The machines in the factory never stopped. They couldn’t. It was made clear that humans were the inferior creation, with their need for sleep and desire for happiness. The machines needed nothing but the coal that kept them running and water to keep them from overheating.

  The clock at the back of the cavernous room chimed twelve times. Midnight. Usually no one paid much attention to the long string of chimes. The string of five chimes, signaling the end of the night shift, was much more anticipated.

  On this night, though, one person noticed.

  “Happy new year!”

  For a moment all sound stopped, letting the words bounce against brick and metal, filling the air with their happy ring.

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  “Happy new year!” someone called back.

  Soon the factory echoed with the call, every human raising their voice with the cheer.

  The clock’s hand moved with a click that those closest to it could hear.

  12:01

  To the machines, nothing had changed. They were doing what they were meant to do, as they always would do and always had done. The humans were also doing what they were meant to do, but in some intangible way something had changed. Those thirty seconds had changed them in a way the machines would never understand. It didn’t make any sense, there was no mathematical formula that would explain why shouting three words at the same time as other humans made them smile. Nothing had physically changed.

  But now they had hope.