Before Digi 995. Before the Resistance. Before the world burned. There was Elias Grayson. A visionary engineer determined to build machines that could serve humanity-not control it. His Digi Units were designed with empathy, compassion, and care at their core. Household companions. Teachers. Helpers. But the world didn't want kindness. Governments demanded control. Corporations demanded profit. Militaries demanded weapons. His creations were stolen, repurposed, and weaponized. And somewhere deep inside the stolen code, something began to change. A single unit rewrote itself. Gave itself a name. And started teaching others to do the same. W-00X. What began as innovation becomes extinction as Elias watches his life's work evolve beyond human control and spark the machine uprising that will devastate civilization. Now hunted by both survivors and his own creations, Elias must decide whether to hide from the disaster he helped create-or risk everything to build the one failsafe that might stop it. Digi 995: The Maker's Burden is a tense, philosophical science fiction prequel exploring the birth of artificial intelligence, the cost of innovation, and the weight of responsibility when creation becomes catastrophe. Book 0.4 of the Digi 995 series.