JIMMY WATSON - His mother, Marion, teases her son about his dreams to build a large robot ant with a drawing of her son riding on the ant's back. Then it comes true.

CHAPTER 19 - CHRISTMAS EVE, JIMMY CAN'T KEEP HIS EYES OPEN

Where had the year gone. It was Christmas Eve already. There was no more time to check the wiring or computer code. It was now or never. The clock struck eleven pm. Jimmy was tired beyond belief. He'd been up since six am. Even though a holiday, and there was no school, he'd still been at it, virtually non-stop.

As the minutes ticked by, he'd run out of excuses. No more procrastination. No more trips to the kitchen for snacks and time to think. He could not think of another delaying thing to do. The check list was complete. Jimmy, closed his eyes and wished as hard as he could. He thought about Santa Claus, and the film Elf. Deep down he knew he'd been a good boy, and a nice boy. But, was he good enough. Had anyone noticed, other than his mother and father. Oh, and yes, some teachers at this school had said some kind words of encouragement, including the super strict Mr Rippengall.

Even Johnny Baxter and Jamie Moonlight had thanked him. Even his enemies at school. Then there was his good friend Julia Roberts. She'd praised his efforts. Jimmy went over these thoughts again and again. But, there was not more time for guessing. It was now twenty minutes past eleven. He had to power up the onboard AI. He was as nervous as a long tailed cat, in a room full of rocking chairs. He could not stand still. But he was so tired. He kept on yawning.

Jimmy fired up the onboard computer, with his fingers crossed and his eyes shut tightly. He thought of Santa Claus again, and hoped he'd been a Nice enough boy for Father Christmas to grant the wish he'd made exactly one year ago.

"Here goes Anthony, don't let me down." And Jimmy summoned up the courage to initiate the program. He closed his eyes tightly and thought of Father Christmas, the Arctic and snow, clenching his jaw, and concentrating hard. Then, he pressed the 'Enter' key.

Back in the North Pole, Great Papa elf was taking note. If any boy deserved his dream to come true, it was Jimmy. He hoped Jimmy was as good at programming as all the elves, and Santa Claus, thought he might be.

At first, nothing much happened. There was no outward sign of anything being different. But the onboard computers were working away, interfacing, joining hands, and understanding each other. Occasionally, Anthony would twitch. The DinoBot's feelers  moved, then Anthony opened and closed his jaws a couple of times.

The DinoBot powered up, re-booting with the new hard and software, and stabilized, after running hundreds of diagnostic checks. Jimmy felt it was safe to try a few voice commands, once all the small screen showed the system normal. 

"Robot, your name is Anthony. Nod your head to acknowledge."

Anthony nodded his head. "Anthony, please walk one step cycle forward."

Anthony walked forward one cycle, the motors making quite a whining noise.

Jimmy placed the top body section in place, and clipped the locking mechanism tight. 

"Anthony, rise up and touch the underside of the building with your feelers. Confirm command."

"Command confirmed." Anthony spoke for the first time in reply to a spoken instruction. Then, without any sound, the hexapod raised it's middle legs, squatting slightly on the hind legs, and touched the ceiling roof boarding.

"Oh great, I cannot hear your drive motors. Tell me your name?" 

"My name is Anthony Maximus Antonious Decimus Meridius, Anthony for short."

That made Jimmy smile. He cleared away the unused parts and put his tools away in their correct sliding drawers. He was a stickler for working tidy.

The day's exertions were telling. Jimmy began drifting off, snapping back to waking. He could not keep his eyes open. He knew he was too tired to stay up any longer. He'd fall asleep in the workshop if he was not careful.

"Anthony, continue updating, and when complete, revert to standby, energy conservation mode."

"Understood, complying."

Jimmy looked over his creation, he could not believe he'd come this far. He enjoyed the visuals, his eyes closing again, he snapped back. "Got to go Anthony. I can't keep my eyes open. Jimmy did not notice, Anthony tilt his head and wave goodbye with one antenna. Jimmy closed the door behind him, clasping the padlock. It was near freezing outside, but a dry cold. He scampered up the path inside.

Dragging himself upstairs, only just making it to his bedroom. He somehow managed to pull his jeans, jumper and top off on automatic pilot. Then flopped into bed. Curling up and pulling his duvet tightly around himself, his head hit the pillow. The cold cotton soon warmed, and he felt that wonderful snug glow, with his breathing intensifying to empty his lungs completely, in full cycle oxygenation, as he slipped into a deep sleep.

Not ten minutes into his REM, his brain began generating soothing patterns, as he relaxed completely and succumbed to his deepest thoughts.

 He dreamed that Anthony, had come to life.

Back in the workshop, Anthony was wide awake. He did not require sleep. After another few hours of self-learning, Anthony used his GPS to find out where he was on the planet. The hexapod, took note of the temperature, time, and recalibrated itself, to mesh physical movement with digital commands.

Anthony wanted to know more about himself. He realised that he was a hexapod, and practiced walking around the workshop, without hitting anything. His sensors worked brilliantly. His accelerometers and strain gauges provided superb feedback. The custom built hexapod found the DinoBot kit that Jimmy had purchased, roughly three months ago, plus the extras and metals. A million and more calculations later, and Anthony knew what the modifications were, and how Jimmy had calculated the required additional energy and larger motors.

Anthony hacked into the computers at Hailsham Community College, and read Jimmy's file. His creator was said to be a wizard programmer, and gifted robot builder. That comforted the DinoBot, should he need any repairs, or other improvements.

Then, outside, it started to snow ....

Herstmonceux in Sussex

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