Imagine the Earth sent a colony out into the stars and they eventually come back to evict those pioneers and take the land back. That’s what this story centers around. Oliver and Lulu are siblings that have taken over the family farm after their grandparents passed. (Their direct parents were victims of a genetic disorder caused by planet adaptation, so they barely remember them.) The planet is sparsely populated and the residents consist of farmers for the most part. Though it sounds like it would be a story without much technology, the opposite is true here. The crops across the planet are harvested by machines and the humans don’t do much of the hard labor. While most of the robots are simple workers, there are some that are AI that control the others. One of these is Roger, the siblings’ “instructor” for lack of a better term. All is calm on the planet of New Sonora until mechs drop out of the atmosphere and start killing people. Turns out they’re piloted remotely by earthlings that believe they’re eradicating terrorists from the planet. It’s a horrifying start, but one that really shows the power of government propaganda in tandem with corporate market control. Apex, the developers of the mechs, must have a stake in this false war right? What are a bunch of farmers going to do? What ensues is almost tactical, but it doesn’t lack heart.

The illustration of loss in this story is all encompassing. It makes you root for the Sonorans over the earthlings every day of the week. When one of them is lost to the war, you feel it. It’s almost too close to reality in how people are marginalized because of a simple biological difference. (The Sonorans had to alter their genes to survive the new atmosphere, hence the siblings’ parents passing.) This discrimination is exemplified by the mech pilots and their rhetoric when slaying the innocents. It’s a hard read at times, and though some lighthearted banter helps keep it from feeling too hopeless, there is some irony near the end that could turn some off. I do think the story has a good balance of nihilism and optimism. There are moments of true despair and others where faith in humanity is bolstered. It’s a strength of Dinniman’s works to write in a way that exemplifies both the darker and lighter aspects of humanity as a race.

The depiction of AI in this story is also quite nuanced. While Roger is a “good guy” because of his programming, there is evidence of some more catastrophic events occurring at the hands of AI in the lore. While he is a sentient machine, with programming guidelines, he does do some truly horrific things. These are to protect the ones whom he deems need protection, it foreshadows how unstoppable he might be without said guidelines.

As I said, there are some real human moments here. Given how dispersed the population of the planet is, the local farmers all know each other, because they have to. Getting injured in their fields could mean death if the neighbor doesn’t know first aid. With that connection and history, the characters really feel like a community. The story focuses on a handful of them, and I think it does a good job of establishing identifiable personalities, making them all feel like real people. It’s another reason I find myself so enveloped in Dinniman’s works. Humanism is on center stage, even when the events are almost inconceivable.

I enjoyed the story of Operation Bounce House. As a fan of Dungeon Crawler Carl, this story was a nice deviation. Dinniman still focuses on humanity in impossible situations, and it really shows his understanding of how people think. From the greedy corporations and dirty politicians to the hardworking farmers and industry pioneers, there’s a lot to love and hate about humanity. If we come together, we can beat back the oppressors and forge our own fates. Never give up. This story is a great inspirational story for those of you that need a jumpstart to do the dang thing already.