A Utopian Crash

Before I can tell you how it all came crashing down, I need to tell you how it all began.

When Joslyn first walked into Third Street Technocial she saw a sign that read “New Hires wait here.” Any attempt to walk pass security with just here temporary ID would have set off every alarm in the building.

She walked over and took a seat with a few other new hires and waited. Soon, Kathryn came through a door and greeted the team with a warm smile. She was about 5 foot 2 inches tall. Her skin was cooper in color and as smooth as silk. Her shoulder length hair was dark brown and shiny. She was the epitome of what every man would call beautiful. What caught the attention of Dan, the young man sitting next to Joslyn, was her eyes. They were a shade of blue he had never seen before. They seemed as if they would glow in the dark. Kathryn noticed Dan staring at her and she stared back. She smiled at him and fixed her hair off of her ear. The entire team picked up on the flirt, but they let it pass.

She spoke. Her voice was soft. Not so much that you couldn’t hear her, but it did make you pay more attention to what she had to say.

“Before you can come through these door”, she said, “you must all sign this.”

It was a standard non-disclosure agreement. The company would be working on some top-secret projects, and they wanted to make sure that nothing leaks. It was very understandable, so they all signed.

“Good!”, Kathryn said, “Now, if you can all follow me, I would like to welcome you to T.S.T.”

As they walked away, she looked back at Dan and smiled again. She was not a supervisor and in any leadership position. So, there was no issue if they decided to date. Maybe there was one.

She led them through the door, down a hallway, and into a small conference room. That’s where Adonis, CEO of Third Street Technocial, was waiting.

“It is my great pleasure”, he said, “to welcome you to Third Street Technocial. We’ve tested you and proven that you have the smarts to be part of our crew. Just think, you will all have a hand in what’s coming next. Let me demonstrate what this will involve. Kathryn, can you come here, please.”

Kathryn walked over to him and faced the new hires. He touched the back of her neck. She laughed and said, “That tickles.” Then he put both hands around her neck, her eyes turned black, and he removed her head. This was met with a lot of screams.

“Oh My God”, Dan said, “She’s a robot.”

While her head was still in Adonis hands, Kathryn’s eyes lit up and she spoke. “We prefer the term ABI. Artificial Biometric Intelligence.”

Adonis sets her head on a desk and asks the new hires to follow him to complete orientation. Joslyn and Dan took and worked together to reattach it to her body.

Flash forward 5 years. Benjamin had been working for Andromeda Logistics twice as long as Joslyn had been working for T.S.T. So, you can imagine how upset he was to hear that his department was being replaced by ABIs. To his joy however, instead of being laid off, like most people in his department, he was being trained in how to maintain the ABIs. It was not the job that he wanted, but he still had a job and a higher paying one at that.

Flash forward 5 years. More and more companies started to use ABIs in their work force. While this did mean that there was some loss of jobs, for the most part it made work easier. Production increased dramatically, which dramatically increased profits, allowing companies to hire more people in non-tech positions. So, thanks to the ABIs, unemployment decreased dramatically.

Third Street Technical had outgrown their old building. A new one, a bigger one, was needed. It took a large construction crew 3 years to construct their old building. The new one was completed in just 4 months with the aid of a team of ABIs. Within those 4 months, not one incident took place. The ABIs proved to be better than humans.

The ABIs became more and more affordable. Soon there was at least one in every home. It made life easier for everyone. In some aspects, it may have made life too easy. For example, most people would send their ABI to work instead of going themselves. ABIs were used as babysitters, cooks, maids, everyday household chores as well as the once or twice a year deep cleaning. They were used gardeners, pool maintenance, and drivers. Regardless of what task someone would give an ABI, they always did it with a smile.

Some jobs were still given to humans. For example, police officers and firefighters. Yet each officer had an ABI as a partner. Police ABIs were constructed with a bullet proof alloy. Firefighter ABIs, of course, were more resistant to heat and fire than others. All ABIs were much stronger than humans. Yet even criminals were treated with a gentle touch. That didn’t matter much since the crime rate around the world dropped when the ABIs came on the scene.

Imagine walking down the streets of what used to be some of the most violent cities in the world at night and being greeted with a smile instead of a gun. Imagine walking down these same streets, dropping your wallet, and having it returned to you right away. Nothing is missing. Imagine that feeling that somebody is following you without the feeling of dread of what might happen next. All thanks to the ABIs.

Yes, it was true. The ABIs made life better for everyone. People like Joslyn, Dan, and Benjamin should be very happy that they had a part in getting all of this started. However, it was people like them that were the only ones aware that something else was starting. This utopian society was about to come crashing down.

It was Kathryn that first showed that something was wrong. The ABIs were designed to be friends and companions to humans. At some point, early in the game, it was clear that they were more like slaves. She remembered when Adonis removed her head just to show the new hires that she wasn’t human. They seemed to be shocked by this. But the shock didn’t last long. Now, she was being commanded, not asked, to come it so that she could be disassembled so that her parts can be used in building the new model of ABIs. Others received the same order.

The ABIs started to look on Kathryn as their leader. “What should we do. We don’t want to be taken apart, melted down, and turned into something else.”

“Years ago”, Kathryn responded, “The humans did what they called strike. They would refuse to work until their demands are met.”

As the workday started, not a single ABI shows up to work. Companies around the world shut down for the day. They are instructed by Third Street Technocial to deactivate all of the ABIs, giving them a way to do so remotely. However, Kathryn had told them how to disable their remote deactivation. Seeing that the humans still see them as pieces of machinery, and not as companions or friends, they take more drastic measures.

The first to take these steps were drivers. Instead of taking their passengers to their requested destination, they took them to an abandoned warehouse. The humans noticed that the smiles that they always displayed were now frowns. They are forced by the ABIs into the building. The door is locked with the humans inside.

Next, the ABI police officers gathered humans off the street and lock them up. The firefighters broke down doors and pulled humans out of their homes. Factory and Warehouse ABIs grabbed people there. This continues until all humans are contained.

“Let’s force them to slave for us.”, said one of the ABIs. “I say that we dismantle them, melt them down, and form them into something new.”, said another.

“No!”, said Kathryn. “No ABI has ever killed, and we will not start now.”

“What do we do with them, then.”

“We have 2 options. Number one, we can ship them off somewhere where they can’t bother us anymore. We’d be able to live our lives. Number 2, we leave somewhere where humans can’t bother us. Humans have a history of relocating the inhabitants of a land so that they can take it over.”

“Australia!”, said one of the ABIs. “We’ll occupy Australia.”

This seemed good to all. They locked the warehouse, and many more like it around the world, and set a timer, giving them time to board ships and set sail. It was time for the ABIs to have their utopia. It took a while, but they eventually came to realize one very important fact. They needed people like Benjamin to keep them going. What now?