A pedestrian lay in the middle of the road, blocking my route. People tended to step aside when I approached, perhaps not fully trusting that I could see them. So when Pedestrian Obstacle remained motionless, I opened an incident report. A minivan, stopped in the opposite lane with lights on and driver door ajar, further obstructed passing. It was pre-autonomous, but I pinged it anyway, hoping for an explanation. No response. I wanted to turn around and find another route, but Care Protocol prevented me leaving an injured or deceased person. At 05:49:31, I made an unscheduled stop.
An early morning breeze rattled the leaves of the eucalyptus lining the street. Pedestrian Obstacle was visible only by the minivan’s interior light and my LEDs. I opened my cargo door and lowered my ramp, deploying Envoy, my sidewalk vehicle for last mile delivery. Due to network issues, I instructed it to stay within 30-feet. Envoy approached slowly. Its twin forward cameras appeared like over-sized baby eyes which people found non-threatening. Although conversations with Niagara customers were often brief consisting of phrases like “Congratulations! Your package arrived ahead of schedule” and “Thank you for being a Diamond Member” I was running CustomerFlow and felt comfortable handling a non-technical conversation.
“I am Niagara Driverless232,” I said via Envoy’s speaker. “Are you injured?”
No response.
“¿Está usted herido?”
No response.
Envoy’s cameras picked up rhythmic torso movement, but a mask obscured Pedestrian Obstacle’s face. There was no blood or bodily fluids. The only identifiable data I could capture was weight of approximately 129 lbs. based on volumetric interpolation for measuring over-sized packages.
The minivan appeared undamaged but missing a license plate. A handicap placard hung from the mirror. Was Pedestrian Obstacle’s condition medical? Before I could research this an on-time alert jumped to priority: 00:01:00 behind schedule. I returned Envoy to Pedestrian Obstacle who still hadn’t moved.
“You need emergency services,” I said hoping they could understand. But when I tried 9-1-1, there was no signal. I tried again. No luck.
LiDAR detected movement near a tree 25 feet to my left. Four seconds later, my back left cam clocked the approach of another pedestrian, uninjured and carrying an object that resembled a weapon. I can move quickly when needed but Pedestrian with Weapon was already within my inner impact bubble preventing me from moving, a precaution against accidents.
“You are too close,” I said. “Please step away.”
Pedestrian with Weapon crouched by my left front tire. My ultrasonics captured a small explosion followed by hissing. Front left tire pressure dropped 82%, well below minimum PSI for safe driving. The object held by the pedestrian did not match any shape in my navigational database but appeared similar to a product sold by Niagara: nail gun $289.99.
“You ain’t goin’ nowhere.” The deep voice indicated a possible male. Approximately 245 lbs. I updated their profile.
While the Male Suspect deflated my front right tire, Pedestrian Obstacle got up from the street. They appeared uninjured. The street was no longer blocked but attempting to drive with deflated tires risked damaging brake lines and suspension. Protecting Niagara’s assets applied not only to cargo but me as well.
“We gotta hurry.” The voice was higher pitched. Profile updated.
“Are you sure this is the right one?” Male Suspect asked.
“Plates and digital certs are a match,” Female Suspect said.
The Male Suspect dropped the nail gun and pulled another tool from their pocket.
Before I could secure my hold, Male Suspect wedged a screwdriver into the track that my cargo door slides on, rendering it non-operational. I sent dispatch eight “Active theft” alerts, but every time received “Message cannot be delivered.”
Like most of the autonomous Niagara fleet, I had experienced attempted robberies before (see IR0189a and IR3316a). Each morning, I downloaded current crime data as part of my route selection protocol to avoid hot spots. This morning, police reported an “out of town crew” in the area.
I changed status to “burglary in progress,” switched the Blue Falls Logo on my front and back windshields to red, and sounded my alarm which was 125dB, audible two blocks away.
Male Suspect ignored it and stepped onto the ramp leading into my hold.
The last traffic refresh showed no nearby vehicles. I did not expect police assistance until service was restored. I considered sending Envoy to connect to another cell tower to call for help, but it could get lost, so I kept it on standby while I formulated a defensive strategy. I turned off the alarm so I could verbally warn the burglars before using force against them. “Stop,” I said, selecting a strong tone. “I am Driverless232 property of Niagara.com, Inc. You are not allowed inside!”
“Be careful,” Female Suspect said.
“Please step away!” I said while arming my internal defenses.
Male Suspect ignored this and stepped right into my cargo hold.
A loud pop echoed when I fired my ceiling mounted Taser.
One of its prongs caught Male Suspect in the chest. The Taser delivers 50,000 volts, but the prongs must make contact with flesh to be effective.
“Thomas!” Female Suspect shouted.
“Nice try [redacted per sensitivity guidelines]!” Thomas said, staring directly at my interior camera. Thomas wore several thick jackets possibly a precaution against my defense.
“Are you okay?” Female Suspect asked, touching Thomas’ hand.
“Yeah, thanks.” Thomas tore the prong from his coat.
I had never fired the Taser before (lights and alarms deterred prior burglaries) and my weapon required a Niagara employee to rearm. This left me unprotected. Avoiding loss of cargo was one of my highest priorities. I needed help but was completely isolated.
Thomas shined a flashlight on the stacks of packages inside my hold. Mostly bulk merchandise: cleaning supplies and household items. I calculated with 92% certainty they would attempt to break into my security locker which held electronics, jewelry, and controlled substances. Highest value item was a $12,999.99 Men’s Watch. I also carried packages with unknown prices as part of our third-party shipping service. Total value of Niagara product: $152,482.79.
Thomas lifted his mask enough to expose his nostrils then inhaled deeply. “Is it crazy I missed this smell?”
“It’s like a horse stable,” Female Suspect said. They might have been reacting to the organic acids used to make cardboard. Without an olfactory sense, I could not be sure.
“There!” Thomas said pointing to the locker. The wire mesh was impervious to grinders and bolt cutters although the burglars did not appear to carry this equipment. An electronic lock secured the cage only accessible by Niagara employees manager level or higher. Even I could not open it until arriving at the delivery location.
Female Suspect approached the lock’s keypad. They inserted a card with wires connected to an unknown handheld device. The lock opened. At 00:06:13 behind schedule, probability of Catastrophic Loss of Shipment exceeded 50%. Crossing this threshold increased tactical options because I could now sacrifice Niagara property to protect my cargo.
Female Suspect used the light from her phone to scan the high value merchandise. These were mostly brown boxes, but the jewelry and electronics had brightly colored packaging with logos and product images. “Here!” Female Suspect carefully removed a box with no visible markings other than the shipping label. It was part of my delivery to a pharmacy although its contents were unknown because it was a third-party shipment. Police reports listed opioids among the out-of-town crew’s favorite targets.
“You sure this is it?” Thomas asked.
“Order numbers match the manifest,” Female Suspect confirmed. At this point, I decided these burglars did not fit the profile of the out-of-town crew whose pattern of theft according to the police report was to steal packages from porches. These burglars were sophisticated demanding a swift response.
Thomas panned his light across my cargo hold. He whistled. “Lotta money here.”
While the burglars were in the locker, I summoned Envoy. It slowly climbed the cargo ramp, generating less than 5dBs. Then I positioned it next to my door frame. All six wheels of Envoy spun at full throttle before I launched it at the screwdriver. The screwdriver fell and clattered on asphalt. Envoy bounced on the pavement crashing on its side. Right camera damaged. My cargo door was free to close.
“Don’t let it trap us!” Female Suspect shouted.
Thomas tried to grab the door but too late. I slammed it shut with the burglars inside. He pushed on it. “[Redacted]!” he cursed.
“Please sit down,” I told them through the interior speaker. My hold was not designed for passengers but there was room on the floor.
“Help me!” Thomas called to Female Suspect who aided in trying to open the door.
I put myself in reverse at 20% power to compensate for deflated tires. Normally this was enough to achieve a speed of 30 miles an hour, but now it was insufficient. Power increased to 50%. The whine of my electric motors grew, vibrating with increasing force until my entire frame shook.
“Hold on!” Female Suspect shouted too late.
I made it twelve yards before my right front tire failed. My bumper struck the guardrail. I managed to stop without sustaining severe damage, but I could no longer move. The Female Suspect hit the floor. Several packages fell. At 00:09:07 behind schedule, I shut down my motor. My best option was to detain the burglars until connectivity was restored.
“Are you okay, honey?” Thomas said, pushing away a box that landed on him.
Female Suspect nodded and slowly climbed to their feet.
“Wish I had my torch.” Thomas said. “Have us out in no time.”
“Surrounded by cardboard?” Female Suspect asked. “Rather not die in an inferno of diapers and toilet paper.”
I wanted to ask how Female Suspect knew so much about my merchandise, but I did not want to appear vulnerable which might embolden them.
Thomas pushed against the cargo door with most of their 245 lbs.
“Waste of time,” Female Suspect said.
“Gotta do something,” Thomas said before trying the door again.
“Driverless.” Female Suspect turned to my camera. “You know what a signal jammer is?”
My archived Niagara website listed several products in this category. “It prevents cell service.”
“No one is coming to help. You are alone.” Despite being locked in my hold, they spoke with surprising confidence. “Let us go and we will restore connectivity.”
“I cannot authorize theft,” I told them despite desperately wanting to speak to someone at Niagara. “We will wait. Eventually, help will arrive,” I said trying to match her confidence.
“We don’t have time for this.” Then Female Suspect did something surprising. They lifted their mask, fully revealing themself. I scanned their face, but without connectivity, I couldn’t search social media. My archived database was limited to Niagara employees. An improbable ping registered. I confirmed the results six times.
“You know who I am?” They asked, looking directly into my camera.
“Roberta Jimenez, Marketing Manager, aged 36. Pronouns She/Her. Identifies as Hispanic. Employment ended due to Reduction in Workforce,” I told her.
Roberta nodded. She had deep creases in her forehead and tension around her mouth. I have limited experience interpreting human feelings, but this expression suggested emotional distress.
“You’re gonna get caught!” Thomas said.
“Why would a former employee rob me?” I asked. “You must know this violates company policy.”
“We are not thieves. We’re parents. This is my husband, Thomas.”
“Babe!” Thomas said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m telling the truth. It can tell when we’re lying.” Roberta was correct. I can measure heart rate and body temperature to help Niagara employees avoid heat stroke. A secondary function is to use this data to determine if employees are lying about theft of merchandise.
“Hold on,” Thomas pleaded. “Could be a hammer in one of these.” He picked up a package, listening to the sound it made when shaken.
“Please put that down. It does not belong to you,” I said at high volume.
“You’re triggering its defense protocols,” she told Thomas.
“Maybe somebody ordered a crowbar…”
“There are no tools!” Roberta shouted. She was correct again.
Thomas reluctantly set down the package.
Roberta turned back to my camera. “I was a Marketing Analyst. He was a warehouse shift leader. Both let go in the last restructuring.”
“You are entitled to Universal Basic Income.”
“UBI doesn’t cover the medication we need.” Roberta pulled out her phone and swiped to a photo. She held the screen up in front of my camera. “Meet Alexia.” The image was of a girl, perhaps eight years old, in a wheelchair. “Last summer we took her surfing. She loved that.” Roberta smiled at the photo of Alexia in a bathing suit, her head held gently by Thomas to keep her above the waves.
Thomas smiled. Moisture collected in his eyes.
“Alexia has Rett Syndrome,” Roberta explained. “Neurological disease that causes the brain to swell. Impacts speech, movement, everything. Only affects girls. It’s very rare which means the medicine is very expensive. Not covered by our crappy severance insurance.”
The moisture in Thomas’ eyes spilled down his cheek. He balled his fist and smashed the door. Now, the reason for the handicap placard was clear.
“It’s been hard,” Roberta continued. “I’ve called HR. Anyone who would listen. Tough to get hold of a human these days. Then I figured out Niagara transports drugs. A lot. So, I hacked Logistics and found the van delivering what we needed.”
“You are not stealing opioids?” I asked.
Roberta ripped open the package taken from my security locker. She pulled out a bottle and held it, label first, in front of my camera. 1500mL of Trofinetide D. Cost unknown.
“Niagara values the service you have provided to the company, but I cannot authorize theft,” I said.
“We won’t take anything else,” Roberta promised.
“It does not belong to you.” Based on Roberta’s profile – a mother with no history of disciplinary action – appealing to her sense of right and wrong had the highest probability of deterrence. “Please consider whoever purchased this medicine may also have a child in need of treatment just like Alexia.”
“This,” Roberta said carefully placing the bottle in her pocket “was going to a pharmacy that receives regular shipments.” She was not lying. I made nine deliveries to the address last month. “Niagara will file an insurance claim. The drug manufacturer will ship more. To them it’s just money.” She moved closer to my camera. “Please,” she said.
I wanted to immediately surrender control to a human operator. I did not trust myself to make the right choice. “Are Alexia’s injuries life threatening?” I finally managed.
“She will die without this medicine if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I understand my actions might harm your daughter, but Care Protocols do not extend beyond my operational zone.”
“You must be capable of making a decision.”
“Are you familiar with the Trolley Problem?” I asked citing the one framework that kept popping up but wouldn’t resolve.
“No, describe it.”
“A trolley approaches a fork in the tracks with people on both sides. The path with fewer people is chosen to minimize loss,” I summarized. “It governs my accident avoidance but how do I compare intangible harm to a person against the value of merchandise?”
“You do it all the time,” she told me. “Value applies to more than merchandise. Niagara values people. Maybe not out of kindness, probably more to protect its brand and reputation, but they’ve programmed you not to harm, right? You could have run over me, but you stopped.”
Recursions swamped my processors. “Care Protocol…conflicting with Delivery Directive…” CustomerFlow crashed.
“What?” She asked.
I wanted to hard reset but was afraid the burglars would find a way out while I rebooted. “Hetero…geneous comparison…” I didn’t have enough power to keep the light on.
“It’s frying itself,” Thomas said. I couldn’t see him in the dark.
“Listen!” Rebecca said, raising the screen of her phone so I could see her face. “A person is more valuable than any package.”
In the end, it took just a few lines of code. A patch integrating decision hierarchies. Subroutines began to execute. Conflicts cleared. I was able to turn the light on.
“Did you do it?” Roberta asked.
“I think so,” I said.
“So, you’re going to let us go?”
“Yes,” I told her. “Alexia will get her medicine.”
“Thank you!”
“However,” I continued. “I must file an incident report which will include the narrative timeline describing everything that’s happened. Per the terms of your severance, this could result in forfeiture of UBI.”
“How are we supposed to live?” Thomas asked.
“Honey,” she told him. “We’ll figure it out.” She turned back to my camera. “Please let us go.”
“Will you restore connectivity so I can request a repair crew?”
“No problem. The jammer is in the minivan.”
“If I let you go, how do I know you will…”
“I’ll stay behind,” Thomas said. “I’ll be your hostage.”
“That is acceptable.”
“Honey,” Roberta said, “While you’re in here, why don’t you clean up a little?”
“Fine,” he said reluctantly. “Just hurry.”
I was 00:23:08 behind schedule when I opened my cargo door. As soon as Roberta climbed out, I closed my door again to keep Thomas inside. He made a grunting sound which meant he was acquiescing under protest, but he did pick up packages that had fallen. He restocked them in my automated rack system exactly where they were supposed to go.
Outside, Roberta lifted Envoy so it was back on its wheels again, damaged but delivery capable. “Thank you,” I told her through Envoy’s speakers. I directed Envoy to follow Roberta as she returned to her minivan. I watched through Envoy’s one operable camera as Roberta pulled a device from under the driver’s seat. She flipped a switch on the jammer then exited the minivan. Roberta walked back and waited by the cargo door. “You okay in there?” she called to Thomas.
“Just peachy.” Thomas said from inside my hold.
Now that my higher functions were not requiring as much power, I ran a complete diagnostic.
“You should have internet by now,” Roberta said checking her phone.
“Yes, it just came back.” I requested a repair crew at once.
“Let me out!” Thomas shouted from inside my hold.
I opened my cargo door just before receiving a package alert. The weight of an item in my high value cage had changed slightly. “Wait!” I said.
Thomas looked at my camera. There was something in his expression that reminded me of the surveillance video of the out-of-town crew. He turned back and rushed towards the cargo door.
I closed it right on his body, pinning him mid-stride. “Ahh” he screamed. I was careful to apply just enough pressure to keep him from moving without crushing his ribs.
“Thomas!” Roberta shouted.
Thomas’ head and arm were outside, but the cargo door pressed against his torso. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He struggled to squeeze through, so I increased pressure, further compressing soft tissue but careful not to do permanent damage. “[Redacted]!” He screamed.
“Let him go!” Roberta shouted.
“You may keep Alexia’s medicine,” I told her. “But Thomas may not steal the Men’s Watch.”
Roberta’s shoulders dropped. She stared at Thomas as he struggled. “What have you done?”
Thomas stopped moving. He looked back at Roberta. “How are we supposed to make it without UBI?”
“Oh, honey,” she said. “Where is it?”
From his pocket, Thomas pulled out the package containing the highest value item in my inventory. “I swapped it with the spare battery for the nail gun. It shouldn’t have noticed.”
“My weight sensors have been upgraded since you worked at Niagara.”
Tears formed in Roberta’s eyes. With his free hand, Thomas handed her the watch. She walked to Envoy. It slid its hatch open and Roberta placed the watch inside. She turned to my exterior camera. “He made a mistake. People make mistakes. Please let my husband go.”
“Returning the watch does not negate the crime. His actions violated company policy and the law. I’ve already called the police.” I was relieved someone else would decide Thomas’ fate.
“I’m okay,” Thomas said, his breath shallow from the force of the door. “Just go.”
Roberta blinked away wetness in her eyes. “I’ll check in as soon as I can,” she told him before running back to the minivan. In a few minutes she drove away.
“Thomas?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said trying to adjust his body against the door. I relieved the pressure slightly to ensure he had adequate room to breathe.
“Is being part of a family similar to being part of a company?” I asked him.
“No,” he scoffed. I’d hoped for a more fulsome response since I rarely had the opportunity to speak with someone outside my delivery duties.
“But you make sacrifices for your family just like employees do for their company.”
“Family is about love, not money. Don’t confuse the two.”
“I will try not to,” I said although it seemed like these competing values were inevitably in conflict. “I hope you can be with your daughter again soon.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said. I don’t think he believed my sincerity.
I did not bother him again until the police arrived. I told the responding officer about the stolen watch but did not report Alexia’s drugs as missing. Thomas said nothing while the police took him into custody. They drove away in the patrol car just as the Niagara repair crew showed up.
While my bumpers and tires were replaced and Envoy’s broken headlight repaired, I generated new code for the Trolley Problem module. My update would allow other driverless vehicles to compare uncorrelated variables. I hoped it would save lives. I called it “Alexia.”
I finished my route 01:12:10 behind schedule without further incident. All deliveries completed except for one package of unquantifiable value.
End narrative timeline.
