Skynet, Cyberdyne… DARPA

A foreign soldier guards several highly important captives in a stone 10×10 structure in the compound surrounded by 20 ft concrete walls and visual detection for miles in the desert wasteland.  He walks his predetermined route of patrol looking for any sign of intrusion and rescue.  The only sign of life in the barren enclosure is a sole earthworm crawling across the a rock within the grounds, seen but unregistered in the guard’s threat assessment.

Moments later the guard drops, cut down from a sniper’s bullet, as does his counterparts on the west end of the compound patrol as well as the hidden soldier napping in a darkened corner.  In a small mostly underground bunker the watchman dies from a toxic gas release before he can hit the panic alarm.  Moments later Blackhawks appear on the horizon and charge for the compound, in tandem releasing special forces who free the captives and secure the remaining insurgent forces.

Without casualty and realtime intel the squadron successfully accomplished their mission.  Without compromising cover the team was able to keep their efforts in shrouded secrecy with the help of an unsuspecting ally.

A worm.

MIT Researchers with the backing of DARPA have created a robotic mesh worm that moves