The ELI Event B007R5LTNS

Prologue
    “Good evening. It’s Tuesday, August 13, 2312, and this is World News Tonight. I’m Duala Thewlis.”
    “And I’m Aldo Arken. Here are tonight’s top stories. Duala?”
    “Tens of thousands of malcontents continue to swarm around the Seattle city perimeter. The mob is mainly made up of the homeless, the infirm, and the elderly, and has no clear leadership or apparent goal. Of course, they are easily repelled by the city’s standard security field, and Seattle officials say the mob poses no threat to the city’s affluent residents.
    “This is not the first nor the worst incident of its kind. Just last month, a horde of nearly a hundred thousand enraged New Yorkers attempted to cross the Hudson River and storm the newly repopulated and protected Manhattan City. That city’s security field kept them at bay as well, but more than two hundred of the would-be invaders drowned or were trampled in the unprovoked attack. Spontaneous mass assaults such as these are on the rise in North America and mirror those already taking place near other major protected population centers around the globe. Aldo?”
    “World News Tonight asked Western Region Vice Governor Lokus, attending an official Protective Alliance of North America retreat near New Frisco, for comment on the Seattle situation. The Vice Governor admitted that this is becoming a common problem, citing similar incidents at other secure cities across PANA in recent months. However, he declined—as did Eastern Region Vice Governor Narbor following the Manhattan City incident—to send federal troops outside the security field to deal with the mob, saying it would be a ‘waste of manpower’ and declaring simply that the crowds will eventually either ‘leave or die.’ Duala?”
    “The virulent disease caused by the N1E0 virus which last year virtually wiped out the livestock population of India is now sweeping through the Far East and Australia, killing millions of animals used for food, clothing, and farming. This deadly and extremely contagious disease, commonly called the Neo Plague, wreaks havoc in rural areas, where humans and livestock roam in the open without the protection of security fields. For more on this story, we’re joined live by Brian McMahon in Sydney.”
    “Thanks, Duala. I’m standing outside the safety of the Sydney security field, where the Neo Plague rages like a mad croc. Cattle, sheep, camels, feral and domestic animals alike fall prey to its vicious attack, dying by the thousands within days of exposure.
    “Australian officials acknowledge the severity of the outbreak but are quick to remind citizens that they are completely safe inside their cities’ security fields where, of course, all live animals are banned, and assure residents that they should not suffer any personal inconvenience as a result of the epidemic. This morning, Health and Safety Minister Bradley’s office in Canberra issued this statement: ‘While the loss of so many indigenous animals is of course regrettable, the inevitable decrease in the burgeoning nonproductive human population, due to related issues such as famine and disease, is expected to ease the current overcrowding problem in the bush.’
    “Although the Neo Plague is now loose in Australia and spreading uncontrollably through the outback, the government says that its four field-enclosed cities—Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and the Capital Territory of Canberra—should see no ill effects whatsoever. Reporting from Sydney, this is Brian McMahon. Back to you, Duala.”
    “Thank you for that report, Brian. Aldo?”
    “And finally, a story from Nuevo Angeles. Well-known and formerly respected computer scientist Belarus Jonan has died. Jonan apparently took his own life on the eve of what promised to be the trial of the century. Earlier this year Jonan was charged with violating the nearly three-hundred-year-old ban on ‘creating, utilizing, or harboring a sentient machine,’ a capital offense under federal law, when authorities discovered an artificially-intelligent robot at his residence.
    “The robot, which had frighteningly realistic visual acuity, auditory recognition, and speech capabilities, apparently roamed unrestrained about Jonan’s home and, even more terrifyingly, was allowed to interact freely with his wife and small child. Jonan’s claim that he had constructed the robot only ‘to help mankind’ was dismissed as naïve and dangerous. Jonan was arrested and