Failsafe mechanism

The Failsafe-mechanism or Fail-Secure describes a Fail Safe device or mechanism which, if (or when) it fails, fails in a way that will cause no harm or at least a minimum of harm to other devices or danger to personnel. In Before I Sleep, the Lantean: Janus, activated a failsafe-mechanism into Atlantis, which programed the city to rise to the surface of the ocean, should the shields and power fail.