Urban fantasy writer Lauren Beukes, author of Moxyland and Zoo City, finds 2015 will go to the dogs. Robot ones, that is.

The hottest must-have on Christmas wish lists this season may also be a deadly tool, according to police investigating what was previously thought to be a freak accident when James Young (63) was discovered with his throat ripped out by his robot RAPTR toy.

RAPTR, a pre-programmable bio-robot in Playtel’s MyDINO line, stands 1,52m tall, can support a rider weighing up to 20kg and comes with “realistic biting action”, although the effectiveness of the bite is tempered by the fact that the RAPTR’s teeth are, normally, made of a patented, vat-grown soft-tissue compound similar to rubber.

Danet Arendse, the Playtel spokesperson, attributed the death to the popular underground “modding” culture that has sprung up around biorobotics and Blue Brain breeds in particular. Blue Brains are simulated neural architecture based on low-energy memsistor chips and modelled on the brains of domestic cats.

Arendse said: “Mr Young’s death is regrettable but under normal operating procedures there is no way the RAPTR would have been able to hurt him, even in “playful” mode. The worst that would have happened would have been that he came in for some enthusiastic gumming.

“Unfortunately, we have evidence that reveals that Mr Young compromised the integrity of his RAPTR with illegal modifications, thereby violating the terms of use, voiding the Playtel warranty and preventing any and all legal claims against the company.”

CHOMPRS

Police have confirmed that, according to Young’s phone-wallet records, he had recently purchased the template for an item listed as CHOMPRS from a listed blackwarez site. According to the website description, CHOMPRS are razor-sharp teeth that can be easily manufactured at home using plastic resin and a standard 3D printer.

It is believed that Young also knowingly infected his RAPTR with the @ggr0 virus, malware designed specifically to stimulate the robot’s autonomic system, locking it into a permanent fight-or-flight response that would have made it respond aggressively.

The @ggr0 virus has been previously reported as being used in illegal “ro-dog” fights that pit modified robot toys against Rottweilers and pitbulls.

There is no evidence to suggest that Young was involved in the ro-dog fighting scene.

Lawyers for the family have said that it was a desperate attempt by a frightened man to secure his property after a series of break-ins to his house in an upmarket security estate in Bryanston.

According to neighbours, Young had become increasingly security-conscious. “He was a paranoid old guy,” a neighbour who asked not to be identified said. “He was phoning in to the radio to bitch about the police not doing anything, and he kept dropping these anti-crime petitions off in everyone’s mailbox. I saw him in the parking lot on Tuesday. He told me he fired his armed response company and said he was going to take matters into his own hands.”

Mandisa Cwane, PopCult professor at the University of Johannesburg’s online campus, said that modding culture was on the rise and, with 3D printers, easier than ever. “Modding isn’t a new thing — it’s been around ever since the Barbie Liberation Front swapped the voice chips of Mattel’s “Maths is hard” Barbie and GI Joe action figures. It used to be that you needed a little technical know-how, but with the spread of affordable home 3D printers and custom templates readily available on the internet, anyone can do it.”

‘Playful’ mode gone wong

The RAPTR’s black box reveals that after a downtime of three-and-a-half hours, it was rebooted on Wednesday at 8.47pm and “playful” mode was activated using the remote control. Video footage from the robot toy’s chest-mounted camera reveals that the RAPTR immediately pounced on Young, knocking him to the ground and biting at his chest and head. It spent 52 minutes toying with him while he tried to crawl away, before apparently getting bored and ripping out his throat.

The RAPTR has since been deactivated and is undergoing a diagnostics autopsy at PlayTel’s development labs. The footage of Young’s death has been handed over to the police.

Playtel has announced that it intends to sue Young’s estate for damages to its brand.