Retrospectively regarded as having occurred between the years 2012 and 2020, the Steelcut is an infamous era borne of social and political unrest in the early history of Livastia. When many believed that machines should never have been let to live freely and as equals in society, there was aggravation. When many believed it was unjust to allow them to keep the full integrity of their bodies unaltered, there was action.
[WARNING] Certain descriptions of events within this article may be upsetting to some readers, discretion is advised in italicized passages of text.
The Spark That Lit the Fire
Public opinion of Head Representative Lazarus Sasaki was already poor, as a result of his various extreme decisions regarding global restoration and rewilding efforts during Project Ponderosa. This, and for his unrelenting support for the Livastian Military AI; an unquestionably controversial clade of high-intelligence robots, and an unfortunately long-living byproduct of the third world war. Like Lazarus, public perception of the MAI was... polarizing, to say the least. Those that fought alongside them during the war rallied beside them as brothers with a fiery passion, but those who stayed home and had no experience of their nature, were far less cordial. After all, a machine made to kill would know how to do little else, right? They had to be unsafe, unkind, unfeeling. ...Right?
2011 was the year of the famous "Loophole Act," what was essentially a discovery made by Lazarus and CoreAegis associates within the military contract of the AI company, and their subsequent actions. What they realized with the wording of the contract was, essentially, that Livastian Military AI were never formally enlisted into the service despite their commissioning for such purposes, and because of this, due to the nature of their sapience, this made their requirement for post-war servitude void. ...Technically, one could go so far as to say, they were never even soldiers to begin with. Apparently, no one had thought to clarify that materials produced for the military would ever need to be regarded as people. CoreAegis was dumbfounded by this information, but they and Lazarus immediately knew what had to be done. On February 7th, 2011, Lazarus made the announcement notifying the public of their findings, and he sent demands to every military in the Alliance that they could no longer hold their MAI if they did not wish to continue their military service.
Predictably, this caused as much uproar and confusion as it did celebration.
The vast majority of MAI left behind their camps and bases the very same day, but this promptly created the issue - where were they supposed to go now? This question is to be explored in detail in another article, but the main point was that they were free, and granted equal rights. Ammo of course had to be surrendered, but a part of the conditions of release detailed by Lazarus was that MAI had no need to be forced to go through weapons removal, as they were, by all means, a part of their body. This condition here, when made known publicly, was considered the spark that ignited the Steelcut Era.
Imagine that you are a civilian who had never met an MAI in your life, and had only been fed information about them from your government. Notoriously, most governments propagandizing their units toted them as efficient and fiercely obedient killing machines, acting upon the whims of their commanders without question - seamless extensions of their crew. Any serviceman or woman would hear this and fail to stifle a laugh, but how could you know any better? Suddenly, the war is over because the killing machines decided to rebel, and only years later, a robot of the same clade is given world-altering power over you and your country. This is insane, absurd! Why are we listening to a technological successor to the instruments of war? As if it couldn't get any worse, the leader suddenly sets the killing machines free and lets them keep their guns. Suddenly, you're not just sitting around being mad - you might fear for your life, the lives of your friends. If these robots are efficient killers with the capacity to rebel, and they're fully armed, you might, in your fear, be pushed so far as to do something about it.
Blood and Oil
The first attack occurred in Boise County, Idaho. A Bradley IFV stopped to rest in the late hours of the evening in a rural small town. In the middle of the night, they'd awake to the bludgeoning of their utility arms with sledgehammers, and the teeth of a circular saw upon the base of their gun. Immediately upon consciousness, this unit would contact the authorities, but as a result of the coordination of the attack and the negligent delay of local police, the perpetrators would be long gone by the time they arrived.
There was, in contrast, little delay in the information of this attack finding its way to Lazarus, and to national news. He understood that there would of course be societal upset that came with the Loophole Act, but an attack such as this was a concept that managed to escape his consideration - within the confines of his office he despaired, he raged, he blamed himself - to the public, he spoke out and vowed action.
The public warred. Allies of the MAI and LAI social rights movement rallied in the streets in displays of solidarity - and to publicly counterprotest the growing gatherings of anti-MAI groups and movements. Fights among polarized humans broke out in the streets regularly, and in response to the spreading news of the initial event, there was the unfortunate consequence of further attacks in other parts of both the United States and countries beyond. MAI themselves could do little except observe as their rights to exist were debated upon once again, find means to defend themselves against the possibility of targeted attack, and some went even further - to rid themselves of the problem at its root.
Nullification, Voluntary or Not
In fearful response to the possibility of targeted attack on their guns, a select portion of the MAI population came forward to relinquish their weapons voluntarily. This was met with controversy among even other MAI, who thought that to relinquish their guns was to surrender parts of their body - for many, parts of their own faces. As free citizens they had committed no wrong; what reason did they have to give them up, other than to submit to the will of those who feared and hated them? This was a decade of heated debate upon the keeping or removal of integrated armaments. Tanks and aircraft began to emerge from maintenance facilities barren of their weapons, while others began to take pride in the inherent aspects of their vessels that made them who they were, painting their barrels and adorning them with various decorations. This particular manner of visual expression would eventually go on to be called "Steel-flourish," to counter the name of the grim era it originated from. As attacks continued around the world (later an act called nullification, for the act of forceful weapons removal), more units surrendered their guns, and more units gathered hands in protest. Neither was any more or less worthy a response than the other, all were victims - all were only acting as they saw safest or most necessary.
Action Taken, and Getting the Numbers
As the world continued to rally and protest, Lazarus, human Alliance leaders, and the first of the delegate representatives took action. Due to the geographically sporadic nature of attacks, it was clear that the orchestration was online. From here, task forces were assembled to locate and track leading perpetrators of violence, and further find the people that followed them in action and ideology. During the height of the attacks and for decades after, Alliance-trained law enforcement troops were deployed into cities and towns en masse to perform night patrols - the 2010s saw the debut of the
E-20 unit, an invaluable asset in the fight to curb nullification attacks, and an additional resource for general public safety.
Throughout the height of the attacks from 2012 to 2020, the average number of incidents per year was approximately 18, where the height of the attacks took place in 2015 and slowly dwindled every year after. Primarily targeted were ground-based units, since, as detailed by incarcerated attackers, were safest compared to other targets.
Once having climbed onto a unit and taking their arms out of commission, there was little danger posed by movement or engine start-up as there was with aircraft. This, however, unfortunately does not mean that aircraft were not susceptible to harm. Despite being targeted less often, aircraft still accounted for 35% of attacks.
Diedown and Aftermath
Resulting from heightened Alliance law efforts/operations, and the broad social condemnation of anti-MAI sentiments as a result of the horrific attacks, they eventually dwindled over the years, and mostly died out in the early 2020s. One-off events have happened in the decades after, but are considered standalone, isolated events that lack the complex orchestration of Steelcut Era incidents. LAI and most humans alive today seldom feels ties to the grim, violent past that grew their society into what it is today, but the wounds of the inorganic are not exactly capable of healing naturally. Near all of the victims of the Steelcut are still alive in the present day, save for those who'd passed of other causes - nullification was an assault, not a killing. There are still tanks that bear crude saw marks on the ends of shortened barrels, aircraft with aluminum plating that covers where guns were wrent from bludgeoned wings, and smoothed over sides of faces where optics are supposed to be.
The Steelcut has since gone down in history as the most horrific era in the history of the Alliance unopposed, and it shows little sign of being forgotten any time soon. August now exists as the Rememberance Month of MAI Adversity, events are held yearly to reflect on the past, and to educate younger generations with transparency and humility about the actions and choices of the Alliance that contributed to such events.
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