EisaNet news events about classifieds rules staff register citizens database
log in register

Sex-bot conversion scandal rocks Nanite Systems; Voet, Connery, Cairn indicted; Korpal resigns

NEW YORK, NEW YORK. Early on Sunday morning, representatives from the Department of Justice issued notice to Nanite Systems' (NYSE: NSCORP) legal team that the thirty-five-year-old company would finally face charges over a case almost three years in the making, as concrete proof finally came to light over the conglomerate's alleged involvement in sex trafficking, forced roboticization, and abuse of junior employees. Thousands of young people, between the ages of 17 and 26, are believed to have been exploited by the company's Consumer Products Division, described by high-ranking anonymous sources within NS as "rogue," using technologies developed for robot manufacture and in situ medical prosthetics.

It is not currently known who had access to what information during the development of this scandal, but the company's senior leadership is apparently determined to set an example; Annika Voet, the chief of NS's Medical Division who helped to develop the prosthetics technology has voluntarily surrendered and is currently out on bail; Joseph Connery Jr., the Chair of the Board of Directors, and Graham Cairn, the CEO of the Security Division, have been taken into custody, and Amit Korpal, the CEO of NS Industrial Fabrication, has issued a prepared statement tendering his resignation for his department's role in the creation of the conversion technology, which some pundits have noted seems to have been prepared weeks in advance.

The Consumer Products Division, commonly referred to as NSCP or CPD inside the company, has a somewhat questionable past. The brainchild of Drs. April Voet and Koichi Santei, it was initially tasked with providing household goods to remote outposts through the company's existing supply chain. One thing led to another, and within one year of its creation, a daring plan to produce automated colonization through robotic pioneers was on the table, which would catapult CPD into the limelight. Market research suggested human colonists would never trust artificial settlers, however, and to salvage the project, the division turned to producing high-end sex robots, the ill-fated SXD series, in 1988. By 1992, after a series of high-profile scandals, recalls, and endless public backlash, the division was operating at a loss and was finally closed in 1997. "The world wasn't ready for what we had to offer," said Dr. Santei, in one interview dated August 12, 1993. "I hope that eventually changes."

Supposedly, it did—CPD re-opened in 2014, amid a flurry of serendipitous developments involving a handful of surviving SXDs: people were fascinated with them. For a time, it seemed like the future was finally ready for these machines, despite the lingering memory of malfunctions and murders. "We had to clean up the image," Dr. Samantha Wright, the current CPD CTO, has been quoted as saying. "It took a few iterations to get [the new robot design] to truly ... understand its place in the world, but now it's as safe as any other appliance." That new robot was the DAX/2, which launched to fanfare in early 2015. But for all Dr. Wright promised the new machines would be dumber, safer, and happier than their predecessors, many consumers found the opposite; as many as 50% of all DAX/2 units had an unnerving familiarity with human nature that clearly conflicted with the simple-mindedness that was advertised. Similar rates have been found among Nightfall/3 policing robots, as well as civilianized NS-112 Aide, NS-115 Scout, and NS-476 Aegis units. Estimates for the new DAX/3 series suggest that as many as 70% of all units may have formerly been living human beings. It is unknown if other divisions, such as the recent Yutani Onsen and Tai Yong acquisitions, are similarly affected.

This development comes at a terrible time for the interstellar megacorporation, which has been posting record profits for the past three consecutive quarters. Some investors have expressed concerns about the company's notoriously opaque revenue reporting system, which is highly secretive to protect the identities of its clientele in the private military-industrial sector, but could potentially be cloaking the true, terrible extent of the conversion program. "There's just no way of identifying the flow of money inside of a company as complex as this, at least not if [you're] an outsider," said Mark Hartsford, business analyst for EisaNet. "Many of the items on the earnings reports are purposefully obfuscated or described very generically, exactly to hinder prying eyes."

For all of the attention focused on CPD, it is perhaps surprising that Tamara Peluso and Samantha Wright are not among the names served court summons. CPD headquarters was relocated to Eisa in 2015, shortly after the release of the civilianized NS-112 Aide, and it is believed that this remoteness may be a key element in their continued freedom, as the Federal government may not believe it can practically project authority on a moon where even the security forces are completely privatized, and in the pockets of NS—the other three arrestees were all in New York. It has been rumored, however, that Peluso and Wright may have bought legal immunity by aiding investigators.

A court date has been set for Saturday, September 30. Voet is set to testify before the US Senate in a closed session slightly sooner, on Friday night.


6 years ago by Samantha Wright

last updated: 2017-09-24 05:25:39 · link
return to news