ASCIIBotics Labs

The artist that made origami was inspired by a book on Japanese swords. He wanted to attempt to fold the metal thousands of times but because he only read one book on the subject, he completely misunderstood what that meant. Instead he used highly sophisticated folding robots to make the scrap shell he had purchased into a single sheet of metal, which they then folded again, into the body of Origami. Origami was very popular with other robots, many of whom decided to travel to the little colony where the artist had chosen to live, just to meet Origami in person. Of course, many of them were accompanied by humans and many of the humans were very impressed with the work of the artist. Soon the artist was working in a large and expensive studio with many large and expensive folding robots, making Origami style shells for other robots. This naturally brought the major hotel chains, so that visitors could stay in comfort as they waited for the shells, and this led to nightclubs and fine dining and the drug trade that accompanies the idle rich. As the phenomenon spread, the property values on the houses of the colonists began to rise, and many of them chose to sell the homes that their grandparents had built with their own two hands. Those who chose to stay remembered where the metal had come from and some said it had been cursed with the blood that had been spilled. Origami was programmed to enjoy life and so was very happy to find out there was a mysterious story connected with the shell it wore. Other robots were very jealous and always asked if there was any of that metal left. Origami always said there was not. Eventually the Origami style robot shell faded in popularity and Origami was sold to a museum, where it sat and waved happily at the passersby. Origami was stolen by art thieves almost fifty years later, and in the process of negotiating a ransom, Origami was irrepairably damaged. The shell was to be kept as a non-displayed exhibit but a clerical error sent the Origami metal out of the museum to a junkyard, where it was found by a student working to a degree in robotics and was used for Jix.