THE STEAM OF A BOT
The Tin Man'S Story
At the farthest edge of Emerald City, where the Emerald streets disappeared into a forest of Autumn trees, there stood an old brass workshop nobody remembered building.
And inside that workshop lived a Robot named The Tin Man.
He was not the Newest Robot in Emerald City.
He wasn't the shiniest.
And he certainly wasn't the quietest.
But he had one very unusual problem.
He ran hot.
Whenever The Tin Man became Excited, Confused, Embarrassed, Angry, Curious—or even slightly Annoyed—steam began pouring from his ears.
Not a little puff.
Not a tiny hiss.
STEAM.
It rolled from the sides of his head in thick white clouds, curled around his Bronze and Emerald shoulders, and disappeared into the Emerald night.
The citizens of Emerald City had become accustomed to seeing him walking down the street with steam coming from his head like a little traveling locomotive.
"Good morning, Tin Man!"
PSSSSHHHHHH!
Steam erupted from both ears.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm Great," Tim Man replied.
PSSSSSSHHHHHH!
More steam.
One afternoon, The Tin Man received a mysterious invitation.
It was sealed with a tiny Emerald-Green wax seal.
It read:
"You are Cordially invited to the Emerald Lighthouse
AND BRING YOUR STEAM."
The Tin Man stared at the letter.
His mechanical eyes blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then his head began to whistle.
"Oh, dear. I hope I haven't angered or annoyed anyone with my Steaming Issue."
WHOOOOOOOOSH!
Steam blasted from the top of his head.
By midnight, The Tin Man had reached the Emerald Lighthouse.
The Lighthouse Glowed Green against the black sky. Emerald lamps hung above the streets, reflecting in puddles that looked like liquid jewels.
The wind carried an ocean breeze.
The ocean waves grew louder as he walked closer to the Lighthouse Shore.
He saw a mysterious green door.
The Tin Man knocked.
Three times.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
The door opened by itself.
Inside was a room filled with strange machines, golden gears, glass tubes, and hundreds of tiny emerald lights.
Then a voice whispered from the darkness.
"We've been waiting for you."
The Tin Man froze.
Steam slowly began escaping from his ears.
"Who are you?"
A woman stepped into the Emerald light.
She wore a long Emerald coat and carried a Emerald key.
"We are the Keepers of Emerald City."
The Tin Man's eyes widened.
Steam shot from his head.
PFFFFFT!
The woman smiled.
"And we need your steam."
"My steam?"
"Your steam isn't a malfunction, Tin Man."
She held up the Emerald key.
"It's the thing that makes you special."
Before Tin Man could answer, the entire building trembled.
The Emerald lights flickered.
The machines began shutting down one by one.
"Our Lighthouse is not being maintained well, our Fishermen are suffering" the woman said.
"And only one thing that can get it back in working condition is your steam."
The Tin Man looked at her.
"What?"
She pointed directly at him.
"Your steam."
For the first time in his mechanical life, The Tin Man wasn't embarrassed by the clouds pouring from his ears.
He smiled.
Or at least he tried to.
Then he marched toward the enormous machine in the center of the room.
"How much steam does it need?"
The woman looked nervous.
"I don't know."
The Tin Man paused.
Then he took a deep mechanical breath.
His ears began glowing.
His head began humming.
Every little valve on his body opened.
And suddenly—
WHOOMPH!
A massive cloud of brilliant white steam exploded from his head, face, and ears.
It rushed through the golden pipes.
Through the emerald tubes.
Into the enormous heart-shaped machine.
The entire Emerald Lighthouse lit up.
Every window.
Every Emerald lamp.
And somewhere far above the city, a giant Emerald star appeared in the night sky.
The Tin Man stood completely silent.
No steam.
No whistles.
Nothing.
The woman stared at him.
"Tin Man?"
He looked down at his hands.
"I'm empty."
Then—
PSSSSSSSSSSHHHHH!
One tiny puff of steam escaped from his left ear.
The woman laughed.
The Tin Man laughed too.
And from that night forward, whenever the people of Emerald City saw The Tin Man wandering through the streets with steam curling from his face, ears and head, they didn't call him broken.
They called him The Steam Keeper of Emerald City.
The Tin Man Steam became so popular he carried his own Steam Spray Scent that was hard to keep on the store shelves.
-Written By Old Brass Workshop Builder
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The Moral of: The Steam of a Bot
What you think makes you strange may be the very thing that makes you special.
The Tin Man spent his life trying to understand—or maybe even control—his steam. He thought it was an embarrassing malfunction. Everyone else simply accepted it as something weird about him.
But when the Emerald Lighthouse needed something nobody else could provide, his "problem" became his purpose.
​
You don't have to be the newest, shiniest, or quietest to be valuable.
The Tin Man wasn't the most impressive robot in Emerald City.
He didn't need to become someone else. He didn't need to stop steaming.
He simply had to discover what his steam could do.
​
Don't be ashamed of the thing that makes you different. Learn what it can become.
​
The Steam Keeper's Signature Scent was born from the very thing he once wished he could hide.
​