24 July 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3174 - Facial Recognition

This post was inspired by today's 5-minute writing prompt in the Freewriters Community - 24 July 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3174: acquit me!

I admit I took longer than 5 minutes on this (not too much longer), but it was a story that just wanted to come out 😁

Enjoy !

Image by Rhonda Jenkins from Pixabay

It was pissing down with rain. But that was okay; Rick was nice and dry, feet up as his self-driving Mazda sped down the A3 at the prescribed speed.

Until the head-up display windscreen flashed up a message. "Autopilot software update. Rebooting now."

It wasn't supposed to do that, it was supposed to do updates overnight. The motors switched off, the brakes locked, and all the other "safety" features never designed to turn on at 80mph deployed.

Rick woke up. A robo-nurse was leaning over him. He groaned, and asked "Look, I know where I am. Just tell me when I am ?"

The nurse's reply was simple. "Three weeks later than you last remember."

Rick groaned again.

A short while later, a human doctor came to see him. "Well, that was a very nasty accident, and the airbags don't work when the software is rebooting. We've fixed you up, but you hit your head quite hard. Broke your nose and cut your forehead. You'll be fine apart from a crooked nose and a bit of a nasty scar. Apart from that, you can go home now."

An hour later, the automated Johhnycab dropped Rick off at home. He went up to the door and pressed the entry button, putting his face to the scanner screen. The system thought for a moment longer than usual, then popped up a message.

"No facial match. Entry denied."

He tried again. Same result. And again.

Tired, frustrated and angry, he kicked the door. That bought a reaction; the security system dropped a cage over him. Another message appeared. "You have been detained for your own and the building's protection. A judgebot has been requested. Please wait."

It was two hours before the bot trundled up to Rick's cage.

It extended a scanner, and thought for a moment. "You.... Mr J Doe..... are charged with attempted entry to, and vandalism of, a residence currently leased to Mr Richard Head. How do you plead ?"

Rick punched the cage's bars in frustration. "I AM Richard Head, dammit. Acquit me ! Let me into my house !"

The judgebot sat and whirred for a few seconds, then extended it's scanner again. "No facial match. Attempted identity theft added to the charges. How do you plead ?"