World Building While Building Robots

 -Science Fiction; Fully Loaded-

In my second book, "Addiction 2 Fiction" features a short story called "Blue Collar Robot". This story was from the perspective of an employee of a manufacturing company called The Metalworks Department. Blake's job was to write advertisements for the company and their products. These products are giant robots.

"Advertisements" is the official term, but really it's propaganda. In this story, giant robots are the core industry of the world. And that's because in the year 1985, a giant alien-publicly referred to The Blue Fear-landed on the North-Eastern coast of the United States.

In a world where an alien can fall from the sky, and giant robots are built across the world, I knew it was important for this world to have an identity. There needed to be a history, there needed to be societal establishments created as a result of these things being true.

Writing characters is easy for me, so to weave a world-a breathing, living world-was a challenge for me. Every chapter of "Blue Collar Robot" starts with a written excerpt by Blake that goes over a piece of this world's history, and I'd like to talk about this world and it's history in this post today.

-David & Blue Fear-

The title says it all. This book features robots. The giant, monster-fighting kind. When Blue Fear landed and started tearing up the Great Lakes region, the world's nations came together and hastily built the first mech in history. It was named David after the tale of David and Goliath. It took sixty four people to operate David. By the time they killed the alien; there were only twenty-three people left.

It was a giant, metal deathtrap made of shipping containers. Tight mechanical crannies, superheated steel with no safe surfaces, no seats, no means of protection as limbs swing like hacky carnival rides. People in the lower half of David drowned when the mech fell in a lake. The world never stopped preparing for "the next Blue Fear", so the production of mechs didn't stop either.

-Guardian Pilots-

The Guardian was the second mech built following Blue Fear's rampage and the first mech created solely by the U.S. government. This mech had a similar staffing, but now the head unit would house five pilots, each in command of another part of the mech. And these five were tailor picked for these roles.

The focus on writing The Guardian was the Pilots. I wrote them like they were celebrities. They appear on late night shows, cameo in movies, advertise products. They get hooked on drugs and booze, they cheat on their spouses, they mess up training protocols and cause property damage. The pilots of the Guardian screw up so bad-a mistake they make leads to mechs being banned from Las Vegas.

-Megazero in The Arctic-

Megazero was built in 2008 and had the unglamorous task of protecting shipping vessels off the coast of Antarctica from debris of ice or unsafe sea conditions. Megazero is the prime example of the mechs in "Blue Collar Robot" not being solely designed for combat. Giving the mechs alternative tasks sort of justifies the mass production of them.

-The World of Mechs-

In a world where mechs are the dominant business center, you'd be right to assume there are multiple schools across the world that educate the next generation of mech operators. Whether they're mechanics, testers, or pilot themselves. Our main character Blake has a phone conversation with his veteran father over his son not going to Mech School. I'd say that's a relatable.

The damage dealt by Blue Fear sent waves through society. The automotive industry shrunk, fast food places packaged toy mechs with their burgers, debris from Blue Fear's attack and loose pieces of the alien sold for high prices in auctions. Every business aimed their priorities towards giant robots and the imminent threat that another alien could one day land on Earth again.

-Domo Arigato-

I'd like to revisit this world again. In a different way though. I think reading "Blue Collar Robot" has reminded me how much can change when you throw one fictional monkey wrench into world history. An idea like this invokes ideas. An alien destroys the North East-how does that change things? Giant robots are an industry-how does that change music and art?

Brave men and women and not those who sign up for the military may do it to one day control a punching machine-how does that change professional relationships or societal roles? When you introduce one "thing", you have to ask yourself how that "thing" changes the world. That's how you create your own world.

Thank you for reading.

Be kind.