In this world, space travel hasn’t advanced beyond another moon landing, but robots have become a part of first-world life. These new-age machines are the work of a company called Maximal Mind Industries. The narrator of the novel is Cormac Wallace, the second commander in the Brightboy squad and a member of the human resistance against an artificial intelligence named Archos. As the war ends, Cormac finds a basketball-sized black cube that contains the hero archive—the record of the heroes who died in the battle to protect humanity. He isn’t initially interested in sharing the information, but as he listens, he realizes that he must.
The most famous victim of the robot apocalypse is Mathilda Perez, the 10-year-old daughter of Congresswoman Laura Perez. Her strict yet kind caretaker, Mrs. Dorian, has given her robotic eyes that allow her to see but not recognize living organisms, and they have harmed her. Archos retaliates by having her Baby-Comes-Alive doll attack her. The attack convinces Congresswoman Perez that the nation needs a stronger defense against robot aggression.
While the apocalypse isn’t as catastrophic as some would think, it’s definitely not a good thing. Unlike zombies, vampires and aliens, robots don’t pose any real threat to humans because they lack higher brain functions that could allow them to outwit and overpower people in an attempt to survive. They also rot quickly and are easily herded into mincing machines or slaughtered with automatic weapons.
