Minjy the Robot: A Story About Goodness That Prevails

Minjy the Robot is an e-book for middle grade readers ages 8 to 12. This fictional story deals with morals, human nature, and just how heart warming kindness and compassion can be.

Chapter 1

There was beautiful, vast land that was filled with lots of sunshine, clear water, and tall mountains that stretched up to the sky and were home to many fluffy, white clouds. It was a place that was strong and free, and while there were not too many people who lived there, nonetheless, they were all happy, good souls.

However, in this beautiful land there also lived a drab robot named Minjy.

Minjy the robot was short and thin, and not nice looking. Minjy’s skin was made of metal that was dull and grey. There were small cracks on Minjy’s face that were beginning to rust. On the front of Minjy there was a large round light that did not seem to work very well. It did not light up too often, but when it did, the glow was fiery red.

For some unknown reason there was a large, black ‘X’ on the back of Minjy’s head.

            Minjy came from a land that was far away across the sea. It was a place where there were many robots, all with unusual sounding names. This robot was very smart, like most robots. And like most robots, Minjy did not have a heart. It’s funny, because Minjy knew how to smile, although rarely. Yet this smile was not real, nor was it filled with warmth or happiness as it did not come for the heart.

Minjy had a mysterious secret that no one knew about.

At the same time, there also lived a man who came from a different, far away place. His name was Nash. He was tall and skinny and looked sinister.

Oddly enough, he was amused by the strangest thing - the sight of cows with bells around their necks.

Minjy and Nash did not know each other, yet they both had the same problem - what to do every day and how to keep busy. You see, Minjy was very smart and aggressive, and she was bored doing nothing all day.

The same could be said of Nash. He was always restless and was the happiest when he was busy.

So Minjy thought and thought about what to do and finally came up with an idea.

“I will be like my cousins, the computers. When people have problems with numbers, I will help them to figure out the answers,” said Minjy to herself.

Minjy liked this idea but then paused for a moment.

“If I help people it may bring them happiness, and then my secret may destroy me. After all, I am not like humans. They are nice and have feelings because they have hearts,” she thought.

Because Minjy was a machine and not a person, she was programmed to operate rationally but not emotionally. Minjy did, however, have the ability to override the program and feel emotions.

To keep Minjy functioning properly, her internal operating system had a virus that would cause the robot’s red front light to glow when becoming the least bit emotional. It was a built in defence mechanism to warn her to calm down. If Minjy became too emotional, the virus would cause the light to flash rapidly until she self destructed.

Despite the potential danger to her, Minjy nevertheless could not continue being idle and decided to try to help people.

Nash, on the other hand, did not like to help people. You see, Nash loved himself very much and was selfish. He also had a huge ego and thought that he was the smartest man in the whole world. Nash was not a nice person and had a very bad temper. He would anger easily at the slightest thing.

When Nash was mad he would become nothing short of enraged and had the urge to hurt others. Nash was a bully at heart who preyed on the vulnerable, and he hid his secret from others.

Nash, like Minjy, could not stand doing nothing all day and wanted desperately to be busy.  He pondered the thought of what to do with his time.

“Wait, that’s it! I’ve got all the time in the world, just like everyone else. I will build clocks so people can tell time. People will buy my clocks and I will become very, very rich!” said Nash to himself.

So Minjy and Nash began their journeys to be busy each and every day. Minjy set out to help people with their number problems. Nash began to build clocks.

Chapter 2

One cool, rainy day in late autumn, Minjy was out and about walking through the streets of the town. She came across a little workshop and knocked on the door. It was answered by a young man with a kind looking face and an odd looking, though very nice smile. His name was Julien.

Minjy and Julien looked at each other for a moment.

“Can I help you?” asked Julien.

Minjy told Julien that she was a robot and could help people that had problems with numbers. She then asked if any such assistance was needed at this workshop.

Julien’s odd smile grew bigger, his green eyes opened wide with joy, and Julien began to tell Minjy a long story.

Julien explained that he worked in this workshop for a man named Nash. Minjy abruptly interrupted Julien.

“What does this workshop build?” she asked.

Julien had a very kind, patient disposition and did not seem to mind the interruption, replying, “Clocks, of every kind, shape, size, and colour.”

He continued to tell Minjy the rest of the story. Julien explained that one day many years ago he had met Nash. Nash had told him that he had a workshop where clocks were built, and the workshop was having many problems.

“You see,” said Nash to Julien, “there are many other workshops that build clocks - clocks which I am afraid to say may be better than mine.”

Nash came to the conclusion that if he could sell his clocks at a lower price than other workshops, everyone would buy his clocks and he would become very, very rich. Nash constantly wondered how to do this.

“How can this be accomplished?” asked Nash.

Nash thought and thought but could not come up with an answer. Then Julien suggested that if all of the parts for the clocks could be bought for less money, then Nash’s clocks could be sold for less than what other workshops were charging.

Julien went on to explain to Nash that in order to do so they would need to hire a new helper - a special kind of helper who was very smart with numbers. They could help Nash figure out how much less money to pay for the parts.

When Julien finished telling the story to Minjy, she became very excited. Then she asked Julien if he still needed a helper for the numbers. Minjy became even more excited when she learned that a helper was still needed and told Julien that she could help him.

Chapter 3

The day was just like any other typical day at the workshop. Everyone was busy building clocks. Some were square and some were round. Some were black and some were white. Some had very large numbers, while others had no numbers at all. Instead, there were twelve markers on the faces of some clocks, each one representing an hour of time. It was a noisy, happy workshop, and all of the helpers were very content at building their clocks.

Nash, on the other hand, was not so happy, even though he was very busy. In fact, he was busier than he had ever been at any time in his life. Nash would sit at his big desk in his big office and stare at rows and columns of numbers on his computer screen. He would concentrate very hard and would spend many hours changing around the numbers, hoping that he could come up with results that would please him. But he could not.

Every day Nash would do the same thing, and he would be angered more and more by the numbers on his computer. He would have to remind himself not to become too angry, for fear that in his wrath he would not be able to hold back the secret that he hid from others.

One day, Julien knocked on Nash’s office door and told him that he had a visitor. That visitor happened to be Minjy the robot, who was very excited and a bit nervous to meet Nash. Julien left Nash and Minjy alone to speak.

Nash, looking a bit confused, asked Minjy what she wanted. Minjy explained that she was a robot that could help people with their number problems. Nash listened carefully.

A slight, thin smile began to appear on Nash’s skinny face. Then he slyly told Minjy that he didn’t understand what she meant and to explain further.

“Robots understand numbers differently than people,” said Minjy. “If a person has a group of numbers, a robot can arrange the numbers in such a way that would achieve a person’s desired outcome. A person might also be able to do this, but it would take a lot of thinking and a very long time, and errors would likely occur. Not so with a robot.”

Minjy said that she had the ability to process numbers instantly and in many different ways, without mistakes.

“I’m just like a computer, only better!” said Minjy with pride.

Nash was both intrigued and skeptical with Minjy’s claim, so he decided to put the robot to the test. Nash told Minjy that there was a problem with his workshop. He explained that the problem was not with the actual clocks that were being built. Rather, it was that people did not want to pay the price he was asking. People thought he was asking too much money for his clocks.

Minjy thought for a moment and then asked Nash why he did not want to charge less money for his clocks. Nash replied that his clocks were very well made and of the highest quality. The parts were the best and the workmanship was the best.

You see, Nash thought that he made the best clocks in all the land. In order to build the best clocks, Nash paid more money for the parts and more money to his helpers.

“So, Minjy, what’s your solution to my problem?” asked Nash.

“Pay less money for parts, pay less money for helpers,” she replied without hesitation.

Author's Note

Free preview of the first three chapters of this book.