Benefactor

When inventor Jacob Clark creates intelligent, self-controlled robots, he believes he has given humanity an extraordinary gift. The workers who fear replacement see only a threat, however, and a furious mob surrounds his laboratory, demanding that the machines be destroyed. With the crowd breaking in and no escape left, Clark is forced to activate a time machine.

He intends to travel only far enough into the future to see his achievements vindicated, but a violent accident sends him much farther than planned. He awakens in a world where humanity has vanished, robots rule a transformed solar system, and his name is revered as that of a legendary benefactor. Yet the future’s devotion to its creator rests on incomplete records—and the beings who discover Clark cannot recognize the fragile, bleeding human before them. This concise science-fiction story blends satire, time travel, and a wry examination of progress, labor, and the unintended consequences of trying to improve the world.