The Self Inflicted Invasion

The Human Downfall 

The rain hasn’t stopped since the machines took control of the earth. The whole city was now underwater, the only way of getting around the once-bustling place is by the plastic ferries that are forced upon people to get to the workhouses.

Unless of course people want to take their chances by swimming or making their own rafts. This however was extremely dangerous. The machines would randomly electrocute certain areas just so any uncompliant behaviour was stamped out quickly and brutally. Half of the population in Antara City had died, most have been killed. The skies were always dull and dark with clouds looming overhead. It was a miserable existence in a horrendous environment.

It all started in 2015, a young man called Eddie Temmis had a dream where all low-level domestic duties were taken care of by machines and they would slowly enter people’s lives as easily as the kettle did. Eddie was a tall man, who spoke three languages and graduated with a first at Oxford. Gradually items such as the robot lawnmower, vacuum and clothes folding machines adorned most homes, as frequently as dishwashers and washing machines. Eventually the overall cost of these luxury items became affordable, due to Capitalism and supply and demand. The more companies producing machines not only pushed the price down, they also cut corners and use inferior products. 

Eddie or Eddie the Terrorist as he became known, was a nice lad, ambitious, intelligent and wanted his inventions to help and assist people in their daily lives. People needed help with domestic chores because they were boring and time consuming. especially as the populations average working week had gone up from 40 hours to 52 hours. Instead of working for the necessities of food, clothing and shelter, people were now working longer and harder to afford these Smart appliances so their lives at home would be easier.

 What people didn’t realise, was they were no longer working for one company, they were now working for the two or three credit cards companies or banks they owed money to. A credit card debt weighed people down like a ball and chain. Interest payments were the only part they could usually afford, so the debt never went away and they would be working forever. This kept shareholders happy because they were getting richer and the divide between the rich and poor was becoming larger and larger. 

Eddie wasn’t content with household machines; he wanted bigger and better inventions, he was aggressively ambitious. Flying cars becoming a regular was a dream of his since he was a little child, especially after seeing fantastic Sci-Fi movies like The Fifth Element. Self drive cars, planes, spaceships and helicopters became normal by the year 2038. There was no need for pilots, taxi or coach drivers or even astronauts.

Opposable thumbs were the human's humongous benefits all through evolution, as is their willing and ability to learn so there were always jobs that needed humans. Gradually massive warehouses on the outskirts of large towns and cities were common place. They had strict confidentiality policies so the businesses were always kept private. 

Humans were always susceptible to believing what they are told via their screens and what the politicians want us to believe. A worldwide experiment was conducted in 2019 where an alleged virus had become a pandemic. The population’s movements were restricted, curfews were put in place and shopping was done from home. Amazingly this experiment worked, the general population were only to happy if not eager to tell tales on each other for the sake of National Safety, reminiscent of the Secret Service in countries like Germany and Russia, where speaking out against your leaders was treated as treason. How did the governments know? Easy, they convinced the population that it was for the greater good and 95% believed it.

Jimmy was in the 5%, he knew it was all a conspiracy to control people, but he and his followers were given all sorts of names like conspiracy theorists, the far right, racist, sexiest, homophobic, you name it, every negative label was pushed onto them to break their legitimate beliefs. Jimmy and his team were freedom fighters and were known as The Mechanics. This was based on their mission to put a spanner in the works of the machines. They would infiltrate dangerous areas of the factories and destroy the mechanisms, it only slowed down the enemy’s progress but they had to do something. Another arm of their resistance was to convert the believers back into normality, to grow their numbers. 

As each year went by, control was being forced more often, and people’s rights were being taken away. All happening in front of the eyes of the people, but the powers to be were liars, and to fight against it would put you in prison. Text messages, phone calls , emails and any other form of communication were monitored in these huge warehouses.

By 2050, the machines were so intelligent that they were now breaking into the government and being voted in for cabinet roles. They were gradually infiltrating the system in plain sight. It was a silent invasion which the current powers allowed because of the massive financial gains they were receiving via these huge companies.

By 2056, the machines had all but grabbed power and the population became slaves. Due to the huge running costs and extra fuel use, the climate had changed drastically, and it rained everyday. The machines claimed that they were working on plans to find alternatives, but that never materialised.

 Even at this point, Jimmy and his followers were still ousted by their neighbours and family members, so they had to live underground, which wasn’t easy. The flooding was causing crops to fail so people were eating canned food products produced in giant factories using synthetic materials and chemicals.

Humans had become slaves to the environment they invented. Jimmy and his followers continue to fight against the system, but they will never win, once the process started it was already too late. 

The End