IRRK: Robots March On in Borealis

Robots March On in Borealis
August 30, 29481 - Brad Talamer [Rimor]

IRRK - BOREALIS - Another week, another march in Borealis. With rarely a week going by without a march, protest or firefight since the Omni-Tek occupation, it wouldn't be far-fetched for even neutral citizens to be tired of them. However, this weekend saw less of the organic kind, and more of the established mechanical kind.


Harland Bregetty, aka "Retoolkit", has been a regular sight in Borealis for a while. While he has been seen to have the image of a wacky inventor, those who have been considered friends have seen him to be a more practical supporter of the neutral cause. Rather than waving placards in front of Omni-Tek's security like many opponents, Retoolkit and his faithful companion Pennelope Hollister (better known as "Tinkerbots") has been better known for staying out of the protests and instead working on practical ways to remove the need of the security in the first place.

Coming into the public eye for the first time in months, it seems like the engineer has made progress towards that purpose -- curtosey of a series of self-built robots for the purpose of city security, as demonstrated in the city this past Sunday night.

Word of mouth started the night off, with only a small titbit of information being circulated: the enigmatic Bregetty was to show off a new range of robots at the given time & place, all of which were designed for city protection. Despite the basic information, that didn't stop a crowd of people from appearing in anticipation. While many in the crowd come from all corners of the planet, the crowd seemed to mainly consist of neutrals that were either genuinely interested in the technology, or genuinely interested in making a small statement against the Omni-Tek occupation. Also mixed into the crowd were a few Omni-Tek employees, most vocal being self-proclaimed Omni-Reform representative Marion "Vinwooke" Vein - However, a more notable (and thankfully more moderate) presence seemed to be maintained by the Omni-AF Bravo Unit, who during the event seemed more interested in Bregetty's latest work rather than any politics.

After a small wait, the parade emerged from Bregetty's workshop onto the streets of northern Borealis, the engineer in front and his latest creations in tow. Ignoring the wonder how some of the larger robots left through the small door, the entourage became a large force that became even larger as the group toured the city with many of the waiting crowd racing across the city to join it. What became an interesting point was that Retoolkit himself said little while traversing the route, mainly explaining the parade to onlookers and responding to questions from the press. However, the knowing smile on his face revealed things - He didn't need to promote his prototypes, because they were doing it for themselves.

The mechanical paraders were expectedly the main attraction, as much for the look of the more towering models as the variety of robots featured, ranging from smaller machines designed for dexterity to larger ones designed to take and give significant force. Those that could also took the opportunity to carry around placards, ranging from the call to liberate Borealis to more targetted messages about the Unicorn Company. The most memorable robot though was "CaptainHook", seemingly inspired by the J. M. Barrie novel lost millenia ago. While he did spend part of the parade crying the usual protesters' arsenal of "Go home Omni!" and "Free Borealis!", he is better remembered from mistaking a number of onlookers for "Peter" and shouting pirate-themed protests. "Aye've had enough of this suppression", noted CaptainHook. "What do we want? Borealis! When do we want it? Yarrrrrrrr!"

After denying questions from the press (guilty as charged) about whether the eccentric robot's programming was based on the notoriously buggy synapse system 'OmniBot ME', Retoolkit led the rapidly-increasing crowd marching around the city towards the main square, where the engineer proceeded to give details on the project. No speech was held by the pragmatist, instead giving the necessary information on the work as well as answering questions from the crowd. "There is no timeframe yet, as the gathering of components is very time intensive and not easy to accomplish with limited resources," explained the engineer. "The bots are made to protect people only. That's their purpose."

Like dirt is bound to stick to a moving rollerrat, it was natural that someone from Omni-Tek decided to respond where it wasn't really necessary. Enter Omni-Reform's Vinwooke, whose speech seemed to rattle a fair portion of the crowd:

"These automations and droids are claimed to be able to defend against the alien threat better than the combined forces of Omni-Tek. These liars and swindlers claim that they are acting in your best interests. They say they care, they say they will protect. But, unlike us, they are lying. While these people and their robots are very intelligent and admirable, to think that they could hope to mimic the defense that we provide here is ridiculous. These feeble automations cannot defend you as well as we do. In fact, these brave men and women from Pol and AF are defending this city right now, battle-ready and trained to deal with any alien threat, while these robots make their parade through the streets."

Long story short: "Go Team Omni-Tek! Woo!" In a typical move from the Corporation, the Martial Artist followed it up with a disclaimer stating her views didn't necessarily represent the views of Omni-Tek. On a related note, IRRK will also be asking Simon Silverstone whether his wish to wipe out neutrals in Tir represents the views of the Sentinels.

After the contestation by Vinwooke, Retoolkit had his own response for the crowd - "Have a look at the first prototypes and make up your own mind". And it seemed the crowd did so, with each robot getting the attention of your typical gridfilm celebrity. Even those who had spent most of the night since then waving placards -- be they anti- or pro-Omni -- managed to spare some time to get a close-up of the prototypes.

While the robots were demonstrating their vital statistics to onlookers, this reporter managed to get a quick interview with the inventor. "They are only prototypes, but will defend Borealis soon," Retoolkit answered. "It will take some time and a lot of effort -- we have little resources but a lot of enthusiasm. When the aliens attack and the Omnis don't do anything, that's my motivation to finish the bots. Unlike the Omnis that take our rights, they will be here to protect and serve only." Our full interview with the engineer will be available within the next couple of days.

Shortly after answering questions from the press & the public, Retoolkit made an exit back to his workshop along with the prototypes, leaving the crowd to debate with each other about Retoolkit's proposed defences. Newland's Science Minister Trixie "Tryqz" Rhaiyne believed that they were a good step in a new direction - "A direction which could open whole new avenues for not just Borealis, but the whole world". Jeremy "Quickfit" Hawking complimented the prototypes, commenting on the benefits of utilising sapient robots but also argued for the rights of the automatons and that "we should help robots become our friends, not our servants". Saoirse "Xaris" Jaiden was impressed with the display, although also adding that the Omni-Tek forces "are here to protect everyone - Even the citizens of Borealis here despite what these people are protesting". And even Vinwooke de Vil managed to speak well of the engineer's work, commenting that "they are fine creations, and I am sure they can provide a good defense. However - If they wish to help, they can simply join the existing defenders, not hope to replace them."

Readers should not get their hopes up in expecting these any time soon. What has been done so far has mainly been built in-house from existing robot parts, and with no funding whatsoever from outside parties. There are also many ethical discussions surrounding the idea of a robotic defence force, including the protocol of the city's defense, whether the robots will have free will & rights outside of their main role, and who will be in control of them as well as what would be considered an enemy. However, with the time needed to implement such a project, there is still a long time before it can be implemented. That. and also a lot of work to do --the liberation of the city, for one.

For now, though, the prototypes from Harland Bregetty should be seen as progress towards a benefit for all sides on Rubi-Ka, especially as a possible expendable or supplementary force for taking on the Kyr'Ozch marauders. For now though, Borealis protesters can take some advice from the words of the Captain:

"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We're fed up with this nonsense, arrr you too?"

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Why don't neutrals ever protest in Tir like this?

This made my day.

Despite being one from the Clans, I always had to admit that Borealis is neutral territory, Omni-Tek's bound to lose it's grip on the city, and so would the Clans lose their grip if they took control of it. The neutrals are very few in comparison to either faction, but when it comes to keeping a single city, there's plenty.