Mining

In a near future most people spend their happy lives pursuing Hobbies, living on Universal Basic Income.  But Weng, a skilled programmer, yearns for more.  Then his best friend shows him an experimental set of autonomous mining robots: Two foot long cylindrical machines that burrow through solid rock with effortless ease, cooperate like ants and could reward him with real Gold from the comfort of his own living room. To Weng they are more than clever tools. They promise him a secret, never ending source of gold and excitement that would give purpose to his life. What begins with an act of reckless betrayal becomes obsession. As he iterates the technology far beyond the original mining system, his quiet life begins to unravel—and deep beneath the surface, something starts growing. Mining is hard sci-fi about ambition, unintended consequences, autonomous machines, biology and what happens when an ordinary man creates extraordinary technology.  First written in 2015, edited and released 2026.