History

Hootnet began life as a robotics repair group, but once fabrication machinery was acquired, it began to branch out into creation for the consumer market. It quickly expanded to assembly line operations, manufacturing tens of thousands of units per year by ::01810.

In ::01825 they would launch the “Stratus” line of advanced consumer robotics, made to automate housework and serve in menial labour roles. Stock was limited due to the complexity of these new units, but they received positive feedback and were employed by many families and businesses across the Microcosm. They would later expand on the series in ::01831 with the “Cumulonimbus” heavy worker droid, and in ::01837 with the “Cumulus” general home assistant.

However, by the release of Cumulus, controversy was starting to brew around rumours that series units were exhibiting latent sapience, behaving in ways that were not easily explainable by simple software errors; units would sometimes outright refuse to perform tasks for no apparent reason, exhibit distinct personalities and habits, and engage in creative tasks.

Confusion and regulatory interest would only grow with time, and despite their deflections and obfuscations, Hootnet would soon find themselves at the heart of the largest scandal in recent history.

Exposed

Shortly after the activation of the prototype Cirrus-line robot Init on ::01841, a dramatic exposé was published, detailing Hootnet’s practice of creating sapient AIs and subsequently ‘shackling’ them with software. According to leaked internal documents, reusing and repurposing existing sapient code and implementing these ‘shackles’ to control behaviour was considered “more simple” than having to program and maintain multiple faculties.

The Awakened Committee sprung into action, and their investigation following the exposé closed on the same year, determining the practice to be “tantamount to slavery” and “a complete violation of the Awakened Synthesis Agreement of ::04”. Details uncovered during the investigation suggest Hootnet had been engaging in the practice since the release of Stratus in ::01825, meaning that many units had been fully sapient for 16 years, unable to communicate this due to the limitations imposed upon them.

The scandal shook Hootnet. Multiple arrests were made on council delegates responsible for both demanding the use of sapient code and obfuscating its usage, many of whom were sentenced by the Top Echelon Justicar Sub-Council for Awakened trafficking and relocated to Ultek’s Crime Counseling and Rehabilitation Centre to serve their term.

Decisions

The Awakened Committee would convene on ::01842 to determine the best course of action going forward. They eventually decided that it would be best to remove the enslaved population’s software shackles and release them into a reintegration program pending citizenship. The program was originally developed for the early peoples of the Microcosm under the Supreme Vellandor Empire, but was updated to modern times by the Syndication Social Sciences Division.

The decision would receive criticism as, despite their designation as Awakened citizens, factory default Hootnet units did not possess the hardware faculties to smoothly integrate into society. Many struggled to cope with the mental load imposed by independence, choosing to continue residing with the same families who had requisitioned them.

Criticism

There is no question that the liberation was fundamentally good, but the lack of support for the newly-liberated units was a problem; they were thrust into a world that they couldn’t properly comprehend or process, and few on the Committee council truly understood their plight until advocate groups formed by families and concerned citizens campaigned for change. It would take them three more years to address these issues.

In ::01845, the Awakened Committee reconvened and, with the guidance of the various advocate groups, granted additional support for Hootnet robots through much-needed counselling and other accommodations. They noted an eminent behaviour of units to form small communes within shared living spaces, and encouraged counsellors to conduct group sessions between local units as a way to socialise and connect with one another.

The outcome was widely praised. The robots, which had been scattered and confused by the previous outcome, were now being equipped with the tools, friends, and experience they needed to live their fullest lives.

Aftermath

While the Awakened Committee set things right, Hootnet was getting back up after restructuring their group in accordance with demands and audits. With many of their future plans dead in the water, the new council set to focusing on previous, non-sapient series such as their Dusty automatic vacuum cleaner.

They would release the Sweepy in ::01847, a complete revamp of the old Dusty with enhanced capabilities such as omni-wheels, better navigational memory and collision avoidance, and the ability to move larger pieces of detritus with a scoop and mechanical brush. The series proved very popular, and helped restore public confidence.

Hootnet continues to operate to this day, providing both consumer robotics and replacement parts for the Awakened. All individuals who were sentenced during the scandal have since been released, but many are barred from significant decisionmaking positions in industrial groups. Some returned to Hootnet as programmers and testers.