Autonomous

Summary

January 12, 2115, was the day the robots took over. It was not a violent insurrection. In fact, no one actually took notice of it at all. There were no threats of bodily harm. No one died in humanity's defense. The movies had it all wrong. We walked through that door voluntarily. We abdicated with our increasing reliance on convenience. It was not convenient to read so we submitted to be read to. It was not easy to drive, too much stress, so we invented self-driving vehicles. Finally, we did not have to leave our homes because everything was at the tips of our fingers. We surrendered without a shot. We chose to be slaves because it was easier than thinking." Tobias Smithwater would not submit and that made him dangerous. The bots will not stop until they have him in the fold and they will use every resource. Together with his half-bot, half-human wife, and adopted son he will dare to escape across the roughest terrain in North America.