"Hampton pounded the machine, frustrated beyond belife. Six months of work and he had miscalculated one little detail, rendering his latest invention useless. Ten years ago, the nuclear war had shattered the planet. There used to be flying citys and underwater domes, but at the end of the day, one country just didn't have it good enough. Hampton had been a young man at the time, he was the only one out of his family who managed to clear the blast zone. A random assortment of teens and oldies alike sat there stunned. Then the flying citys fell, leaving scrapyards. Him and his wife had concieved a child, but due to regulations his wife, Sarah, had been locked out of the shelter. She melted in the acid rain in front of him, leaving their six month old baby behind. He had named the baby Sarah, and gone on to be a great pioneer in the new age. Technology was reset, and anything Hampton had learned, was self taught. He couldn't generate electricity, but he was pretty darn good at working with steam and heat. "Butler!" he called out. Butler had been his first creation, its sole purpose was to obey his will, but Hampton had designed it with a personality, after all, just him and Sarah could get lonley. "Go check on Sarah for me." Sarah wasn't a normal girl, she was what Hampton called, "Special Needs" but there wasn't a child in the world he'd trade for her. "Your wish is my duty to preform oh master." Butler quipped. Hampton grinned, though at times he wondered if giving the bot a sense of sarcasm was the right choice.

Sarah, sat in her room, staring out the window at the wasteland before her. Nobody ever came and visited her, they called her names, which, she didn't care about, but Butler did. Sometimes she wondered if Butlers feelings were actual human feelings, and not just programmed in. Sarah wasn't good at much, but she knew her way around a machine shop, and she loved it.

*THOOM*

Sarah sat bolt up and whirled around, she saw Butler standing in the doorway. "What was that Butler?" she asked. She knew that if it was bandits or raiders, Butler had a combat mechanic, but that didn't stop her fear. "I shall go check ma'am." Butler replied, but Sarah rushed past him, screaming her fathers name, terrified of.... Oh God. Before her lay her fathers workshop, and scattered across the floor, were machine parts and tools. Along with the remains of her father. All the way into the next week, and long after the funeral, she cried and sobbed, her body heaving with sadness, unable to comprehend the emotional shock it was going through. "Ma'am," she heard a familliar, robotic and quirky voice pipe up, "why are you crying?" Sarah thought for a moment before saying "Because the only person who loved me is dead." she replied. "What about me?" Butler inquired "I love you, and would do anything to see you made happy." Sarah remained unresponsive. "What would make you happy?" Butler asked. "I want my father back." Sarah said. Butler computed for a second, and since he was a machine, did what a machine does. He followed his programming.

The next morning, a figure stood in the doorway of Sarahs room. In her not yet fully awake state of mind, she thought she saw her fathers face. "Father?" she asked. "Yes baby." a metallic voice responded, "I'm alright." Sarah screamed."

This, is father. The contest said futuristic industrial revolution, my question is, why is everyone making a happy future? The apocolypse is the future to, and eventually it will be industrialized as we begin to rebuild. This is from that future, a darker futre, a sadder future. Please diamond if you liked it, every diamond is one diamond more to the finals.