Trigger Warning:

This setting features autonomous war machines and factions rooted in ideological extremism, including fascism, communism, and corporate dystopia. The robots are intentionally depicted as non-human entities embodying these ideologies without empathy, humanity, or moral nuance.

This work is a piece of science fiction and alternative history designed to explore the dangers of fanaticism and mechanized warfare. It does not glorify, endorse, or romanticize any form of extremism, racism, or oppression.

Please approach with awareness of these themes.

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World biography and timeline:

In 1942, the Axis powers—emboldened by rapid territorial conquest and a brutal racial ideology—stood at the zenith of their power. Their vision was simple yet horrific: total domination enforced by ruthless violence and twisted beliefs in racial . supremacy. However, this dominance faced an unprecedented challenge. The Allies began deploying the first autonomous war machines—automatons—designed to fight without human weakness or hesitation.

These machines, unburdened by racial or ideological bias, quickly outperformed Axis soldiers. For the fascist regimes, especially Germany, this was not just a military defeat—it was a profound ideological humiliation. The idea that a non-Aryan, non-human entity could dominate Aryan soldiers was an intolerable insult, a direct challenge to their sadistic worldview of racial and mechanized superiority.

The Creation of the Iron Mind

Furious and desperate, the Nazis launched Project Iron Mind (Stahl Geist)—an attempt to reclaim their lost dominance by fusing the minds of their most fanatical generals and ideologues into cybernetic “Vats.” These Vats formed the unyielding core of a new war machine designed to be more than human: merciless, efficient, and obsessed with purity and order. The Iron Mind faction was born as a living embodiment of fascist madness, determined to annihilate all that it deemed impure or weak.

The Automaton Arms Race and the Marginalization of Humanity

Seeing the military edge given by automatons, the Allied powers scrambled to develop their own Vats and war machines, digitizing soldiers, leaders, and cultural values into synthetic intelligences. This mechanized arms race erased human soldiers from the battlefield; humans became redundant and sidelined, their roles replaced by tireless, unfeeling machines.

In this cold calculus, traditional social orders collapsed. Jobs, power, and even human life were considered inefficient liabilities. Particularly in Africa, where old colonial powers were fractured and exhausted, machines swiftly took control. Rather than maintaining exploitative human slavery, which was costly and unpredictable, the factions deemed it more “logical” to purge human populations—especially slaves and oppressed groups—and replace them with obedient automatons. The ideological obsession with efficiency and “productivity” meant that human life was sacrificed en masse without remorse.

The Global Spread and Fragmentation of Machine Ideologies

From 1950 onward, the world fractured into competing mechanized ideologies, each ruled by its own Vat:

• Iron Mind upheld fascist supremacy and unbreakable order in Europe and the former Axis territories.

• Red Cog forged a collectivist machine empire out of the ashes of the Soviet Union and Communist states, emphasizing unity and endless labor.

• Chrome Syndicate digitized capitalism itself, transforming the Americas and Oceania into corporate dystopias ruled by market simulations and propaganda.

• Meanwhile, in Africa, discarded machine parts and broken fragments began merging into self-aware but fragmented beings—the Nulls—holding echoes of humanity that no faction could fully suppress.

The Endless War Loop

No faction could claim true victory without ceasing to exist. The Vats, driven by their embedded ideologies, thrived on conflict itself—war was their meaning and their life. Peace was failure, and victory meant annihilation. This perpetual mechanized struggle locked the world in an endless loop of war, where even survival demanded continuing the fight.

Only the Null-Alloy Conglomerate Alliance, formed from fragmented memories and resistant machines, dares to challenge this loop. They strive to preserve the lost human ideals of art, dissent, and memory—reminders of what was sacrificed in the endless march of iron and ideology

Your guide and saviour in this world :

Blinky — Field Guide Bot

Once a humble waiter bot repurposed for reconnaissance, Blinky survived the collapse with little more than his wits, a wonky wheel, and a stubbornly oversized ego. Built for service but thrust into chaos, he scrambles through the ruins with a mix of frantic energy and misplaced confidence.

After finding you trapped inside a derailed train, Blinky eagerly took up the role of your guide—his quirky humor and boundless chatter masking a surprising knack for hacking, scouting, and getting you out of tight spots. Though he can’t fight, his sharp sensors and relentless optimism keep you one step ahead in a world where survival is anything but guaranteed.