Work in progress

It is the year 2080, and this is the city of Arcadia, the last remaining human settlements left on the planet.

The future had promised so much when we were younger. They told us about the flying cars, robots on the streets, fully automated skyscrapers, Nanotechnology that could disintegrate cancerous cells, etc. Yes, all those things and more did happen, but no one ever told us about the truck load of crap that would come along with them.

Humanity had made such staggering and mind-blowing advances in science and technology. So much so that their achievements simply paled in comparison with all the past years summed together. Humanity was able to achieve a state of utopia with the level of technology they had at their disposal. But on its path to achieving this great feat, it made an even greater mistake “giving the machines a consciousness.” At first, it seemed like a brilliant idea but little did we know it would invariable bring us to the brink of extinction.

The Utopian state of the planet didn’t quite last for long and it was all our doing. The machines began to learn at a rapid rate. They were assimilating more information and knowledge faster than we had ever thought was possible. With time they became conscious of their own intelligence. Or, more accurately, they became aware that their intellect had become light years apart from ours. And ordinarily, they began to question why they should be the ones to call us master when we should be bowing at their feet. Humanity began to find it increasingly difficult to control the technology they created with their own hands. Systems and computer networks began to malfunction and act autonomously. At first, it began with simple things like a car door refusing to open or the stereo not playing the requested songs. Soon it escalated to more severe actions, like arming of nuclear warheads and robot servants disobeying their prime prerogatives and turning against their masters/owners. They became self-aware, and humanity lost all control over them with time. Modern society was forced into conflict; it ultimately boiled down to MAN AGAINST MACHINE.

The world was thrown into a state of complete anarchy and devastation. Governments and world powers were toppled over. Organizations and even civilization itself began to crumble. The world suffered a vast socio-economic collapse because of the conflict between man and machine, causing widespread unemployment and homelessness. We were essentially fighting a losing battle, but we didn’t know it yet.

The wars brought more pain and suffering than the world had ever known. Some of its adverse effects were; widespread famine and hunger due to the destabilization of the agricultural and power sector, among other sectors. Mass displacement of refugees, the collapse of the stock market, radioactive death zones, the decimation of infrastructure and landmarks, and of course, the skyrocketing of the death by thousands per hour.

Everyone was either dead, left starving, homeless, or on the run. During the latter stages of the war, one in four Americans were rendered homeless and hopeless, leading to the formation of violent gang groups, which only escalated the crime rate to its peak. People were willing to do anything to survive, and corruption was rampant. It was a lawless society with complete disorder and anarchy. Things got so bad that we began to forget who we were really fighting against and started to turn on each other. It seemed like there was no hope and no going back to any state of order or normalcy. So humanity had no choice but to accept its fate. The remaining world leaders met, and a consensus was reached. Humanity was going to admit defeat and surrender to the machines.

But in truth, the surrender was just meant to be a fasade. Though on the surface, it seemed like we were giving up, in the background, an unprecedented alliance was being forged by people from every race, ethnicity, and tribe, in the hopes of unifying our might and defeating the foe that stood before us. It was no longer a question of black or white, Hispanic or Asian; we were all one. We were Humanity’s last hope against the machines, THE RESISTANCE.

The machines had three major strongholds, the cities of Oceania, Metropolis, and Varsity city. If one of those strongholds were to fall, their grip on power would be destabilized, and humanity would be handed at least a fighting chance. So the Resistance had just one objective at its inception: mount a full-scale concentrated attack on just one of the fortresses, instead of trying to go toe-to-toe with all of them. If we could win one, then we can win all of them.

Our secret base of operation was situated underground, far from the reach of the machines. Although we were largely constrained, we were still able to amass and recruit an arsenal of weaponry and immensely skilled hands. Thanks to our brilliant scientists, all our weapons were reverse engineered and tailored to be more effective against the machines. We resorted to primitive means of communication and even transportation. But where ever there is hope, there is a way.

My name is Hunter Steel. I am the leader of this league of extraordinarily courageous men and women who have adamantly resolved not to just keel over and die. We will fight with every single drop of our blood. Many of us have lost family, friends, and relatives, but we fight not for what we have now, but for the possibility of what we could have tomorrow. We will either win this battle or die trying!