wugs

Unless one counted human violence against the wugs, that is.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

How many wugs would a wise wug whip if a wise wug would whip wugs?

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

What was known for certain about the life of wugs would not fill a chip off a molly the size of a ball bearing.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

Covered in curious wugs, she began to giggle, then to laugh.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

From beneath her bed, from the bathroom, from under the closet door, more wugs appeared.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

Offspring of what had ultimately been designated, for lack of a better definition and in the throes of official bewilderment, wireless underground gofer systems, the wugs were tiny, exquisitely engineered, self-reproducing robotic lifeforms whose actions suggested but did not confirm that they were components of a communal mechanized lifeform directed by some kind of rogue artificial intelligence gram.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

Initial fear and panic at the appearance of the wugs soon gave way to concern, then uncertainty, and finally to annoyance when the thousands of tiny devices exhibited nothing in the way of purpose, much less hostility.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

Most of the time the wugs avoided people, hiding themselves in the enormous circulatory system of the Strip: air-conditioning vents, water and sewer pipes, transport tunnels, fiber optic conduits, and induction tubes.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

Virtually the only thing about the wugs that continued to bother people was that nobody could manage to figure out where the heck they were coming from.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002

Those paranoicos convinced the wugs were out to take over the world quickly foundthemselves shorn of their followings, especially when it became clear that the wugs were nothing more than an irritation.

The Mocking Program Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 2002