New short story XT-276

"Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

Frank Herbert, Dune

Sargent Nsima Okoro relaxing with his captor XT-276

Another short story has dropped. Its available here

This tale carriers the out shell of a war story, but just like our cancrine protagonist XT-276, there is a lot more going on under the hood. Themes of AI, identity, the self, what it means to fight, choice and free will and of course slavery.

This story is the first to take place during the second American civil war. When over one million working class men were put out of work overnight as the AI driven trucks rolled out onto the roads, the South rose up. Google and Amazon had too much invested in this technology and so they rapidly developed AI technologies to support the democratic north.

The southern freedom forces battled democratic AI command. Cyber infantry supported by crab tanks honed by evolutionary algorithms fought in the streets across American cities. The huge material advantage of the red states in terms of personnel and traditional military hardware were matched by advanced new AI driven technologies of the blue.

The war has been raging for four years and American is no longer a global power. The Peoples Technological Democratic Republic of China (PTDRC) and the federal states of Oceania (UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand with Iceland in talks to join) rise to fill the gaps, the era of the Elephant and the Whale has returned. Britannia rules the waves and China is untouchable on land and in Africa.

In the future there is only war, well war and some time for philosophy, there is always time for philosophy.

The 72nd Cyber Infantry take hold of 52nd street Philly, with support from XT-276