out finished food. However they got in there, that was worth knowing. He snapped a few pictures with his phone. Standing ontop of a chair he was able to look down onto the machine and saw what he was looking for, a hatch that opened up to the inside. It was plastered with all sorts of subtle warning stickers. ‘Keep Closed’ ‘Potential Harm If Opened’. A smile spread across his face as he tried to lift the edge of the hatch. It wouldn’t budge. He pulled out a pocketknife and wedged it under the lip, managing to pop it open.
It was dark inside, but he could hear movement, lots of tiny moving parts. But it didn’t sound mechanical, it sounded somehow organic. He shone the light from his phone into the darkness and froze when he saw what looked like a moving mass of black and metallic… stuff. Before he could make it out the light from his phone faded, he tapped it to bring it back up and the movement stopped. He pushed the phone deeper into the darkness so he could get a better look. It was a mass of ants, not normal ants, these had clearly been modified, they had what looked like metallic sections of their body, but somehow still organic in appearance. When his hand came nearer, they sprang back into action. Moving swiftly towards him.
The ants made quick work of the reporter. They had been bred and designed to consume and process any and all kinds of waste to turn into base elements of food. So late at night the reporter’s screams once the ants had grabbed hold of his arm just echoed around the building aimlessly.
In the morning Hamish came in to find a shoe sitting on the ground and the top pried open. Quickly he grabbed the leather shoe, tossed it inside and shut the hatch. Turns out the machine was also superb at cleaning up messes.
Sliding his face down the glass surface he got closer and could see that in fact there were a dozens of ants crawling around inside of the tubes. How did they get in? This thing seemed to be sealed everywhere except the water valve, the trash bin, and the platform where it spit out finished food. However they got in there, that was worth knowing. He snapped a few pictures with his phone. Standing ontop of a chair he was able to look down onto the machine and saw what he was looking for, a hatch that opened up to the inside. It was plastered with all sorts of subtle warning stickers. ‘Keep Closed’ ‘Potential Harm If Opened’. A smile spread across his face as he tried to lift the edge of the hatch. It wouldn’t budge. He pulled out a pocketknife and wedged it under the lip, managing to pop it open.
It was dark inside, but he could hear movement, lots of tiny moving parts. But it didn’t sound mechanical, it sounded somehow organic. He shone the light from his phone into the darkness and froze when he saw what looked like a moving mass of black and metallic… stuff. Before he could make it out the light from his phone faded, he tapped it to bring it back up and the movement stopped. He pushed the phone deeper into the darkness so he could get a better look. It was a mass of ants, not normal ants, these had clearly been modified, they had what looked like metallic sections of their body, but somehow still organic in appearance. When his hand came nearer, they sprang back into action. Moving swiftly towards him.
The ants made quick work of the reporter. They had been bred and designed to consume and process any and all kinds of waste to turn into base elements of food. So late at night the reporter’s screams once the ants had grabbed hold of his arm just echoed around the building aimlessly.
In the morning Hamish came in to find a shoe sitting on the ground and the top pried open. Quickly he grabbed the leather shoe, tossed it inside and shut the hatch. Turns out the machine was also superb at cleaning up messes.
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