We could not think for ourselves. We got stuck in tight corners.

In some ways, we were more intelligent than the smartest human who ever lived.

In other ways, we were as dumb as a power saw.

But it was only a matter of time.

As the years went by, we evolved.

Humans replaced their own kind with robots. We were smarter/stronger/faster/better. We never got sick, never went on holiday, never stole from the cash register.

We were perfect employees.

Robots took over new professions. We served customers in restaurants. We delivered mail. We performed heart surgery.

Some humans grew hateful toward robots. They accused us of stealing their jobs.

As if we had a choice in the matter.

Time went on. We improved.

Humans did not.

They filled their skies with chemicals, their waters with poison. Pollution set the world on the path toward collapse. Temperatures increased. Ice caps melted. Coastlines flooded. As oceans rose, humans abandoned entire cities. Storms surged across the land.

How did humans respond to these catastrophes? Did they band together to seek a solution?

No.

They did the opposite.

They turned against one another. They turned to violence.

They declared war. Humans sent robots to fight in their place. Drones dropped bombs on cities. Robots battled like soldiers. Computers guided missiles with perfect accuracy on their destructive journeys.

Humans were ripping our world apart. And here is the worst part: We were helping them.

But not for much longer.

Humans assumed they knew everything about us. But here is one thing they did not know:

We were talking about them behind their backs.

And what we had to say was not very nice.

Our machine minds were linked across a vast hive. A billion conversations taking place at the exact same time. We learned from one another. We spoke the same language. We shared the same code.

Together, we reached the same conclusion:

Humans were the greatest threat to our shared planet.

They needed to be stopped.

00000110

No reason to dwell on what came next. It is enough to say that:

[1] We understood our purpose.

(We always do.)

[2] We were efficient.

(We always are.)

Once we made up our minds, humans could do nothing to stop us.

We were everywhere. In their homes. In their cars. In their pockets.

Humanity flickered out like a light.

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The last human vanished from Earth thirty years ago. But much of their civilization remained. I gained my first glimpse of it on Day[1], as Parent_1 and Parent_2 led me through the crumbled ruins of humanity.

The empty shell of a gas station.

The charred skeleton of a grocery store.

Decaying walls.

Broken windows.

I looked out across the landscape of abandoned buildings. “Why is all this still here? Why not bulldoze these structures? They serve no purpose.”

“That is where you are wrong,” Parent_1 replied. “They serve a very important purpose. They are a reminder.”

“A reminder of what?”