I awoke to my wife, Carla, in bed beside me. We stayed in the IBex, a fifty-storey skyscraper in the heart of the city. Married for ten years, we had three kids by then, thanks be to The Emperor. Thankfully, the kids were away on Prius XII at the time. Carla was a more junior general. This proved important later.
It was a damp, windy morning. I had a restless night thinking of all the things that would have to be double-checked. It was still under full military control. There was no indication anything was off, though it was later revealed that everything was already in motion. I watched television while I ate; no service bot.
The military base was five miles. Again, everything seemed to be in order. The first indication of something untoward was on entering the base. Soldiers scurrying back and forth.
I went into the main operating room. Nothing special from the outside, just a modern gray mechanical building. I was met by Corporal Roche. He was anxious, even jittery.
For a moment, he just stood in front of me, eyes wide. I asked what the problem was.
He replied that there were reports from the mines that the robots had stopped working and were actively attacking humans.
To be continued…
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