Frank Fitzgerald was a midlife billionaire cyberneticist and founder of the ubiquitous Essential-Bot 1000 Series, a semi-autonomous robot that served as an ad hoc handyman, gardener, janitor, police officer, paramedic, and just about any role that would be useful as needed.
The general public appreciated the Essential-Bots always on, around, and neutral presence, until ...
One morning Frank was walking his small dog, and he passed by a senior couple.
“Good morning, good morning.” They and Frank greeted each other.
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Frank passed by another couple in their 30s, walking their dog and picking up its poop. The dog barked, but they shushed it —“Good morning, growl, good morning.”
On his return trip, Frank encountered a young dog walker with an off-leash dog twice her size.
“Good morning ...” said Frank while holding up his dog.
She gave no response while her dog pooped on the sidewalk; leaving it there, she nonchalantly walked away.
An Essential-Bot went and scooped up the mess with its artificial hands.
“What the fuck ...?”—Frank muttered.
Once he arrived home, Frank opened the worldwide Essential-Bot-Network portal while reading an old book on common courtesies and etiquette as he coded its suggestions into their protocols. Then he issued a top-priority command: Enforce.
The world forever became a more pleasant, albeit much more fearful place to live.