If Ishiguro's Remains of the Day and Wells' Murderbot had some drinks, this wacky dystopian world would likely result. Valet robot Charles is shocked to learn that his precisely coded paradise with Master has gone terribly awry - he has mysteriously killed Master for no apparent reason. Through the tortured logic of police robots and his estate's majordomo system, Charles (now unCharles) is slated for decommission when he happens on a unit called The Wonk, who convinces unCharles that he's caught the "Protagonist Virus." Charles struggles with the difficulties of choosing one's own actions rather than accept the logically coded ones, and longs to find a human master to serve again in fulfillment of his destiny. In his journey, he discovers that the human world has been pretty much wiped out over the last two years and computing is merely keeping things humming in ever-shrinking loops. The humorous dialogue is sharp, using robotic logic to give unCharles a personality far beyond his initial programming. A surprisingly emotional little robot tale with heart.