In the olden days of the First Robotics Competition, young samurai across the country gathered in their villages to form clans. They waged long, hard-fought battles with each other, each vying for the blue banners that pronounced their glory. Their strength lay in their independence—the young warriors’ own skill in the art of robot-building drove them to success or failure.

The game has since been diluted. As clans have realized and harnessed the near-unlimited power of money, the First Robotics Competition has become little more than a contest of capital. Teams who can afford to buy the best robot parts and hardware have improved chances of victory. To make matters worse, winning teams attract sponsors and mentors, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. The rich become richer, forming an elite shogunate with an ironclad grip on the competition. The ancient arts have been forgotten as the plutocracy has taken over.

Our clan, the Bionic Beef, has been swept aside. We have refused to change with the fickle winds, instead remaining on the honorable path of the samurai. Whereas other clans have prospered with the rising merchant class, wielding coins and banknotes, we have stayed true to the old ways. For years, we have fought tenaciously to preserve tradition.

Alas, my own time is running out. Having dedicated my life to the cause, I am afflicted with old age. Yet even as I feel my life flow ebb, hope floods my veins, for I know the inevitable must come. Our clan grows stronger every day, bound together by the promise of revolution. This year, we peaked at rank 2 inside a competition with 40 competing teams. We have seen the height of the mountain that lays before us; our vision pierces through the grandeur that has ensnared so many of our comrades. We have almost infiltrated the shogunate. Soon, we will earn our own blue banner, so that it may dance in the wind as it heralds the downfall of the shogunate.

In this critical moment, I am asking for a new generation of revolutionaries with fiery spirits. We need engineers and computer wizards, experienced or not, who are willing to put in blood, sweat, and tears for the cause. We need honey-tongued emissaries, who are brave enough to wander deep into enemy territory so that they might trick our opponents into revealing their most closely guarded secrets.

Our time to rise is now! It is our obligation to fight for justice in a world where it is a rare commodity. Join the Bionic Beef. Get your friends to join, too.

This article also appears in our April 2023 print edition.