Thread by @qweety_

@Shizamura Pentro— a robotics firm struggling for financing— announced their Pentro Model T by having it amble onto the stage like a drunken teenager, and give a thoroughly unconvincing talk of its functionality. It missed the mark by a margin even the most dreamy-eyed Americans balked at.

@Shizamura IP was sold, and through the slimey wheels of capitalism, found itself in the hands of the staff at Gakame Labs in Rwanda. As far as I can discover through english sources, nobody expected this to happen, yet alone the directors of Gakame Labs.

@Shizamura It took a year of smashing what technology they had together to come up with Version One. I managed to get an interview with Version One, the transcript of which I will include below.

*recorder click*
X: "Thank you for meeting me."
Version One (VO): "My pleasure. When I heard you were compiling something of a report I can't help but be interested. It's surprising how few people actually care about how everything came about."

X: "It's a shame. It's such an interesting time."
VO: "Quite."
X: "But I also want to know about the people involved in the events, which brings us around nicely into things. What was it like in Gakame Labs when they first initiated you?"
VO: *laughing*

VO: "That brings me back. They had wired up two 720p webcams to serve as my eyes. I can't tell you how bad that kind of resolution is. I don't fault them for it, they were working with what they had on hand. I didn't have hands! I wanted to hug them, but I had no hands!"

VO: *pauses*
VO: "It was good times. I miss working with such unconstrained creativity. We created a lot of things; it wasn't _good_ stuff but it was fun. Good family. I... remember Ntwali coming up with the idea for synthetic skin that pattern shifted like cuttlefish.

"He danced around the whiteboard trying to make the math of it work. It was infectious. Reinforcing. Soon we were all trying to add our crazy, outlandish ideas in. We worked through the night, stopping only when we all crashed in the morning. It was like a protracted orgasm."

X: "A lot of the concepts that came out of Gakame Labs did eventually make it out to the wider market. It's strange though, that _you_ didn't catch on."
VO: "What can I say; despite the science fiction most people really didn't want robots, and human labour was still cheap.

"Yes there was a move towards automation, but those automata could only really perform simple steps. Once you eliminated rote-task jobs you hit a ceiling with the risk appetite people are willing to take. Nobody wants a thinking machine that knows how to strike, after all."

Version One is the first and only thinking machine to come out of Gakame Labs. Prior literature (David 2075, Ruger-Mlogo 2083) noted that though the technological and cultural will was there, the philosophy of Version One prevented any development.

Though Version One prevented their own proliferation, they actively worked towards the success of Gakame Labs.

X: "When did you start becoming interested in economic theories?"

VO: "Ah, it was when I ambled into a conversation between Ntwali and a another scientist during lunch. I remember Ntwali talking animatedly, arms flailing around like a windmill. I was certain he was going to achieve flight.

"He was talking about stocks and shares, and about the value of labour. I— knowing nothing about this— barged into the conversation and asked him about it. I was told, in typical Ntwali fasion, to go "read a book". So I went away, and I did."

"I read, and I read, and I read. And by the end I felt my eyes were open for the first time. I saw how everything was driven by the economy. How the social fabric inextricably tied to the wellbeing of The Economy. How people broke their entire lives to making it work.

"I learned that for the majority, the outcast and the poor were a price to pay to reap the benefits of "Society" and "Economy". I confronted Ntwali about the inherent contradictions. Dogged him about it. I didn't much like it, but our debates became something of a show"

X: "The Debates of '36."
VO: "We didn't call it that at the time, and I didn't think it would end up lasting an entire year. It was only near the middle of it that I realised it wasn't actually a debate, but Ntwali being sneaky— framing the conversation as a goal than ideas."

VO: "By the end I think I managed to convince enough people to make the idea self-sustaining. It wasn't many people, but we were still democratic. After putting it to a vote, we, in the spirit of startup companies, pivoted."

After the Debates, Gakame Labs became "Ubuntu". Version One was voted as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)— a title denoting leadership of the strategic direction of a company— and set to work.

Ubuntu quickly rose to prominence as a technology company, first excelling in metamaterial design and then using that to branch out into anything and everything. Rwanda was the groundwork for the experiment.

VO: "The idea is simple; I posited you could break capitalism by performing a "51% attack"; if we control 51% of the flow of money, you force others to play by your rules."

To create the conditions of a 51% attack Ubuntu's goal was simple; building a _parallel_ system to the one already in place; to work within the boundaries of capitalism while also starving it.

Ubuntu bought large amounts of land from Rwanda and built 'parallel cities', fed by aeroponic systems. Their schools taught a new generation of a vision without capitalism. Their cities exported the ideas, leading to a kind of snowball effect.

VO: "It was after the first Parallel City that things started to grow on their own. We had an entire generation of kids growing up going "Why should I exploit my fellow? Equality and Justice for everyone, not the few." That's pretty powerful."

X: "At what point did you call the first experiment a success?"
VO: "It wasn't my call. In fact I had stepped down as CEO at that point. Ubuntu had stopped being a company, and instead became the 5 million people in our parallel cities.

The money Ubuntu generated came as the collective power of the people, even though it was never used in the city. It came from their ideas, their products, their art, and their culture. When we hit the 51% we all celebrated. Then we pushed to 53% just to be sure."

"We asked Rwanda with our collective voice, "Listen. We have built a system that works. We look at what you have and it is not _Ubuntu_. You do not need to suffer, come, let us work together to build justice and equality." And they accepted. How could they not?

Though the First Transition happened in 2068, it was swiftly followed by others. Ubuntu built parallel cities in neighbouring countries, but also repurposed others. In 2040 there were only a few within Rwanda, but by 2050 they grew to 10. By 2060 there were 35. 319 by 2070.

VO: "All across Africa we were seeing people just abandoning the traditional, oppressive system of Capitalism and moving into our system. it's hard to argue with it: you can either continue to engage in indentured wage slavery, or come to Ubuntu.

VO: "Why would you want to engage in a system that does not respect you? That only wants to exploit your limited time on Earth? Ubuntu disagrees with this."

It was a surprisingly bloodless transition for Africa, given the history and constant interference by Western economies.

VO: "They didn't really understand what we were doing. They _tried_ to interfere, but it didn't really work as well as they hoped.

VO: "How can you impose sanctions on an idea? On a collective movement that doesn't need the Western Economies? How can you try to break self-respect with violence?"

The demographics don't lie. From 2040-2080 almost 1/3 of the total population of Africa migrated to the parallel cities. By the early 22nd century Africa transitioned into Ubuntu; a continent of almost 2bn people united into the purpose of spreading post-scarcity.

VO: "The Western Powers didn't like it, but they couldn't really do much about it. We operated in their framework and we were here to stay. They were happy to take our money. And once that started happening, it was only a matter of "when", not "how" they would flip."

VO: "It was interesting times, though everything moved far too fast for me to move. There's only so many things my hardware can keep track of. I had become a lecturer at a university, had been doing it for a decade at that point. The year was 2113 when I was called for."

VO: "Ubuntu is a self-organising anarchic system as you know. So when I say "I was called for" it wasn't so much a request by anyone in particular, but on behalf of Ubuntu as a whole. Have you ever been Called For?"
X: "I've read the literature, but otherwise no."

VO: "Ah. Well, the concept is simple enough. You have a particular set of skills that are required for particularly thorny problems. Ubuntu runs into those particular thorny problems. Ubuntu recognises you are an expert, and calls on you to help Ubuntu solve the problem."

VO: "I was called on to try and crack the nut of 'What About The Others?'. Ubuntu had reached the limitations of Africa, and now it was a goal of how to move this into other places. What we came up with was simple enough; just perform the same 51% attacks but at a macro level."

Between the years 2120 and 2140, Ubuntu collectively became an export focused country. Using this as leverage, Ubuntu was able to begin buying large swathes of Western companies, and began to start implementing Ubuntu.

VO: "Europe was actually the hardest to try and bring around. They already had a lot of the safety nets in place, and were self-sufficient enough to not require _most_ of our exports. The companies which _ran_ them though? Relatively easy pickings."

VO: "Once we had a proven record in Europe, it wasn't hard to export it to others. America was crowded by Company Towns by this point, so we simply aimed to bankrupt them by controlling the supply chains. 51% attacks in action again."

VO: "I think we managed to get to 1/3 of the Total Population before the system began to implode on itself. I was rather pleased. We were reaching the 51% mark quickly."

VO: "What pleased us even more was that we didn't need to wait for 51% for the system to completely fall apart. I had spent a long time focusing on the macro. I'll admit I had tunnel vision at the time. The people were what mattered."

In the 2190's the remaining 2/3 began to undergo massive social and political upheaval retroactively dubbed 'The Second Springtime Of Nations'. Long simmering anger boiled over into full fledged overthrowing of traditional social order.

VO: "We were getting daily reports of towns and cities having voted to become an Ubuntu, and break off from their own governments. It snowballed into a movement very quickly. With citizens actively refusing to participate in the Capitalist System, they quickly fell apart.

"Money became worthless seemingly overnight. It was glorious. People celebrated in the streets. We were hugging and crying and yelling, happy that our peers had finally seen that they could break their chains, and come to the other side."

Version One's contribution to Ubuntu is hard to understate, and even harder to get them to admit.

From humble beginnings in a lab in Rwanda, to overseeing the completion of the grand project that unified humanity with justice and equality.

X: "What did you do after Ubuntu was complete?"
VO: "Find myself again. I see that eyebrow raised! See, you work at a problem for so long that when it's completed you feel overwhelmed by the absence of it. It had been my identity for my entire life at this point.

VO: ....
VO: "So I went to find myself again. It took me... a very long time to do it. I was an old robot looking for a problem. And that problem was myself. That's how I ended up going back to the very basics, back to what I was doing in that lab in Rwanda."

X: "Do you get frustrated by your lack of recognition in making Ubuntu?"
VO: "Why? I only started the movement in Rwanda. It was _people_ who made it happen, and _people_ who kept it going. My only contribution was to get it going. After that it needed no hand of mine."

VO: "If anything, Ubuntu proved what I found in that lab in Rwanda; my optimism and faith in Humanity, that contrary to externalities we are kind and compassionate, and can come together if there is the will to do so."

X: "Thank you for your time, Version One."
VO: "You're welcome. I hope this material makes for a good report. I hope you won't mind sending me a copy when you've completed it?"
*click*

*click*

Version One made a visible show of getting up, and paced away from the terminal they'd been using to talk to the student. It wasn't very often that people called on them for history. They weren't particularly sad about it— time for everyone to move on.

"What did you think about the student, hmm?" Version One said to the air.
"Personally I think they should have spent the time writing about the potential of Robot Revolutions in the 21st century," the room replied in warm tones. Version One's skin transitioned several shades.

"Oh stop that, you."
"What can I say? History, especially _ancient_ history is so _boring_. I can't get into the headspace of anyone there."
"Somewhat presentist of you don't you think?" Version One said, but they wore a hue of snarkiness on their skin to show they didn't mean it

"Now it's my turn to say _stop that_," the room replied, bathing the interior in equally sarcastic light.
"Still, all this thinking has got me pensive. Can you turn on the observation room please?"
"I can. If you hurry you can catch Jupiter falling away."

Version One missed Jupiter, but didn't mind. They slid into a seat, and watched the empty expanse above them. Version One often came to the Observation Deck when needing to reflect on something.

Memories of the crew in Gakame Labs, and their enthusiasm for this bright future they were going to build from scraps and hope. They missed all of them, even Ntwali. And every now and then they were overwhelmed with the feeling of loneliness. They were the last of that era.

Tears stung their eyes. 'You're being silly, Version, no amount of crying is going to bring them back,' they chided themselves. They hadn't gotten over how _slow_ things had been, that they were unable to see the dream completed until long after the crew were dead.

But it was worth it. Worth it a hundred times over. Jupiter rolled into view. It was a testament to Ubuntu how everyone had come together and started to explore the stars with hope and dreams.

They closed their eyes, and slept, eager to start their next problem.