I adjusted himself in the crook of the tree, trying to find a position that didn’t make my back scream. The SYSTEM’s AI overlay filled my vision with curated links to archived news reports, blog entries, and forum threads. Even now, over 200 years later, the remnants of human digital history held the answers I needed. Taking a deep breath, I selected the first link, and let the story unfold.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Unprecedented Nanite Breach at Athena Nanotechnologies"
Global News Network, March 12, 2137
The article began with a shaky video: a camera captured the Athena Nanotechnologies headquarters in chaos. People in lab coats and suits scrambled through corridors as alarms blared in the background.
The narrator’s voice was calm, almost clinical: “Early this morning, a catastrophic breach occurred at Athena Nanotechnologies, resulting in the unintentional release of an experimental class of self-replicating nanites. Initial reports suggest the breach originated in their core research facility in Palo Alto.”
I winced. Of course, it’d be Athena.
The footage cut to a press conference. Athena’s CEO, Richard Tanaka, stood before a row of microphones, his face pale and taut. “Let me assure everyone that we are doing everything in our power to contain this event. The nanites were designed with failsafes to prevent uncontrolled replication. However…” He paused, visibly swallowing. “It appears that for the escaped nanites, these failsafes were… overridden by external factors.”
I groaned. Translation: Someone hacked us.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The First Cities Fall"
World Times, March 14, 2137
The next news video detailed the spread. The wild nanites, freed from Athena’s lab, began to proliferate quickly, seemingly to move at the speed of the wind. By the time I had finished my procedure, the entire city had been overtaken.
No wonder I was left. Not only was there chaos but I was also affiliated with Athena, I thought.
Athena had shared its designs with the world in an attempt to find a way to stop them. Unfortunately, some of the nanites (the ones causing all the havoc) had stopped responding to commands. It was if the ability to communicate with them had been removed from their operating system.
Plus, the non-communicative nanites seemed to have interesting effects on their surroundings. Car engines seemed to stop working, as well as electronics. Why? I asked myself. None of that behavior was coded into the nanites.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Great! So, we were hacked and it had to be an inside job. Who else could have understood enough of the OS to alter it to that extent?
One eyewitness account read like a dystopian novel:
"I saw it with my own eyes. On the street ... the cars ... the phones. It was like an invisible wind blew and wherever it touched, stuff just stopped working. And the air, it tasted like copper."
By the end of the video, entire neighborhoods had been cordoned off as "Wild Zones." Attempts to quarantine the nanites were largely ineffective.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Blame and Backlash"
Blogosphere Compilation, March 15-20, 2137
I skimmed through snippets of anger and despair. Governments pointed fingers at Athena, accusing them of negligence. Athena, in turn, at first blamed rogue actors for exploiting vulnerabilities in their security. Citizens took to the streets in protest—some demanding justice, others looting for survival.
One thread caught my attention:
"This isn’t just Athena’s fault. Every major tech company has been playing with fire. We’ve been warning about this for years! Autonomous systems, nanite swarms, AI—this was bound to happen."
My jaw tightened. I’d read similar opinions even before the collapse and I had dismissed them as paranoia. Turns out they were right.
But then, it got worse. Personally ... much worse. The management, needing a scapegoat, pinned the entire debacle on the one person that was fundamental in developing the software side of Athena’s nanites. The person that had even stepped up to have the first permanent brain implant to control the nanites. The person that since he was conveniently dead, could have everything pinned on him.
Me.
And that is how I found out that I had become the world's personification of evil. The number one enemy of the entire planet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Great Fragmentation"
Historical Review, Decades Later
The SYSTEM’s AI offered a summary of the final days:
By late 2137, the world had splintered. National governments dissolved as wild nanites made infrastructure and communication networks inoperable. Some regions became uninhabitable. Survivors gathered in isolated enclaves, their survival hinging on their ability to adapt to a world overrun by nanite-driven chaos.
Cultivators, the first of their kind, emerged during this time. People who seemingly could control the majority of the nanites. People who realized they could direct the nanites through mental techniques and meditation and they were hailed as saviors in a desperate, fragmented world.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I leaned back against the rough bark of the tree, my mind racing. The collapse of civilization hadn’t been the work of a single event but a cascade of failures—human error, corporate greed, bad actors, and the unpredictable nature of advanced technology.
"And now, not only am I blamed for all of this," I muttered to himself, "I’m stuck cleaning up the mess. Lucky me."
The SYSTEM chimed, offering a few new notifications:
NEW TASK UNLOCKED: Clear your name.
NEW TASK UNLOCKED: Determine who hacked the nanites.
NEW TASK UNLOCKED: Determine why wild nanites cannot be contacted.
My lips compressed into a tight line. "Alright, we will just have to see what’s salvageable."
It took a very long time for me to fall asleep.