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NEW CARNEGIE TIMES
MARCH 16, 2069
VIOLENCE AGAINST ANDROID OWNERS, PROPERTY DAMAGE CONTINUES TO CLIMB
With the threat of citywide factory strikes looming over the industrial district, New Carnegie Police Department Chief Eric Jacobs reports a steady uptick in violent cases across several counties in the wider New Carnegie metropolitan area.
“What we’re seeing is an increase in property damage, not just in the amount of cases reported, but also in severity,” Jacobs says. “I haven’t seen a robbery in over two weeks where an android, if there was one, wasn’t beaten into scrap metal or defaced in some way, among other things.”
Owners of these androids are just as much at risk, Jacobs warns.
“People will walk down the street or go to the grocery store, something simple, with their androids, and we see random acts of aggression. They’ll get jumped when they turn a corner, and if they try to stop their android from getting damaged, they get assaulted just as badly, if not worse.”
When asked what could be causing such a dramatic increase, Jacobs says it’s simple.
“Unemployment. When we manage to identify and arrest these assailants, unemployment is almost always a contributing factor somehow. These big companies buy droids in bulk to replace human workers. They can’t beat up a CEO or a board director on the street, but androids? They’re an easy target.”
Unemployment in New Carnegie has risen to an all-time high of 16%, a steep and alarming hike from 15.9% last year.
“These are people who have lost their livelihoods and their jobs. Their houses are getting foreclosed, cars are getting repossessed, and they’re having trouble finding work.”
Jacobs doesn’t believe that BioNex Corporation can be held responsible for these attacks.
“BioNex is a company that sells a product. They can’t be held liable for crimes against those products or against those customers. We are more concerned with people who associate with and claim to represent Humanity First.”
Humanity First, a socio-political organization with a patriotic anti-android message, continues to decry violence taken against android owners in its name.
“We have always cooperated with law enforcement,” says Robert Carson, founder and leader of Humanity First. He’s quick to condemn any implication of organized or promoted violence. “Humanity First has never condoned violence against people or people’s belongings. We want BioNex shut down and androids off the market, but we are working toward those goals legally, not by fighting out in the streets.”
In preparation for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this coming weekend, NCPD issued several safety warnings.
“I want everyone to be aware of their surroundings when they’re out in public,” Jacobs states. “Stay in well-lit areas, don’t go out alone with your android, travel in groups. A lot of attacks have occurred in the downtown area. Pub crawls aren’t worth your life or a hefty repair bill for your bionic.”
Representatives at BioNex Corp could not be reached for comment.
1
MARCH 2069
Denise Cartwright
From the very moment we walk into the bar, it’s painfully clear to me that my best friend in the world needs a girls’ night out as desperately as I do.
“Do you think they’re okay?” Becca asks as she taps her pretty, newly manicured pink nails on the counter. We’ve just arrived from the nail salon and a good gossip session.
“Trust me, relax.” I refrain from laughing. We’ve been sitting at the bar for only fifteen minutes and it’s just after seven. I’m sipping whiskey on the rocks, and she’s barely into her Cosmopolitan. I know she’s worried about her baby boy, but she can’t help it, so I have to give her a break. She’s new to this mom thing. I was the same way with Lucas, which wasn’t so long ago. Five years already. It’s hard to believe. “Oliver’s got things under control.”
“But he’s never watched Lucas and Aaron together. What if—”
“He’s fine. If I’m not worried, you shouldn’t be worried.” I’m enjoying myself for the most part. I’m not drinking to get drunk because I have to work in the morning, but I’m still having fun. I can’t remember the last time I got wasted. More than six months ago at least, back in my hometown of St. Morgan with Wendy and Jennifer. I don’t see them much anymore since I moved from our small town to New Carnegie a few months ago.
Maybe I’m a little crazy for suggesting going out for St. Paddy’s. The crowds downtown are infamously insane, usually college kids from the universities enjoying their spring break and getting smashed, dressed up like leprechauns or wearing all green. There are some locals too, and people have been drinking out in public since noon. Everything is loud.
A little too loud; now I know I’m getting old. I could enjoy this drink more if the music was just a little bit quieter. I push past it. I’m the self-proclaimed Queen of Girls’ Night, and I’m not ready to forfeit my crown just yet.
Rebecca Schroeder—previously Rebecca Curtis—and I survived St. Morgan High School together. She was the book nerd holed away in the library reading Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë, while I was every good mother’s nightmare with black lipstick and a hot pink choker, smoking cigarettes behind the dumpster just to feel like a rebel. We were a perfect alliance of misfits, best friends until the bitter end. The good girl and the bad bitch. It’s hard not to reminisce about those times.
“I can’t believe you actually teepeed the school administrator’s car.” Becca holds her gut, snickering. Her cheeks are already a little rosy. She can’t hold her liquor. Not like me.
