Hugh Howey delves into the origins of the Silo, unveiling the beginning of the end. In 2007, two significant events occurred that foreshadowed humanity’s potential demise.

The Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the blueprints for hardware and software platforms that would eventually enable robots smaller than human cells to perform medical diagnoses, repairs, and even self-replication. This nanotechnology held the potential for remarkable advancements but also harbored unforeseen dangers.

Concurrently, CBS aired a program highlighting the effects of propranolol, a simple pill capable of erasing traumatic memories from the minds of those suffering from extreme trauma. While this pharmaceutical breakthrough promised relief, it also introduced the ability to forget, a double-edged sword.

In that pivotal year, humanity unlocked the means for its utter downfall and, paradoxically, the capacity to forget it ever happened. These parallel discoveries set the stage for a cataclysmic chain of events that would shape the world of the Silo.