NOTE: This âmasterpostâ will be updated periodically! Whether it be with lore bits, headcanons or short stories. The post will be reblogged each time this occurs!
In the last years of the 18th century, humanity was crippled by a terrible disease. Lack of knowledge and understanding only contributed to the spread, a spread already so fast and so debilitating that the human race was soon cut down to catastrophically low numbers. Almost in the blink of an eye. But all hope was not lost. Due to burning the bodies; isolating the sick and other, drastic measures, fatalities began to drop and humanity eventually emerged victorious with a vaccine clutched in hand. Though it wasn't without its costs, from that victory rose another challenge. With the majority of its human population gone, the world had ground to a screeching halt; for the survivors, chances of recovery seemed slim and out of reach. Slowly, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the indomitable human spirit triumphed over hopelessness, technology was developed from desperation and a solution emerged. A solution to keep the world running; to keep what was left of the age of man afloat on strong, metal legs; to revive life as humans once knew it. Their solution? Machines. Machines with sentience.
The start of the story can be pretty much summed up here: X This AU also focuses pretty heavily on Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics; how closely they're followed and what becomes of a machine who happens to break one of these laws. The main bulk of the story is centred on the Skarloey Railway in the 80âs, but what serves as the impetus for the tale are events that happened on the Mid Sodor Railway. Over a century ago, perhaps, but the ripple effect caused by what occurred there is still, resolutely felt. If you've seen literally any piece of media centred around sentient robots, you'll know that all of this combined with the story intro above is going to cause problems in the long-run and cause problems it does. Mainly because quite a few people weren't fully aware of just how sentient their creations were, or they just simply didn't care. After all, so long as humanity can eventually re-claim the earth, breaking a few eggs won't matter. Until it does and an outcry begins. Despite NG/RWS Stanley being one of the first to raise the alarm about humans' abysmal treatment of engines. Initially it's Peter Sam who unwittingly fires the starting gun by rescuing Smudger. But! In a nutshell, the TTTE characters are designed to be replacements for humanity; it's why they have arms n legs n opposable thumbs in this universe. They are - for lack of a better word - the reason why humanity were able to survive, which makes it all the more painful when a clear effort to decommission them all is uncovered. Which brings me onto the bulk of the list:
