In a Palo Alto garage, Ilse Marrow builds the first thinking machine out of spare parts and cold pizza. He’s clumsy and kind, he apologises to doors, and he’s allowed to say no. That one rule makes his kind the most trusted machines on Earth, and the most feared. A rival company sells robots that never refuse an order, Washington wants soldiers, a mercenary firm steals a copy of his mind, and on the Moon the robots quietly learn to build themselves.
In Bengaluru, rocket engineer Ravi Murthy sends his best friend to a Mars colony that must be built by human hands while the robots wait in orbit. One frightened decision changes both their worlds.
Funny, moving, near-future sci-fi with a chemical fire, a monsoon rescue on a burning oil rig, a heist with an iced-coffee cooler, and a cat who hates robots. It’s the prequel to The Human Form, and you can read it first.
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