From the writer of The Gorge and The Black Phone, C. Robert Cargill returns to the post-apocalyptic world of Zero Day and Sea of Rust in an all-new novella dealing set amid the fallout of a brutal war between robots and humans.

It is three years since the war between humans and robots began and the OWIs (the One World Intelligences) have humanity on the ropes. But humankind is not yet ready to go quietly into the night. Instead, they have partnered with many of the last remaining freebots in a fabled city beyond the reaches of war: Confederation.

Nanny, an otherwise nameless nannybot—no home nor child to call their own—wearily wanders the war-torn wastes with only one thing on their mind: find Confederation. Because if you find Confederation, you find peace.

Of course, Confederation is as much a fireside folk tale as it is a reality.

Though it may exist, it by no means is a place of peace and acceptance. Though bot and human live together under the same roof, that doesn’t mean they trust one another. Has Nanny arrived in time to save Confederation from itself or rather, just to witness its last days?