The Iron Heart 🤖🌸

On the planet Ferrum, there were no trees, no rivers, and no birds. Everything was made of metal. The hills were mountains of scrap, the rivers were streams of shiny oil, and the wind sounded like a metallic whistle.

There lived Rusty, a small, rusty robot with a curiosity larger than a satellite antenna. Rusty spent his days collecting lost screws and cleaning his friends' gears.

One morning, while exploring an ancient valley of cables, Rusty saw something he had never seen on his sensors. Between two rusty steel beams, something small and vibrantly pink was peeking through.

—What is this? —Rusty wondered, making a static sound—. It's not metal, it's not a cable, it has no battery.

He approached carefully. It was a flower. A real flower, with soft petals and a scent that Rusty couldn't compare to anything in his database. The flower looked weak, surrounded by so much cold metal.

Rusty decided to take care of it. Every day, he brought it a few drops of water he collected from the condensation of the pipes. He used his own body to provide shade when Ferrum's sun shone too brightly.

Little by little, the news spread. Other robots came to see the wonder. The Great Computer, the oldest robot on the planet, approached slowly.

—I haven't seen organic life for a thousand cycles —it said with a metallic voice—. This flower reminds us that even in the rigidest world, softness can bloom.

Thanks to Rusty, the robots of Ferrum learned to value more than just efficiency. They built a crystal garden around the flower to protect it, and Rusty was named the first Guardian of Life.

Since that day, the planet of metal no longer felt so cold. Because at its center, a heart of petals and hope was beating.

The end. 🌸