Don't Forget To Take Your Nanites

Jane Jones made breakfast for her teenage son, Jake, while he watched a holotube.

Jake switched it to a local news broadcast ...

"This just in … Rebecca Chang reporting...

"We have another mass shooting happening downtown. Shield officers are deploying jammers to cordon off a parameter in hopes of preventing further shocks. They've flown drones in the area to detect the suspects, but they keep crashing. Authorities advise all civilians in the vicinity with upgrades Level 4 or higher to enter structures marked for zero penetration. Medics are on the way with emergency Faraday protection pods.

"We have Tim Davis operating our sky drones ..."

"Rebecca, the suspects barricaded themselves. They're firing powerful pulses. We believe they modified robot hunter sport rifles to attack cybernetic implants."

"Tim, do you mean they modified the rifle's pulse to target implants made for humans?"

"It seems so Rebecca. We've seen this pattern before. The hunter rifles are perfectly legal to own, but their modifications are not. This is the twelfth mass EMP strike this month downtown. The federal government recently declared EMP attacks a national epidemic."

"Thank you, Tim, please keep us updated."

"Here, with me, I have Dr. Eugene Smart, a retired defense industry research cyberneticist. He's author of the just-released book—'From Bullets to EMPs, Will the Violence Ever Stop?'

"Doctor, what can we do about this? Historically we stopped bullets with body armor and shields. These EMP strikes saturate the environment. People feel powerless to stop them."

"It certainly seems hopeless, Rebecca. I've been advocating a ban on the personal storage of hunter rifles. And to require public tracking of their pickups and returns. But some lawmakers claim it violates a constitutional right. Stating citizens require defense against a potential robot invasion. A ridiculous notion ..."

"So that's it, doctor? For every attack, it's the luck of the draw? We must learn to hide?"

"Well, not exactly, Rebecca. I'm also a consultant for a private research lab. We've entered human trials. If all works well, we should have a countermeasure soon."

"How does it work, doctor?

"Well, I can't disclose all the technical details, but once ingested …"

Jane shut off the holotube.

"Mom, I was watching that. They were gonna talk about us."

"Jake, honey, it's only the news. They won't mention us to protect our privacy. You need to finish your breakfast and don't forget to take your nanites. Remember what the doctor said …"

"Yeah, I know mom—five times a day to keep the EMPs at bay."