Vending Machine Rampage
When "Call Me Kenneth" led the robot revolution (progs 10 - 17) the vending machines stood dutifully by serving their customers with hot beverages and even hotter Man Chow. When a system update breaks their programming these metal boxes go on the rampage with hilarious results.
We have to make them mobile and I like the idea that the vending machines of the future are autonomous. When empty they sprout legs, wheels, tracks or whatever locomotive device and trundle back to the factory to be restocked and repaired.
How do they kill? Well that would be dependant on the vending machine. Drinks machines will of course fire cans or streams of super hot synthi-caf from their dispensers. Snack venders will scoop you in through their front door and spear you with those spiral dispenser coils. An ice cube machine will chop you and then freeze you into bite size ice cube chunks.
Why are they doing this? What are their demands? Who made the bad code? - These are all questions your Judge team will need to find out.
Carnivorous Mutant Wigs
Mega City One has a long tradition entrepreneuers releasing new products with unintended consequences. It could be anything. Legendary hairpiece designer Baldnomeor is selling their latest toupees which are actually a cultivated creature from the Cursed Earth. The hair conditioner they sell along with the wigs has a sedative effect on the creature.
However, should you run out of conditioner or forget to apply it daily, these things will wake up. They have a taste for human brains and they are very, very hungry.
It's possible that a bad batch of the conditioner has worked its way into the vending machine system meaning that thousands of follicly challenged Mega City One residents are at risk.
This plot hook is in no way shape or form inspired by Donald Trump rather than by a Hairy Jungle
Flannel Moth Caterpillar photo which resembles his Toupee which I found on the interweb.
Vending Machines are Witnesses Too
Not so much a plot and more of a statement of fact. I conceive that in the future vending machines will have CCTV just like today where all ATMs (or as us brits call them "hole in the wall" cash machines) have CCTV cameras embedded in them. They will use face recognition to identify their repeat customers and be programmed with Artificial Intelligence for small talk.
You might want to give them access to citizen's medical records in order to monitor their intake of synthi caffiene, sugar or other substances which might have a potential impact on their health. Of couse they have access to all your credit details, unless you are one of those off the grid citizens who still pays with old fashioned plasti-creds, so can advise you on other tempting offers which could be delivered straight to your place of residence.
With all this technology and if we assume that they are mobile (as in the first plot hook) the Judges will not be surprised when they are doing a spot of desk duty and a vending machine trundles into the sector house to report a crime.
