Gone Awry

Idea for a short story:

Scientists genetically alter pine trees so they grow into common dimension lumber such as 2 x 4 wall studs and 2 x 6 sill plates.  Whole forests are soon converted into nurseries for complete building packages grown from seed.  At nearly the same time this breakthrough is occurring in lumber processing, a group of researchers develop a way to produce nails and screws naturally in the earth by means of injecting high electrical current and specific sound-waves into the ground where large bodes of iron ore are present.

By happenstance, both of these new processes are undertaken in the same region of forest.  Within a few years—without any human manipulation—the forest begins to produce pre-assembled Adirondack chairs.

Possible endings:

1. The forest becomes a popular destination for lazy people from around the world.

2. An attack from rogue robots is averted when the robots, while marching through the forest, discover the chairs, and sit in them.  Once the robots sit in the chairs, the electrical current used for producing screws and nails interferes with the robot’s logic systems.  War with the robots is averted because the robots remain sitting in the forest, trying to convince passing moose or deer to fetch them a beer.

3. The entire lawn furniture industry collapses.  Unemployed furniture assemblers are retrained to fight rogue robots.

--Mitchell Hegman