Thievery!

 

Sabotage!

 

Villainy most foul!

 

On August 3rd, a massive blackout that engulfed much of the city also buried the 4,000 block of North Hayward Avenue in inky darkness - otherwise known as the 14-story headquarters of Precision Robotics. During the blackout, it was reported that the top two floors, known collectively as Boss Labs, were infiltrated. Some items were stolen, some prototypes were sabotaged, all security footage was destroyed.

 

Respected the world over, Precision Robotics has been in business for more than 20 years gobbling up competitors and recruiting the brightest minds directly out of college. As the name would imply, they focus mainly on robotics but have recently devoted a significant portion of their manpower (and budget!) toward furthering their understanding of and dominance in artificial intelligence. This devastating combination – thinking machines – could have world-wide applications in everything from fully automated homes to self-operating mass transit to smart-prosthetics to functional android technology. One rumor centers on the company making a huge push toward total human-technology integration.

Someone – or a group of someones – has tried to put a stop to the meteoric progression of Precision Robotics’ rise to power.

 

Rumors about the event abound:

​

• The National Guard has maintained a strong presence in the city following the blackout. Many think they are there working to resolve the Boss Labs situation as Precision Robotics has been awarded with numerous military contracts – both past and present.

• The inciting incident of the blackout still hasn’t been conclusively determined.

• Many prototypes were sabotaged during the break-in including the Demon 610 – a triple-threat machine recently featured in Popular Mechanics … an unmanned military drone that can operate on land, under water and in the air.

• The plans to a time machine were stolen.

• The saboteur was, in actuality, a rogue AI robotics project desperate to end the Boss Labs experiments.

 

Important things to note … the year of the event hasn’t been specified so your story can happen in the past, present or future. Also, the city of the event is in question. The mention of the National Guard might seem like it limits you to a city in the United States, but many countries around the world employ a uniformed military … including Egypt, Brazil, France and Ireland … called the National Guard.

​

DETAILS

Published: 6/13/2019

Total Volume: 277 pages, 60,139 words

Contributors:

​

Steve Metcalf - Machine Reality (20,814)

Robert S. Miller - Sabotage at Precision Robotics (15,726)

Orrin Hanratty - The Sin Eater (9,474)

J.C. Skala - Humanity 2.0 (10,844)