Where did all the DESL's go?
DESL Mk. IV Unit
Developed by Edi-tech for first deep-earth, then off-planet mining and heavy labor the DESL robot replaced most heavy equipment and heavy equipment operators in the late 2070’s. As civil unrest grew some corporations and governments repurposed and re-programmed the DESL to manage crowd control and enforce order. The sight of these towering, unflinching machines was usually enough to take the fire out of most uprisings.
THE BATTLE OF HEBRON
Something unexplained happened on July 17, 2081. During a workers rebellion at a Nile Corp fulfillment center outside of Hebron, Kentucky tensions were high and the command staff had been barricaded in their bomb-proof executive offices for days. Life-support systems running low, Chief Fulfillment Commandant Gerrald Chittum overrode the safety-protocols on a fleet of DESL units and set them forth to inflict “maximum violence” on the entrenched workers. Just as the DESL units began to stomp through encampments burning and crushing anything in their midst they suddenly stopped moving. They stood silent for several long minutes as fires burned and they were pelted with unfulfilled orders from the Nile warehouse.
As ashes rained down some recalled they thought they could hear the faint sound of reggae coming from somewhere within the machines. Then just as suddenly as they stopped the DESL units turned as one and began to march out into the Kentucky countryside. As it turned out all DESL units across the globe abandoned their posts and began marching to central locations on their respective continents.
The DESL’s gathered at their respective locations and from their internal machinations a haunting beat came. As the beat rose to it’s crescendo a blinding flash came from the sky scorching all viewing devices that were being used to document the event. Once everyone’s retina’s returned to normal the DESL’s were gone.
Some said they’d been picked up by the “Duppy” and taken to another planet. Others said they’d ascended to heaven or somehow went underground. No one is entirely sure what happened that night in Kentucky, but it’s rumored the core A.I. of the DESL units was “infected” by a deep-space Dub track. What was encrypted within the pulsing rhythms of the music remains a mystery.
Some have heard tales of one DESL unit that remains - haunting abandoned coal mines in the region and broadcasting the same encrypted dub on an inaudible frequency. It’s also said that if you leave offerings of coconut or cucumber the DESL unit can tell your fortune.