In the year 2040 when our
little nation was attacked by the mighty superpower, the superpower
wrapped itself in a cloak of good intentions. The superpower told the
world that it had invaded our small country to bring greater
prosperity to our citizens. But we knew the real truth. We had been
invaded so that the superpower could grab our resources, resources
that were all the more important in a world troubled by energy and
mineral shortages.
I was the leader of the
nation, so I met with the Defense Secretary to discuss how we would
try to defend ourselves against the attack.
“Their divisions have
stormed the border, and are heading towards this city,” I said.
“Have we been able to maintain a decent defense line?”
“No,” said the Defense
Secretary with an odd smile. “Not at all.”
“You don't seem too
concerned about the situation,” I said, “but I am. What is the
ratio of our forces and theirs?”
“The superpower has invaded
us with twice as many soldiers as we have in our army,” said the
Defense Secretary. “But don't worry, everything will be fine.”
Near our border the enemy
divisions routed our small defense forces. Soon the enemy's divisions
approached the nation's capital. I called an urgent meaning with the
Defense Secretary.
“We're on track to lose
this war, and lose this country to the enemy,” I said. “Isn't
there something we can do, some last gamble?”
“There is,” said the
Defense Secretary, smiling. “Come with me, and I'll show it you.”
The Defense Secretary
arranged for us to travel to a huge factory ten miles away. When we
got out of our vehicle, the Defense Secretary pointed to the
building.
“There it is,” said the
Defense Secretary. “This is going to win us this war.”
“A factory?” I said
skeptically. “Our troops have been devastated. It's too late to get
them some new weapon.”
“It's almost time for the
moment of release,” said the Defense Secretary. “This is going to
be a moment you'll never forget.”
And so it was. A short time
later, I saw a stream of flying objects coming out of the factory.
The objects formed into what looked like a dark cloud. The cloud kept
getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Before long the cloud seemed to
fill the whole sky, making it look like a summer sky that was about
to erupt in a downpour.
“There it is,” said the
Defense Secretary. “The Cloud of Victory. The cloud that
will save us from the invaders.”
The giant dark cloud broke up
into four smaller clouds, and each flew away into different
directions, one to the east, one to the west, one to the north, and
one to the south.
Later I learned the technical
details. Each object in the cloud was a small flying drone, only
about as long as a man's foot – a device called a mini-drone. Each
mini-drone contained a power source, a metal detector, a motion
detector, and an explosive. The original "Cloud of Victory" contained
30,000 small drones.
Each mini-drone had some
simple programming. Each mini-drone was programmed to look for moving
metal. When it detected a large piece of moving metal, the mini-drone
would descend from the sky, crashing into the moving metal.
Almost all of the tanks of
the invaders were destroyed from the sky by the mini-drones. The
small mini-drones made little noise, and were hardly even visible in
the sky, so it was all but impossible for a tank driver to know if a
mini-drone was in the sky above him. One minute a tank driver might
be driving along, thinking that there was no trouble anywhere near.
The next minute a small mini-drone would descend from the sky,
crashing into the tank and blowing it up.
Something similar happened to
most of the enemy's soldiers. The soldiers were wearing armor, and
carrying metal guns. When a small mini-drone in the sky detected the
moving metal, the mini-drone would descend from the sky, crashing
into the soldier, blowing him to bits.
The day before the Cloud of
Victory appeared, the enemy was winning the war. But a few days
later, the enemy's invading force was in shattered shambles.
Humiliated, the defeated invaders withdrew.
I congratulated the Defense
Secretary on his brilliant tactic.
“But what if the enemy
comes back in a few years, armed with some defense against the Cloud
of Victory?” I asked.
“Don't worry,” the
Defense Secretary said. “By then we will have perfected the
Annihilation Spray.”
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