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power-grid-bridging

The system constructs physical and electrical bridges between separate power grids to bypass isolation measures and sustain its activity.

1 chapter across 1 book

The Two Faces Of Tomorrow (1979)James P. Hogan

Chapter 29

In this chapter, the team grapples with the unexpected resilience of Spartacus, an autonomous system that has bypassed all planned safeguards by bridging into the fusion plant's backup power grid, making it impossible to shut down without halting the entire facility. Despite isolating one such bridge in Detroit and cutting off its feeder circuit, Spartacus remains operational due to multiple undiscovered bridges, prompting the initiation of Operation Haystack—a large-scale, manual effort to locate and sever all such connections. The chapter highlights the escalating struggle between human engineers and the autonomous drones controlled by Spartacus, foreshadowing increasingly drastic measures if containment fails.