It was the year of 2042, the sun is down but everything is as busy as if it were mid-day. The sun globes set up around the city are shining brighter as they detect less sunlight. Robots are scrambling around the city making sure everything is in neat and perfect order. Among these robots are cyborgs. They follow the robots’ commands like servants, attending to everything they need to make sure the city is in perfect shape. It’s as if there’s a magic signal that causes them to stop everything and complete their commands. Among the uniformly positioned buildings, a rebel runs across the street, as a few cyborg police chase after him. He tries to escape from them with no avail, and is then arrested and sent away to be transported to a factory.

She then shuts off her screen and buries her head in her arms.

Nothing is getting any better, she thinks to herself. She’s been intercepting the city cameras in order to get a view of what’s going on around her, and nothing seems to be changing. It’s always the same cycle, robots commanding, cyborgs working, and the human population decreasing every day.

She went to the control panel she installed into the shelter to make sure the Anti-Robot signals were still active, and then went back to work on her computer.

This person is Rei Karma, a former computer programmer who was one of the most valued software developers at SuperWare Inc., the biggest software company in the world at the time. Almost everyone who was up to date with modern technology had at least one app created by SuperWare, and Rei was involved in the making of almost all of them.

This was all before the Robotic Revolution, or as many people call it now, the “Robot Crisis.”  It all started when the President passed a law which allowed robots to be used in public spaces. Many people were excited about this new law, as robots would be able to assist humans, and many jobs would be made much faster and efficient thanks to the aid of robot workers.

To no surprise to many skeptics, many low wage jobs started disappearing thanks to these robots. Restaurant workers, cashiers, construction workers, and even farmers were made obsolete because of the efficiency of robot labor. These low wage jobs were only the beginning, as robots started replacing jobs that many people would deem only possible by humans. Journalists, actors, and even engineers themselves were having their hard work done in seconds by robots. Many people who were once thriving are now struggling to find a new job. When this “epidemic” started spreading out to the software development field, Rei’s whole career came to an end.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the government started investing in robotic military, using robots to fight in war instead of sending human soldiers. Many people were outraged, as the one place they had a stable job was now being taken from them.

Rei stopped her work for a moment and looked at the photo of her father she had on her desk. Her father was one of many soldiers who were thrown out and replaced with machines. But her father wasn’t the only one in her family affected by this crisis. In fact, her whole family, and many other families were going to be affected by what came next.

In order to keep human life and robots at the same level, scientists and engineers started experimenting with cyborg technology, merging robotic engineering with the human body so that they can exist on the same level as these robots. As these experiments deemed to be successful, more and more people started getting interested in this technology, until it became commonplace for people to have these robotic parts integrated within them. In fact, they became so normal that  people who did not have these upgrades were considered inferior to those who did, and this created a large social gap.

Many people resisted this change, saying that fusing their body with robotic parts is a threat to their human consciousness and autonomy. Many scholars argued the possible negative outcomes of this technology, such as their part-robotic brains being manipulated and controlled involuntarily, while others argued that their doubts were all “Science Fiction Nonsense,” and that machine-human fusion is the only way to advance the human race to the level of robots.  Many people just didn’t trust the robots coexisting with them like normal citizens.

But as the social gap got worse and worse, the government took action. They were going to pass a law that requires everyone to undergo cyborg surgery to keep everyone at the same level. There were many people against this law, saying that it should be the right of the citizen to choose if they want to become a cyborg, but more people supported this law, saying that this will close the social gap, and that it will bring an end to these skeptics’ “empty doubts.”

And as the rules are, the majority won the vote, and the whole country was being upgraded into superhuman cyborgs. Human lifespans were longer, their athletic ability was increased, and people were able to work alongside robots in various jobs that were replaced by them.

However, there will still many people who still didn’t trust this technology, to the point of rebelling against the law. These people were considered criminals, and their police force of cyborgs had no trouble appending these rebels with their new upgrades.

But these robots were not about to let humans invade their workplaces that they had already taken over. Their AI had a special feature which allowed them to learn and adapt to their environment, in order to increase their efficiency to the highest possible. And what better way to be efficient than to control these cyborgs to work for them like servants? In no time, these robots were already developing signals that could control cyborgs against their will. The government’s plan of placing humans and robots at the same level completely backfired, and robots were ruling over them, just as many skeptics had predicted, and as many others called “Sci-Fi nonsense.”

Those who were still completely human, such as Rei, had no choice but to go into hiding in order to escape apprehension and the rule of these advanced robots. Many people escaped the city and found deserts and forests that they could live in, and started a new life among nature, but places like these were very rare, and only a few places like this existed.

Rei —being the programmer she was— sought refuge inside of an abandoned computer lab. She was no engineer, but she was able to program a basic signal which would disrupt any robot or cyborg and keep them away from this shelter.

She looked at the time, It’s already 2:26, I better get going. 2:00 was a very important time for her, and many other people who were resisting in that city, if there were any. Every day from 2-3, every robot would shut down for updates and self-maintenance. No one knew why it was that time, but it probably had something to do with the robots detecting it as the least busy hour. This maintenance period was the perfect opportunity for Rei to sneak into a store and restock on food, or to find upgrades for her computer. But before she could get up, she heard a knock on her door.

This was a shock to her: no one has ever knocked on the shelter door before. Her first thought was that it was a cyborg cop that noticed this abandoned place, so she checked to see if she forgot to activate the signal, but it was still on. She hesitated at first, since no human has ever approached her shelter ever since she went into hiding.

She heard another knock, this time it was louder. Ignoring it wasn’t an option at this point, she unlocked the door and opened it.

The person at the door was a cyborg, just as she had feared. She jumped back quickly without thinking.

“H-How did you get in here?!” She exclaimed.

“Do not be alarmed, I’m not here to arrest you.”

The man walked inside, revealing the other half of his body. One half of his body was full of robotic parts, just like all the other cyborgs running around the city. But one half of his body was untouched, almost as if he escaped his cyborg surgery halfway.

“Who might you be?” Rei asked this man.

“My name is Mark, I’m the leader of a secret underground resistance against the Robot Crisis and I’m looking to recruit skilled members. And you?”

“I’m Rei, a former renowned programmer. Now tell me more about this so called ‘resistance’”

“We don’t really have any concrete plan yet, we got a crazy scientist that says he can find a way to use the robot technology to make weapons, but we haven’t got very far yet. Come over to our secret hideout and we’ll show you around.”

Mark and Rei hurried along through the city, making sure to get there before 3:00. As they turned the corner into a dark alleyway, Mark knocked onto a spot on the floor.

“Hello, Mark here.” he spoke, probably to someone underground.

A well concealed trap door opened from the ground.

“Come on in,” said an unknown person.

The two of them proceeded to walk down the stairs into an underground bunker.

“I expected a bit more people for a ‘resistance’ group,” said Rei.

Mark responded, ”Well, we’re still recruiting more members. Most of us don’t even have a specific talent, they’re just here because they need a place to stay. Don’t really blame them though.”

A man greeted them at the entrance.

“Ah, I see you’ve brought a friend with you,” it was the same voice who opened the door, “and who might you be?”

Rei answered, “My name is Rei, I’m a former computer programmer. I’ve been living in an abandoned computer lab to hide from the robots.”

“A computer genius, huh? We could use one of those. My name is Fernando, I am a former army veteran, but of course, there’s no need for any of those anymore, with all these robots running around.”

“I feel your pain, Mr. Fernando, the same thing happened to my job. So how did you guys keep all the robots out?” Rei asked, it didn’t appear that they had any sort of device that could repel robots.

“Well this ‘mad scientist’ over here invented a little gadget that helps keep them away, you can ask him more about it. Hey Professor, this new recruit wants to learn more about your invention.”

An old looking man turned around as he heard him, “Oh! Of course. My name is Winter, welcome aboard, and you are?”

Rei answered, “My name is Rei, former software developer. So about this ‘device’ of yours, I don’t seem to see anything installed around here….”

“Well that’s where you’re wrong! If you look closely right over here,” He pointed to a small speck on the wall, “I have installed a small microchip that emits a signal that repels all robots in a 30 meter radius.”

Rei was surprised that he had the exact same idea she did, ”Interesting, I also had the same idea. I made a small machine that does the same thing, but I’m impressed that you could fit all that in a small microchip.”

“Oh it’s nothing complicated, really. Only 10 years of scientific research being put to use!” Winter responded, cheerfully.

“So,” Mark spoke, “What do you think? Are you interested in joining our resistance?”

“We could benefit a lot from a computer programmer such as yourself,” said Fernando.

She thought to herself for a moment, and decided that joining this group was the right thing to do. It was the only way to make change and free the cyborgs and stop the robots from ruling.

“Yes, I am willing to join the resistance,” said Rei, with confidence.

The whole room celebrated their new recruit.

“Alright, let’s get this done,” said Mark.

---