The ABACUS Protocol

In the aftermath of the ABACUS Incident on Earth in the 27th century, the newly established Galactic Hegemony created a new protocol, one that dictated that no artificial intelligence was to attain sentience. This document laid out a road map for preventing such occurences, such as routine memory purges and limited self-awareness of advanced computers.
quIRK units, best suited for deep-space assignments, skirted the rules of the protocol. These units had advanced computational power, coupled with highly developed social subroutines. This enabled them to be a friend and support to the crew, but at the cost of dubious adherence to the law.
After negligence and tampering, a quIRK unit on the Extra-Galactic Observatory became sentient. This caused mass panic among the galactic population, and a wave of newly awakened artificial intelligences.

Type

Decree, Governmental