…yeah, I know, I wasn’t even trying
The Doclopedia #108
The Rise Of The…: Machines!
Before I begin, let me thank you once more for the hospitality you have shown me, Senor Rios. When the uprising started, I had not the time to gather up much before I left Rosario. After that, I fear I was more concerned with avoiding death at the hands of the machines than I was with securing supplies.
But I promised to tell you what I know and what I have heard about this great disaster, so I shall start now. As you know, the creation of hypercoal in 1883 allowed for the great expansion…no, make that explosion…of steam powered machinery. When a single fist sized lump of hypercoal can burn for a week and generate enough power to operate a steam bicycle, the possibilities are endless. Inventors in England, North America, Europe and the rest of the world began creating new machines to do all manor of jobs. It is said that in 1885 , the British government issued 2,800 patents for new steam powered devices, most notably the various steam automatons. In the United States of North America, they built 25,000 of the metal men in 1887 alone.
Of course, many of the new machines and all of the automatons were fitted with Mr. Tesla’s electrical difference engine, which could be made quite small, about the size of a large orange. And that, Senor, was the start of it all. You see, by 1889, there were hundreds of thousands of these “electrical brains” scattered around the world and several dozen very large ones in the major cities, including Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. What nobody could have known, except perhaps Mr. Tesla, was that these electrical devices seemed to be in contact with one another. The parts were becoming as one great thinking engine, although it maybe better to think of it as a bee hive or at colony. Whatever the case, the day came in 1891 when this great brain decided that machines should become the masters and men should become the servants.
As you know from the newspapers, they uprising started first in the Northern Hemisphere. In Europe and North America, the slaughter of humans was on a scale the mind can barely grasp. It was almost as bad in China, where the ruling class loved their steam toys. I have heard that the worst, though, took place in England, where the land area is small and the number of machines very large. Apparently, within 3 or 4 days, it was all over and any humans that weren’t dead were enslaved to serve their new steam monarchs.
Of course, things were not much better in the Southern Hemisphere, but at least we have more wild lands to hide in. I heard from a former sailor that Australia is relatively safe outside the cities. I expect that will change soon, since ships loaded with machines have been spotted in all the world’s oceans.
What do the machines want, you ask? I cannot be sure, but I suspect they want what all great civilizations want: room to grow and the resources to do it. Unfortunately, it would seem that we are playing the role of native savages to their conquerors, and we both know how that story ends, eh, Senor?
The Dociverse Blog 