Report On "731 Incident"
Some sections have been dramatized from eyewitness reports.
Pacification Droid system messages copied from files taken from the corrupted unit.
November 17, 2046
Pacification Droid central command and programming center, Philadelphia District.
Programmer Charles "Shocker" Brighton was disgruntled. He sat in front of the glowing terminal for Area 51, consisting of five parallel streets, containing 17 commercial shops, 23 homes, and 2 abandoned buildings. PD (Pacification Droid) serial number X4477 manufactured by Urban Control Systems, Inc. This PD was labeled Unit 731 for the evening's call signs. On the screen, on a diagram of the five streets, a green dot moved along in a straight line, from south to north.
Like all Model Seven PDs, Unit 731 was exactly 6' 3.5" tall, and weighed approximately one and one half tons. This PD was painted dark blue in accordance with the Philadelphia coloring. The PDs are human shaped, with a slightly larger head, dominated by a dark ballistic plastic/steel alloy shield transparent to the Droid only. The Droids hands are composed of a single trigger digit and a larger manipulation digit, corresponding to the pinky, ring, and middle fingers on the human hand. Each Droid is armed with a C-437 stun laser, a 2-14 lethal action laser, and a .50 caliber Action Express handgun, with fifty rounds of ammunition in five ten round clips. The lasers are mounted behind the ballistic shield, which slides up, and the firearm is stored in a padded, armored compartment in the left "waist". The skin of the Model Seven is made of sandwiched titanium, steel, and rubber coated with hyper tenacity fiber. The innards consist of circuit boards, a logic computer, a targeting computer, a speech computer, a radio communications unit, and a microfusion power plant. The Model Seven's locomotion units, corresponding to human hips, legs, and feet, are capable of seventeen miles per hour, and the manipulation units are capable of fifty-five hundred foot pounds of pressure. The Model Seven can see for a mile and can focus in to read a postage stamp at that distance. The Model Seven automatically logs its "thoughts" for later review if there is a problem. There was a problem.
"Shocker" Brighton is a former "gray hat" hacker currently serving fourteen years to life for the 731 Event. Brighton got a job as a programmer/monitor for the PDs after he was fired from his previous employer for hacking their security system. Although it was not linked at the time, there is reason to believe that a virus left by Brighton at his previous employer caused an elevator to malfunction, killing thirteen people in an accident.
Brighton was disgruntled over a refusal of a wage increase from the city PD control department. At sometime around 2:45 PM, Brighton uploaded a virus known as "Arnold" into Unit 731's response computer. The virus was keyed to activate at two minutes after upload. During this time, Brighton went to a nearby vending machine and purchased a HappyNuts candy bar. While eating the candy, Brighton asked another programmer to watch Unit 731. The virus ticked down to zero and activated. The monitoring computer for sector 731 refused all input commands.
At approximately 3:00, Unit 731 received the following message:
CONTROL TO PD 731
Unit required to interface with hard link station immediately for file upload.
END MESSAGE
On the street, 731 walked up to a street lamp. Beside it was a post office receptacle, an e-mail center, and a PD interface unit. As normal, 731 raised its left hand. Three spokes of shiny conductive metal projected out from the palm of 731's hand. The unit inserted the posts and interfaced normally.
At the command center, 731 was shown as returning to duty. "Arnold" had been successfully uploaded, but this was not apparent at the time.
731 scanned the area. It was a brightly lit street lined with shops and automobiles. The PD patrolled this are at minimum speed. It scanned both sides of the street. At approximately 3:04, this message appeared.
INTERNAL FROM SYSTEM
LOGGING
EMERGENCY
ENTER RIOT MODE IMMEDIATELY
END
731 interfaced with main system again, and set Are 731 into riot mode. This uses spikes, bombs, and auto stun lasers to prevent anyone from leaving. With the system armed, fourteen people attempted to leave and were stunned.
731 scanned the area. An old woman, Mae Brussel, was reading a newspaper on a bus stop bench. 731 assessed the situation as such:
SITUATIONAL ASSESSMENT
SUBJECT APPEARS TO BE CONCEALING A WEAPON
SUGGESTED ACTION: STUN
END
The ballistic shield lifted upwards silently. The stun laser was powered up, draining the fusion reactor lost approximately fifteen thousandths of one percent of its charge. This is an enormous charge for the stun laser. Unit 731 fired three times, twice in the chest of the subject and once in the head. The old woman was sufficiently stunned to induce heart failure.
731 moved on. The attack on Brussel elicited attention from passersby. Five feet in front of 731, a man at a fruit stand pulled his wallet from his jacket, from an inside pocket. 731 assessed the situation.
SITUATIONAL ASSESMENT
SUBJECT ARMED
TERMINATE IMMEDIATELY WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE
END
731 raised the ballistic shield and charged the lethal laser. It targeted the man in the arm and fired once. The arm was sufficiently damage to require amputation at the shoulder. The man was still standing, and had dropped his wallet. This is where the first of the system errors occurred.
SUBJECT ARMED WITH SHOTGUN
DANGER OF DAMAGE TO UNIT
CIVILIANS IN DANGER
TERMINATE
END
731 fired three more times, twice in the face and one in the chest. The man's face was sufficiently damaged to make DNA identification necessary. 731 moved on to the next situation.
At the control center, it was noted that 731 had become a "lost child", the code word for a berserk PD. A PD recapture unit was dispatched to the scene from central PD command. The unit, consisting of seven heavily armed men wearing ultra defense armor impervious to laser weapons converged on Area 731.
731 observed a small child crossing a the street.
SUBJECT COMMITING MISDEMEANOR
JAYWALKING
TERMINATE IMEDIATELY
END
731 raised the ballistic shield and charged the lethal laser, firing once. This was sufficient to propel the child's body into a nearby window. Seeing this, an off-duty urban pacification officer (UPO) responded. UPO fired .357 Magnum twice into 731's chest plate. The bullets were deflected into the street.
SUBJECT FIRING .357 MAGNUM
APPARENTLY WEARRING FIBER ARMOR
TERMINATE
.50 AE ONLINE
COMBAT MODE
731 dropped into a three point firing stance and drew the .50 cal. handgun. 731 aimed at the UPO, placing one round in the shoulder, causing the UPO to be thrown back and the arm to be severed. 731 replaced the firearm and returned to normal patrol mode. A large bystander attempted to wrestle with 731. The immediate response subroutine activated without analysis and 731 used the left manipulator to crush the skull of the bystander. 731 proceeded up the street, randomly firing its lethal and stun lasers in all directions as pedestrians and merchants fled into their homes.
731 rounded the corner of Primrose and Elbert streets, proceeding onto Elbert. Here pedestrians were still on the streets. Later testimony indicates most thought the fire of the gun was a car backfiring. The pedestrians gave no notice to 731, as it had patrolled this street five times that day. 731 noticed a man and a woman in a car, which had just parallel parked to enter a store.
POSSIBLE PROSTITUTION ACTIVITY
TERMINATE
END
731 charged and fired the lethal laser eighteen times, spraying the car and killing the driver and passenger. A merchant completed a transaction with a young woman.
SUBJECTS ENGAGING IN DRUG ACTIVITY
STUN AND RESTRAIN
END
731 proceeded to fire the stun laser into the merchant fourteen times, which caused total nervous system failure. It proceeded to grasp the young woman's arms, crushing her wrists, while attaching autocuffs. It then threw the young woman into the path of a street sweeper, resulting in her death. It then looked at the sweeper.
VEHICULAR HOMICIDE
TERMINATE
END
731 placed a lethal laser shot in the gas tank of the sweeper, causing it to explode. The driver was killed instantly. Shrapnel injured fourteen people and killed two. By this time, the street was cleared. The large, black armored car of the PD recapture team came around the corner. 731 turned.
ARMORED CAR ROBBERY IN PROGRESS.
TERMINATE
.50 AE ONLINE
COMBAT MODE
731 approached the armored vehicle and fired nine times into the armored windshield. All round penetrated. Two recapture team members were killed instantly. The rest jumped out and began firing their own .50 AE handguns from three point combat stances. All were struck by stun laser bursts as 731 reloaded its weapon. Incapacitated, the team fell to the ground. 731proceeded to place one .50 AE round in each.
731 approached a rowhome where five bystanders had taken refuge.
DRUG ACTIVITY/PROSTITUTION/PANDERING/REGICIDE
TERMINATION
END
731 entered the recovery van and commandeered a Thunderer light attack missile. It aimed the missile launcher and fired into the rowhome. The explosion completely flattened the rowhome in question and set fire to five others.
The second recapture van came around, driving in the wrong direction, on the other corner. 731 assessed the situation.
TERRORIST ATTACK
.50 AE ONLINE
COMBAT MODE
END
This time was different. The recapture unit was ordered to destroy 731 if necessary. Fire from the 7.62 mm machine guns mounted on top of the recovery van damaged the locomotion and targeting computer, incapacitating 731. A Thunderer missile severely damaged the unit, but the operational recorder was recovered.
The families of the victims sued the city and state for a class action judgment of 33 million dollars. The jury awarded 3 billion. The city is now bankrupt, and the PD program has ended.
Urban Control Systems was forced to destroy all Model Sevens and Model Eights made, but the Model Nine sold well, and required authorization from command to arm its weaponry. However, in light of the 731 incident, Congress banned the units, and UCS, now renamed Mechanical Pets, Inc. now makes mechanical dogs. The company's stock has plummeted.
Congress has appropriated several billion dollars to fund the reorganization of police departments to eliminate the need for PDs.
The military still uses the Model Five Attack Unit, now manufactured under contract by several companies.
We can only hope that in the future we place less trust in our technology.
