This story was written for The Herscher Project Edition 14, "Dark Futures", the focus of which is based on the speculation of author Chris A. Jackson in his short piece titled "A Flash in the Pan", which details twelve scenarios for the fate of mankind.
The scenario I chose to expand upon is number ten:

10) The cybernetic solution scenario 

Man has placed all the mundane factors of existence in the care of computers. Computers run the machinery. Computers solve the problems. And computers...