Mason's Rats story
In a future version of Scotland, a farmer named Mason is distressed to discover the rats in his barn are bigger than before, standing upright on two legs, using tools and attacking him with crossbows as they pilfer his genetically modified supplies. Enlisting the services of the high-tech Traptech pest control company, Mason installs five TT-6 pulse lasers into his barn. The lasers are effective until the leader of the rats discovers their positions and disables each laser. At his wits' end, Mason is talked into buying the TT-15, a scorpion-like mobile assault robot by Traptech. For the next several days, the TT-15 does its job gruesomely well; much to Mason's growing discomfort, especially at all the damage the robot leaves in its wake to his property. After one of its laser shots destroys his mug, narrowly missing his head, a furious Mason storms into the barn; only to see the interior destroyed and the rats mounting a heroic final stand against the mech. They manage to severely damage it using one of his tractors outfitted with the missing pulse laser as a tank. Mason, impressed by the rats' courage and upset with the TT-15 now destroying his property, finishes the mech off with a shotgun blast to the CPU. He makes peace with the rats; the group raises a glass of brandy, distilled from Mason's grain, and watches the sunset together as he cancels a check for Traptech. Cast: Craig Ferguson, Dan Stevens Directed by: Carlos Stevens. Story by: Neal Asher.
8 total · 2 choice · 6 major
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| facing a vermin infestation | choice | The story is set in a future version of Scotland and turns on a farmer enlisting the services of a high-tech pest control company to rid his barn of a newly evolved species of intelligent rats. |
| intelligent animal | choice | The rats infesting Mason's bard had evolved to be intelligent users of complex tools. |
| farming | major | The story is set on a futuristic Scottish farm where a species of intelligent rats were pilfering the farmer's stores of grain. |
| human self-reflection | major | The story concluded with Mason coming to see that the intelligent rats infesting his barn were not his enemies, and that exterminating them was wrong. They made peace, drank whisky together, and seemed to have a happy modus vivendi. |
| respect for an enemy | major | After watching the intelligent rats struggle bravely against the killbot, Mason came to admire their cause. He commiserated with the intelligent rats after watched them mourn their fallen comrades. |
| speculative evolution | major | A novelty of the story is that the rats infesting Mason's bard had evolved intelligence and the ability to use complex tools. This was spelled out by the pest control company salesman, who explained that humanity's "warping" of the environment was driving the animal world to adapt by using tools. |
| speculative robot | major | A menacing, autonomous, scorpion-like killbot nearly exterminated the intelligent rats inhabiting Mason's barn. |
| war | major | The intelligent rats infesting/inhabiting Mason's barn found themselves in a state of all out war against the forces of Mason and the pest control company he had enlisted. An arms race ensued. |