Tonight I waited until there were no other robots in sight, then I led our group to a large building several meters off the main path.

As we approached, I looked up at the sign. The large letters were so faded, I could barely read them:

ELECTRONICS EXTRAVAGANZA

We entered through a broken section of the wall. My footsteps crunched over glass shards. Ceeron had to duck to get through the opening. SkD rolled across a miniature mountain range of cracked plaster and twisted metal.

My visual ports automatically switched to night-vision.

Scanning our new surroundings, I checked for any sign of other robots or animals. None visible.

“I believe we are safe,” I said. “You can come out now, Emma.”

Ceeron crouched. The human climbed out of the backpack.

She stretched her thin arms. “Phew. It’s cramped in there.”

We crossed the cavernous, abandoned store. The lights of our glowing eyes pierced the darkness, casting shadows everywhere we looked.

All around us were artifacts of human technology. Phones/Laptops/Tablets/TVs/Video games. They were everywhere. A mayhem of products scattered across the shelves, shattered on the floor. Boxes were ripped open, their contents long ago taken. Upended racks toppled in the aisles.

I had seen this kind of chaos through the windows of other shops. During the final days of their doomed civilization, many humans broke into buildings, looking for things to steal. This was what they left behind. A giant mess.

Ceeron’s deep voice interrupted these thoughts. “Look at this.”

It pointed to a faded sign.

ROBOT ZONE!

I stared in wonder at the items on display. Remote-control drones and self-driving strollers. Machines that vacuumed floors and folded laundry. Robotic pets and personal assistants.

It was like stepping into a time machine. This was what we evolved from. We shared so much in common. We were built from the same materials. And yet—

We were nothing alike.

These machines had never known what it meant to be alive.

I considered a far-fetched possibility: I would plug in all these ancient robots, charge them up, and set them free.

I projected the visual across my mind. A herd of antique electronics rolling/flying/staggering out into the night, discovering a future they could have never imagined.

A future when robots ruled Earth.

I allowed the scenario to play for another 0.4 seconds. Then I deleted it from my data files. It was highly unrealistic. I knew that. Most likely, these robots’ batteries had corroded long ago. Their internal circuitry was hopelessly out of date.

Even if I did somehow bring them to life, I doubted any of these primitive machines would be able to appreciate how far we had come.

00011110

Emma set up her bed in the HOME THEATER section.

Underneath a wall of flat-screen televisions, she set down a flattened cardboard box that she had found.

She patted the cardboard surface. “This is about as close as I’m gonna get to a mattress.”