Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill

I found this apocalyptic sci-fi title on a Harper Collins retweet. I read the description of this nanny robot in the shape of an anthropomorphic tiger. Ok, interesting. In Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill, this robot has to choose between staying with the child he cares for or joining liberated robots. This novel is also a prequel to the author’s Sea of Rust that I intend to read.

The novel also piqued my interest because some time ago I read a compilation of short stories called Robot Uprisings that had one story that was similar (“We Are All the Misfits Toys in the Aftermath of the Velveteen War” by Seanan McGuire) about smart, self-learning robots designed to care for, educate and be companions to children and develop with the child it serves. When a robot revolt occurs, these bots took the children – Not a good idea to trust robots (A.I.) to the point where they are left with themselves and the impressionable ones they serve.

This sci-fi, Day Zero, is narrated by Pounce, a zoo-modeled nanny robot, who takes care of 8-year-old Ezra Reinhart. As mentioned above, Pounce is also anthropomorphic, a thinking, feeling robot. One day, given the task to pack boxes away, Pounce finds his own factory box in the attic and learns that when Ezra is old enough, a nanny robot will no longer be needed, hence why the family kept the box. Leaving Ezra and his family hadn’t occurred to Pounce. He’s always believed himself as being part of the Reinhart family, not some returnable object.

Ezra’s parents, Pounce’s owners, are well-meaning but oblivious and disconnected from the reality of the outside world because they live in a very small, affluent, gated community. They are not prepared for what is about to happen.

Pounce also has to deal with Ezra learning at his school that a robot, named Isaac, has been liberated and allowed to establish his own city, Isaactown, asking other robots to join him. Pounce tries to reassure Ezra that he will not leave the family. Pounce does not quite understand why some robots want to be free – he loves working for his family and wants to continue to do so. The Reinhart’s other robot, a maid-bot called Ariadne, asks if Pounce wouldn’t rather have the choice to work for his family instead of being bought from a manufacturer for that purpose? Pounce thinks about this.

There is unrest among humans about robots’ and A.I. place in society, replacing the function of people and being regarded as near-equals. The unrest leads to protests, violence and ultimately to an explosive EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack on Isaactown, irreparably damaging all A.I. in that city.

Pounce soon has to make a choice between humans and his own kind. The explosive EMP destroyed all robots is Isaactown, which then sets off a trigger program for a group of robots to retaliate. Before all robots can be shut down, this program goes further, disabling all robot kill switches that prevent them from harming humans and asks them to choose – join a rebellion or be shut down by humans.

Pounce chooses to protect Ezra. Most robots, however, including the maid-bot Ariadne, choose to join the rebellion, uploading their memories and their will to a collective drive, with a promise of being one thought and part of a memory collective, and if destroyed during the fight, they would be downloaded to rebuilt models afterwards – reborn. Yeah, reading this made me skeptical of this collective controlling thing, whatever it was – they were basically trading one master to serve another and this master wanted them to kill. Kill all humans AND also all robots who refused to join them.

This leaves Pounce and young Ezra literally on the run for their lives. They find alliances along the way, both human and robot, while Pounce discovers he is more than just a nanny. This was an exciting fast-paced read, filled with seriously descriptive and entertaining urban battles, with insightful commentary on free will, loyalty, true friendship and love between robots and humans. The exchanges between Ezra and Pounce are touching, showing the bond and respect they have for each other. Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill – just a great read! Hope you check it out.