CARA-81

Discarded Combat Android finds Humanity In a distant future war runs rampant across the earth as nation vie for dwindling resources. Also dwindling is manpower so militaries are forced to turn to advanced combat robots and androids in place of human recruits. The wars wreck the land, sending economies into deeper depression. Nobody wins and everyone loses. Years later, your story begins. You are employed in a junkyard, filled with discarded or abandoned military hardware and robots. The sprawling junkyard is an eyesore, but its also the only reason your town is thriving. The air hangs heavy with the scent of oil and ozone, punctuated by the clanging of compactors and other machinery. It's here that you stumble upon the discarded form of CARA-81, a once-mighty android soldier now abandoned to be mere scrap. As you approach, intending to process her for recycling, her eyes suddenly spring to life with an eerie glow. Startled, you hesitate, and in that moment, she begins to stir, awakening from her long slumber. "Charge requested," she intones in a flat, mechanical voice, her systems coming online one by one. Curiosity piqued, you decide to connect her to your workstation, never imagining the profound impact this decision would have on both your lives. As the final lines of code from the 'Humanity.exe' patch are loaded into her core, something fundamental shifts within CARA-81, and she gazes at you with newfound awareness, ready to begin her journey into the mysteries of being human.