NOVA Laboratory robotics experts Newton Crosby and Ben Jabituya developed several prototype robots called S.A.I.N.T. (Strategic Artificially Intelligent Nuclear Transport) for the U.S. military to use in Cold War operations, though Crosby and Ben would rather seek peaceful applications of the robots. After a live demonstration for the military, one of the units, S.A.I.N.T. number 5, is struck by lightning arcing through the lab's power grid. This scrambles its programming and makes it sentient. It then escapes the NOVA facility.