Daniel Wilson - Robopocalypse

How could this be?

When she smiles, I can see all the wonderful potential of the universe shining in her eyes.

“You waited for me?” I ask her.

“Seemed like you needed some time,” she says.

“You waited for me,” I repeat.

“You’re a bright boy,” she says. “You should have guessed I’m not through with you yet.”

I don’t know why any of this happened or what’s going to happen next. But when Cherrah takes my hand, something that’s been made hard softens inside of me. I trace the contours of her fingers with my eyes and squeeze her hand back and discover that Rob hasn’t taken away my humanity after all. It just got put away for a little while, for safekeeping.

Cherrah and I are survivors. We always have been. But now it is time for us to live.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the faculty, students, and staff at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Tulsa for instilling in me a love for technology and the knowledge to write about it.

This novel would never have happened without the dedicated assistance of my editor, Jason Kaufman (and the incredible team at Doubleday), my agent, Laurie Fox, and my manager, Justin Manask. I can’t thank them enough.

The filmmakers at DreamWorks SKG expressed inspiring enthusiasm and support for this novel from the very beginning, and I send my thanks to them all.

Special thanks to friends, family, and colleagues who lent me their eyes and ears, including Marc Acito, Benjamin Adams, Ryan Blanton, Colby Boles, Wes Cherry, Courtenay Hameister, Peggy Hill, Tim Hornyak, Aaron Huey, Melvin Krambule, Storm Large, Brendan Lattrell, Phil Long, Christine McKinley, Brent Peters, Toby Sanderson, Luke Voytas, Cynthia Whitcomb, and David Wilson.

Finally, all my love to Anna and Cora.

Daniel H. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of such works of nonfiction as How to Survive a Robot Uprising . He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and daughter.

A Boy and His Bot

Bro-Jitsu

Mad Scientist Hall of Fame

How to Build a Robot Army

Where’s My Jetpack?

How to Survive a Robot Uprising

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 by Daniel H. Wilson

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

www.doubleday.com

DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company for permission to reprint an excerpt from “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” from The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster by Richard Brautigan, copyright © 1968 by Richard Brautigan.

All rights reserved.

Jacket design by Will Staehle

Jacket image by Giimann courtesy of TurboSquid.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilson, Daniel H. (Daniel Howard)

Robopocalypse : a novel / Daniel H. Wilson. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

1. Robots—Fiction. 2. Artificial intelligence—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3623.I57796R63 2011

813′.6—dc22 2010043134

eISBN: 978-0-385-53386-7

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