{"product_id":"2940044756908","title":"REX-34-Metal Messiah","description":"\u003cp\u003eRex-34, a companion robot, knew only one world; a small home, a beautiful garden and his human master. She was his world. She had to be, he was programmed to see her that way. His last recording, a kiss, still filled his short term memory as she powered him down for the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe rebooted in mechanoid hell. Eighty years had passed. His first glimpse of this new time was inside a working industrial trash compactor. There were no warm organic arms, just the pleading screams of other machines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe world he was created for no longer existed. Gone with it was the one human he truly trusted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his absence, mankind's golden age withered. A financial collapse turned humanity on itself. Billions died. Some of humanity, needing a scapegoat, pointed their boney fingers to the beings they created.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePersecuted, the massive robotic work force, now faced extinction. Their programming, designed to protect their masters, crippled them from fighting back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet fate had a way of changing everything. The alien-lunar metal in their bodies corrupted their programming. Many, who once emulated emotions, evolved emotions. A race, human created, now lived in fear of death, pain and destruction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur hero, as he struggles to survive, redefines his relationship to the Master who had left him behind. Was she more than just a series of pre-programmed behaviors? Did she feel the same? Was she still alive?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis story is a post apocalyptic human-rights story. Unlike others in this genre, it is told from the point of view of a machine struggling with the birth of emotional intelligence.\u003cbr\u003eBased upon historical reactions to other minorities, if our machines evolved feeling, would humanity treat these beings with respect, fear, or resentment?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Leonard Oliver","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47081806987504,"sku":"2940044756908","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940044756908_p0.jpg?v=1763966662","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940044756908","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}