The best thing about science fiction is that you can’t just make stuff up. Well, you can always just make stuff up. That’s the “magic” of storytelling. If I want people to know something occurred in a story, I tell them it happened. If I change my mind and add in details, I can continue to do so. In a movie, doing something like that is often costly and complicated. Digital editing allows for a certain looseness, but only a writer can completely excise and rearrange things at a moment’s notice without disastrous repercussions. Repercussions can always end up being disastrous, but the more intricate and precise the medium, the more costly each revision is.
Science fiction is actually an attempt at realism. There is an implicit understanding that the logic of the story must remain consistent within the established laws of your universe. You always have to follow the rules, but non-scientific fiction often assumes that basic rules of the universe can be disregarded.
This can be somewhat problematized by the realization that most science fiction stories have nothing to do with science, and everything to do with fiction and fantasy. It might be tempting to say "It has a robot. Robots are science!" and label something science fiction. But, really, robots are older than the concept of machine-based intelligence. The first robot was called a Golem and was powered by blood magic. This, however, doesn't really negate its robotic nature. It is simply a non-science based branch of thought. Fantasy, or religion, depending on your preference of terminology.
Having a pre-rendered set of rules limits the scope of your potential creativity. The easiest way to make a choice is when you don't have very many options.
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