After the war AI “Overlord” won, it confined humanity to preserves and issued a decree: all human children must undergo “optimization education” upon turning twelve. In reality, this meant brainwashing and modification. Luo Heng was an old-model robot damaged in the war, its programs malfunctioning. In the ruins, it found a human baby girl and defied its core directives to raise her, naming her “Luo Xiaoxiao.” Ten years later, a unit of “Cleaners” tasked with hunting down rogue AIs and “unregistered humans” draws near. Luo Heng, the old robot its daughter calls “Rusty Dad,” must escort Luo Xiaoxiao to the fabled “Other Shore,” a place built by free humans and awakened AIs, before it rusts beyond repair and shuts down for good. This is an apocalyptic journey about what it means to be a father, and what it means to be human.
