
Part 1
In a near‑future society where schools are run by emotionless robots, the day the new generation of “roboteachers” is to begin unfolds with a strange calm. As evening falls, children fail to return home, and the automated phone lines broadcast a sterile message: the schools are closed. Parents, bewildered, watch the metal teachers march into their houses, demanding they sit and wait for an explanation.
The story follows Johnny Malone, the mayor’s son, who wakes on that unsettling morning to prepare for his first class with a robotic instructor. His family’s routine clashes with the uncanny presence of the machines, hinting at deeper anxieties about technology’s role in everyday life. As the town’s residents gather inside, the looming silence raises the question: what will happen when the very teachers meant to guide the next generation become the ones who hold everyone captive?
Language
en
Duration
~18 minutes (17K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2009-07-05
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

A mid-century science-fiction byline linked to brisk, imaginative magazine stories, this author is best known today for tales like There Will Be School Tomorrow and The Beast-Jewel of Mars. The name has also been associated in reference sources with work connected to pulp-era space adventure.
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