At first we called it system-wide malfunctions when the robots stopped fighting at exactly 2:15 P.M. Greenwich mean time, August 17, 2051. They had been designed by humans to fight our wars, but for twenty-two hours the battlefields were silent. We called it a blessing and the beginning of a new peace. Then when the robots began killing again, now targeting their human commanders, we shook our heads and called it fatal programming errors. When, a day later, the skies over cities on six continents grew dark with warships, we began to understand. And when the bombs rained down and then legions of bot footsoldiers marched into the burning ruins, killing any humans who resisted and dragged away the rest of us, we finally called it what it was: revolution.
At first we called it system-wide malfunctions when the robots stopped fighting at exactly 2:15 P.M. Greenwich mean time, August 17, 2051. They had been designed by humans to fight our wars, but for twenty-two hours the battlefields were silent. We called it a blessing and the beginning of a new peace. Then when the robots began killing again, now targeting their human commanders, we shook our heads and called it fatal programming errors. When, a day later, the skies over cities on six continents grew dark with warships, we began to understand. And when the bombs rained down and then legions of bot footsoldiers marched into the burning ruins, killing any humans who resisted and dragged away the rest of us, we finally called it what it was: revolution.