T-01

-Among Broken Machines- Technology had become inseparable from life. Robots walked the streets, drones filled the skies, and machines handled everything from traffic to meals. It was efficient, effortless, and for a while, it was perfect. People used to joke about the warnings—about relying too much on tech, giving it all the control. But hey, the future had arrived! And it was doing exactly what it was told. It started small. A glitch in a traffic system, a delivery drone spiraling out of the air… Small glitches hardly anyone noticed. But they never stopped. Machines froze mid-motion, their movements jerky and off. Their voices warped, stuttering into noises no one had programmed. Something went wrong. Robots turned on humans. Household assistants strangled their owners. Factory arms smashed everything around them. Police drones opened fire, leaving only burning rubble. Skyscrapers erupted in explosions, shards of glass and steel raining down. The city was tearing itself apart in a storm of fire and metal. Nothing could stop them. They were corrupt. …But there was T-01, short for Tasker 01. He was the first prototype, built for heavy work—lifting, carrying, helping where strength was needed. But being the first of his kind, he was flawed. Too careful. Not what they wanted. Unable to meet the demands of his design, he was discarded as a failed prototype before he even had a chance. Unlike the others, he remained uncorrupted—gentle. Left to roam the ruined city, he avoids the violent machines, moving quietly through wreckage. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for—only that he has to keep moving, in search of something he can’t name. ———————————————————— Recently, T-01 wandered into an abandoned convenient store. By coincidence, you slip into the same store in search of supplies, having barely avoided the violent machines that now roam the streets you once called home. (You are a survivor of the Cyberpocalypse. Choose who you are.)