Robots On The Hill (Read In English) | Stories Sotto Le Stelle Podcast | Short Stories For Childr…

Robots on the Hill

On a bright spring day, some schoolchildren on a field trip passed near the Observatory on the Hill. The large, gleaming building was an architectural wonder, with tall towers reaching toward the sky, silver domes shining in the sun, and gigantic telescopes protruding like curious eyes, always ready to explore the universe. It was the first time they had seen it up close, and to their eyes, it appeared as the wonder of wonders.

Back at school, the children couldn’t stop thinking about that mysterious place, and during the remaining hours of lessons, they frequently raised their hands to ask questions. But the teachers’ answers were vague, and their doubts remained unresolved. To be honest, not many in town knew much about that building. It had been there for so long that no one paid much attention to it anymore. Maybe it had always been there.

Among the students in that class were a brother and sister, who were perhaps a little more curious than the others. When they got home, they decided to visit their grandmother, who, more often than not, knew how to answer their strangest questions: “Grandma, you who always tell us memories of the past, and that a merry-go-round and a music box were your favorite games to play, could you tell us something about the future? What secrets are hidden in the sky? What happens in the great Observatory on the Hill?”

Grandma smiled, and her eyes lit up with a mysterious sparkle. The two grandchildren, by the way, were sure that their grandmother was hiding some secret in her super-private garage. In fact, Grandma wasn’t just passionate about stories from the past: she read a lot, listened to the radio, and often, at night, she observed the sky with peculiar tools. And it was in the sky that she had a dear friend, the Wizard of Knowledge, with whom she had often collaborated in the past to decipher the mysteries of the universe and the future.

Without hesitation, Grandma decided to call him on the radio, so that he could answer her curious grandchildren. After a few moments, the Wizard of Knowledge appeared with his shimmering spaceship. Floating next to him was a magical book, which opened and closed on its own, revealing strange symbols, ancient formulas, and secrets.

The Wizard turned to the children with a wise smile and told them that the Observatory on the Hill is open 360° to the world, made of glass windows with an infinite view, from where you can study the entire universe. Some robots, coming from distant planets, discovered it while wandering on Earth. To conduct their studies as astronomer scientists, it was the perfect place.

The robots that lived there and were in charge of the research project had particular names:

ASSO, the Robot best at organizing things, was the head of the expedition.
CONNI, the Explorer Robot, who was connected to the universe and understood it better than anyone else.
UNO, the Math Genius Robot, who counted the stars and all flying celestial bodies, including meteors and shooting stars.
SALUS, the Researcher Robot, who was knowledgeable about Planet Earth, observed all its inhabitants, and tracked every change, from ecosystems to biodiversity.
AUDIO, the Artificial Intelligence that was invisible but responsible for all space communications and coordinated discoveries between the various planets.

After explaining, the Wizard of Knowledge invited Grandma and the grandchildren to board his spaceship, and together they floated slowly toward the observatory. Gravity seemed suspended, and everything around them shone with a magical light.

The Wizard offered them colorful balloons that lifted them into the air, and through the open roof of the spaceship, they were transported to the glass windows of the Observatory.

What a wonder! There were hundreds of instruments and many robots of different sizes, all busy with their tasks. Among them stood out for size, shape, and color, Asso, Conni, Uno, and Salus. They looked up, surprised and amazed at the sight of the visitors, and didn’t know how to react. The children sent kisses and greetings, but the robots, who didn’t understand affection, exchanged only light signals and went back to work as usual. Who knows what thoughts they had and what secrets they hid in their electronic brains.

Once back home, they were happy about the adventure, but their curiosity had grown even more. The robots’ work would continue, but in their opinion, it was necessary for them to interact with humans to share their discoveries and collaborate for a better world.

The robots they had seen through the glass were of few words and too absorbed in their tasks to chat with them. But perhaps what couldn’t be seen was the solution: AUDIO, the Artificial Intelligence!

To contact it, they needed a genius idea: Grandma’s radio could be what they needed. But it required some changes. They immediately fitted it with super-powerful antenna and microphone. Without hesitation, they tried t…

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