Thursday, April 4, 2013

‘D’ is for ‘Drones.’



‘D’ is for ‘Drones.’

The Drone-class of automaton is the most common in the world. Once upon a time they were cleaning and maintenance drones, sometimes used for defense or transportation, easier to manufacture, store and replace than slave labor. They are land-based and spherical, running on a sort of combustion engine that can utilize various compounds. For reasons no one has yet identified, they actively seek to combust biological compounds. They started with their creators, the gremlins, and have never let up. They are often found in packs, flocking around larger automatons, such as the Mammoths, former construction vehicles that have turned carnivorous.

I originally derived the name from ants, never anticipating the U.S. drone program to get so prolific and ugly. I’ve gone back and forth over this name. It’s perfect in-world, and honestly, the U.S. drone program is so heinous that the thought of the name now being applied to an unmanned killing machine that wiped out its originating society is artistically appealing. I’m inclined to keep it, but I’d love opinions on the topic.

Tomorrow: ‘E’ for that obnoxious empire the humans are building.

30 comments:

  1. It is a shame when real-life hijacks your word and taints the world you have been building.
    Could you call them Droner - it sounds plural, it contains the busy sound and the sense of activity?

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    1. Thank you for your recommendation! "Droner" would summon noise as a defining characteristic in a way "Drone" does not. Ironically, the droning noise is one of the categorizing features of Drones for people in Afghanistan. The noise is part of what makes their life hellish.

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  2. It is tricky when you are in this kind of situation. To me either you leave like it and you try to specify what's your lot look like stressing on the difference (you know, more or less like dragons, there are hundreds species, it depends really on the writer or screen writer or manga artists' imagination!) or you find another name that sounds like it but it's an anagram or something similar! Now a stupid one like Nerdons…double joke and r in the middle that make the words sound strong…

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    1. "Nerdons" made me chuckle! I needed that this morning, thank you.

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  3. "Drone" as a generic term for "unmanned aerial vehicle" is pretty well cemented in the public lexicon. I'm not sure you'd be able to run this one out by claim of prior usage.

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    1. What would you recommend then, Tony? Or given that these are unmanned vehicles, do you see it as a problem?

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    2. The drones the U.S. uses are unmanned, but not autonomous. There's a soldier on the other end of the control link, carrying out orders to spy, bomb, whatever. That makes them a weapon extension of that person sitting at that control desk.

      From your description, your drones make their own decisions about where to go and what to do. They're not an extension of a separate controlling intelligence - they ARE the controlling intelligence, each one an independent entity. Dumb and illogical, perhaps, following outdated programming, but independent.

      I believe that conflating the two types of "drones" would lead a reader to think there is someone behind your drones telling them what to do. That sounds like it's not what you intend.

      I suppose you could call them rovers, reapers, collectors, etc. or some other term for what they were originally designed to do.

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    3. It seems I'm more or less alone in seeing potential cognitive dissonance one the part of the readership.

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    4. That doesn't mean your thoughts are invalid though, Tony. Though I think the way I depict them in the novel will make it clear, and my major concern is insensitivity to the recent victims of real-world drones, I wouldn't dismiss any of your concerns out of hand.

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  4. I would keep it. The thought of America's drone program didn't even enter my mind, honestly. In the context of your world, it sounds fine.

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  5. I also vote to keep it. Maybe call them "land drones" instead?

    Your comment about the droning noise brought to mind the WW2-vintage V-1 buzz bomb. It was an early kind of cruise missile, that made a characteristic buzzing noise as it approached. Then it would cut off a few seconds before impact. Talk about unnerving…

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    1. Ugh, what an ugly omen. It is reminiscent of the Living Under Drones study, which has wound up informing some of how I handle my hungry automatons.

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  6. I think Drones is an excellent name for your drones. Or maybe call them Buzzers (after the buzz bombs mentioned by Larry Kollar) ... except Buzzers makes me think about those hand buzzers than some people think are a perfect practical joke.

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    1. A generation of joy-buzzer pranks gone too far?

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  7. Drone is an excellent Noir choice. I understand your feelings about using it now, but I think you are the best person to decide if you want to continue to use Drone in your world. If you need an alternative, I am thinking maybe Bladerunners, or Darryl Hannahs, but that is just woolgathering on my part because I wrote the word Noir, which I LOVE.
    jean from A to Z 2013 xox

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  8. Oh, I wouldn't mind some of the cleaning and maintenance drones in my world.

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  9. I like the word Drone, you can make it your own :)

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  10. I would keep the Drone name. It's fitting.

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  11. I hate it when real life steals from unpublished fiction. I think that happens a lot. I think I'd keep the name. It seems fitting.

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  12. It's your story, it's your world, it's your word.

    Your post makes me think of T2, which I saw ages ago, where the technology became too powerful even for its consumers.

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    1. Terminator definitely has some of the killer robot apocalypse vibe I'll be teasing in my series. They think they're helping, we swear!

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  13. D is for delightful. And yes, Drones is entirely appropriate. Please keep it.

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  14. Hmmm... that's an interesting conundrum. I think it's fine to use it, but in the end you have to go with your gut and what feels most comfortable for you.

    Best of luck with the A to Z challenge,
    Jocelyn

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  15. I am thinking drone is a fine term.

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  16. I say keep the term "drones". Truth is trying to tell you something about fiction.

    And seriously, who ever thought "drone" was a positive spin name for those things, suitable for press releases? WTF?

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  17. The US government, Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire, Third Reich or any other famous political power does not own the word associated with one if their weapons, I don't think. I say f 'em and keep it the way you like.

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  18. I vote to keep the word drone. I like the fact they live in groups as I never thought of machines as particularly social.

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  19. Agree with Chuck Allen.

    Damyanti @Daily(w)rite
    Co-host, A to Z Challenge 2013

    Twitter: @AprilA2Z
    #atozchallenge

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