Their enclosures are large, they ingest over a thousand calories per day, and they're allowed to mate. Plus, they have me. An Autonomous Servile Unit, housed in a mobile/bipedal chassis. I do my job well: keep the humans healthy and happy."Hey you."Heyoo. That's my name, I suppose. It's easier for the humans to remember than 413s98-itr8. I guess I've gotten used to it.---Rob Dircks, bestselling author of Where the Hell is Tesla?, has a "unit" with a problem: how to deliver his package, out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to guide him. Oh, and with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance. It's a science fiction tale of technology gone haywire, unlikely heroes, and the nature of humanity. (Woah. That last part sounds deep. Don't worry, it's not.)

    She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.

    One shape-shifting robot. Unlimited adventure! One day, Axel is playing video games when something HUGE breaks into his garage. It’s a robot. His name is BEAST. And he's on the run from the nasty Grabbem Industries, who want BEAST back – right now!  Axel has no idea that he and BEAST will soon be best friends and go on the wildest adventures you could imagine. BEAST is no ordinary robot, and Axel isn't your usual gamer. But are they awesome enough together to escape from BEAST's evil creators?

    Humans no longer have to woo a human mate or wait for that perfect match...they simply order their heart’s desire and live life to the fullest. Called PePrs - say it like pepper, the spice - they have become indispensable to humanity. They do the jobs we don’t want to do, act as our windows to the wider world, fill all our social needs, and have become the expressions of our collective will. From the battlefield to the dog pound, from our perfect mate to the nanny that cares for our children...almost every task can now be done by a PePr, leaving humans to explore a life free of drudgery. It sounds perfect. Then again, things that start perfect don’t usually stay that way. Each of the novellas in this volume is a stand alone work. There are no cliff-hangers, but there might be tears, gasps, and smiles. Who will you root for? Human or PePr...choose your side! Corrections - Deirdre is a SUPer, a government owned robot in the time before Perfect Partners were released. Originally designed to be a battlefield intelligence unit, politics demanded she work in a less controversial profession. Now, she's a parole agent for recently released criminals in need of supervision, and this time she's got herself a doozy for a client. Greg, a petty thief with a 40 year long rap sheet is almost more than she can handle. Between arthritis and illegal card games, they forge a new relationship even as the world around them shifts and alters in startling ways. Imperfect - Sandra was built with everything; a perfect body, perfect face, and every upgrade that can be bought. Yet somehow she finds herself on the reject table next to a half-disassembled robot with an erratic personality. And now, on top of everything else, she’s just experienced her first emotion. Too bad for her it turned out to be fear. The Dogcatcher - As a civil service PePr, Ace has a job that keeps him in the public eye and under constant scrutiny. Designed and built to relate well with animals, he’s the perfect Animal Control worker. He’s also got a secret and it’s not just that he has emotions. Deep within the abandoned relics of humanity’s industrial past, he has a secret home for himself and all the unadoptable dogs that he rescues. When Ace does something that will demand his termination, he discovers he has more friends than he imagined in the most surprising places. PePr, Inc. - Hazel has a busy life with a great career and friends she loves. She also has Henry, and that's not working out quite like she expected. A PePr is meant to complement their human, filling in all the gaps to create the ideal couple. They are meant to be something no human could ever hope to find in another human. It's just not turning out that way for Hazel. When Henry finally goes too far, Hazel finds that getting free of him might not be as easy as going back to PePr to void the contract. Posthumous - Love is eternal in a silicon heart. Edna writes, but isn’t allowed to publish. She lives on her own, but can't legally own her home. She has a beagle she loves, but is still considered property herself. Life can be complicated for a PePr – even one who has received manumission, the coveted right to remain functional without a human owner. That’s especially true when that PePr falls in love.

    Meahwhile, back on Cybertron, violence breaks out in the heart of the city and Prowl looks for someone to blame! Collects "More Than Meets The Eye" #9-13 and the 2012 Annual, "Robots in Disguise" #9-11 and the 2012 Annual, plus the Thundercracker, Bumblebee, and Megatron Spotlight issues.

    This technology isn't just for science-fiction anymore -- it's real and more relevant than ever. With stunning visuals and energetic, impactful design, readers won't stop until they've learned everything there is to know about robotics.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Not until Lord Terra kidnaps his Commander’s little sister and starts destroying the galaxy. Re-united, Jo-Kin leads the Super Space Kids on an inter-planetary hunt for Lord Terra until meeting for a legendary battle on Planet Deelish-us. Can Jo-Kin defeat Lord Terra face to face? Blast off with gadgets, robots and funky food in a hilarious outer space adventure showing kids the power of teamwork, problem solving, and resilience.

    Rapunzel is a soldier, the last remaining member of the human race, locked in a zoological tower on an alien planet. Doctor Belle must remain in quarantine with a powerful politician who has contracted a beastly disease. Jack sells his arm for a chance up the Stalk, the space elevator he hopes will take him to his fortune. These twenty stories will take you across the galaxy, exploring new technology alongside aliens and cyborgs, princes and evil stepmothers, and telling your favorite classic tales like you've never seen them before.

    Whether a robot, alien, some kind of supernatural being or human, rising above our prejudices and ignorance allows us to make emotional connections that can have a profound effect on our lives. Each of these stories examine a facet of the simple, yet incredibly complex, concept of companionship. They will make you laugh; will make you cry…but most importantly they will make you look at the very basic notion of soul-mates in a different light.

    In tiny apartments, meager meals are delivered through chutes in the cupboards. In robot-run schools, sexual development is cultivated with clinical precision. No one can leave their corner of the city. No one can change the course of their predetermined days, or the length of their preset lifespans.

    Sally’s invention – Brobot – is fantastic, that is until the remote gets broken and Brobot careens out of control. Sally realises that maybe there’s more to a brother than just his inconveniences.A hilarious graphic novel for young readers.

    All she wants is to be numb, and she's about to get her wish... Cyborg 112115 has one mission: kill Commander Mac St. Clair. But she can't pull the trigger. There is something about him that's too familiar, and he seems to know her. With no memories of her own, she must decide whether to trust her instinct or the chip implanted in her head. Mac's world ended when Lara Douglas was killed in action. Eight months later, on an opp deep in enemy territory, he becomes the target of an assassin. The cyborg fails at her mission, and doesn't have any memory of who she was or how she became a cyborg. Determined to help the woman, Mac takes the cyborg with him in hopes of unlocking her memories. If he's wrong about her, it could cost the rebellion. But if he's right... then he might be able to save her.

    The stories on the menu feature a variety of artistic styles, genres, sexualities, genders, kinks, fetishes, and themes. Each story will be followed by a delicious special recipe from the creator.

    He returns to earth centuries later, transported across space and time through a mysterious wormhole. However, Earth is not the home he remembers. Humankind has been evacuated, and the survivors lie in hibernation aboard the Locus, an orbiting space station. Rosen is forced to match wits with Deis, an artificial intelligence determined to keep humanity in stasis until he is convinced they are fit to return.

    In this chapter, the Queen lays an egg every day, hoping for the new Queen to be born, but she is running out of time.

    Guys my age are so easy.In a future exo-planet city, the escorts of Synthetic Affections pleasure club work their trade through android avatars. The escort Charlotte -real name Ruth- has an enviable reputation and a secret: she remains a devout virgin serving the poor of the city. Don’t judge her for the men and women she sleeps with.An unscrupulous corporate philanthropist intends to 'improve' Charlotte’s neighborhood. Both Charlotte’s place of work and house of worship are in the cross hairs of this scorched earth urban development. The one man who knows her secret, Jeremy, has a plan to fight the corporation, but it will only work if Charlotte breaks an escort’s rules of confidentiality.Charlotte accepts her role as a spy. Her emotional, moral, and spiritual boundaries are tested as she discovers crimes uglier than either her or Jeremy had imagined.This is a 22k word erotic, cyberpunk novella told from the perspective of an escort. Technosexuals, noir enthusiasts, and people curious about religion and sexuality will love this book!

    They sit in pockets and on tables. They sleep on headboards and are the first things their owners check in the morning. They’ve edged out more mundane equipment like calendars and MP3 players. They aren’t magical, of course. Or are they?In Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology, 21 authors twist reality and call into question the mundanity we hold in our hands. They ask the question, “Is that smartphone completely explainable by science?” and they decide the answer is a resounding “No!”From award-winners and bold new voices, from experienced fantasists and professional technologists, these stories are fun, clever, and often positive about the power of technology.Enjoy new stories from: Rhiannon Held / Manny Frishberg / Edd Vick / H.M. Jones / Kris Millering / Raven Oak / Jon Lasser / Sarina Dorie / Jonathon Burgess / Jeremiah Reinmiller / C.S. O’Cinneide / Stevehen Warren / Aaron Giddings, Sr. / Amanda Hackwith / Dale Cameron Lowry / Dawn Vogel / Kyle Yadlosky / J.S. Rogers / Angela Dell’Isola / Stephanie Djock / A. Moritz At the intersection of fantasy and technology, iPhones could go either way.Magic knows your number, and it’s calling you.

    Unchecked, the infection threatens to turn him into a human. The mammalian emotions of rage, desire, and jealousy overwhelm his programming, and yet his human doctors refuse to seek a cure. They think being human is a good thing.

    Edward, an android tasked with shepherding two rich clients on an interstellar voyage, is faced with an impossible choice: follow their orders, or break one of the prime Laws of Robotics.

    Deployed at presidential discretion, they can be used in regular war zones or to kill people in such countries as Yemen and Somalia, where the United States is not officially at war. Advocates say that drones are more precise than conventional bombers, allowing warfare with minimal civilian deaths while keeping American pilots out of harm's way. Critics say that drones are cowardly and that they often kill innocent civilians while terrorizing entire villages on the ground. In this book, Hugh Gusterson explores the significance of drone warfare from multiple perspectives, drawing on accounts by drone operators, victims of drone attacks, anti-drone activists, human rights activists, international lawyers, journalists, military thinkers, and academic experts.Gusterson examines the way drone warfare has created commuter warriors and redefined the space of the battlefield. He looks at the paradoxical mix of closeness and distance involved in remote killing: is it easier than killing someone on the physical battlefield if you have to watch onscreen? He suggests a new way of understanding the debate over civilian casualties of drone attacks. He maps "ethical slippage" over time in the Obama administration's targeting practices. And he contrasts Obama administration officials' legal justification of drone attacks with arguments by international lawyers and NGOs.

    No experience? No problem! This book starts from the very beginning to take you from newbie to app-builder in no time. You'll 'learn by doing' as you build projects designed to help you master fundamental programming skills--and you'll have a great time doing it. These skills form the foundation of any programmer's tool set, and you'll continue to use them as you graduate to other devices and more difficult projects. Each chapter includes a video to help clear up any confusion and make sure you really understand, so you can keep programming your way through every single project without hitting major roadblocks. If you're ready to start designing your own program, this book will help you get started today.More and more kids are learning to code, and many schools offer basic programming classes as part of the regular curriculum. This book is structured like a class, starting with the basics and building skill upon skill, making it both a perfect accompaniment to formal instruction and an ideal guide for self-study.Learn the basic programming skills you'll use everywhere Build nine fun projects from super-basic to pretty challenging Build the skills you need to create bigger and better apps Watch video tutorials for extra help and explanations How many times have you played with an app only to find yourself wishing it had this or that feature? If you learn how to code, you can be the creator of the next big app! But it all starts with that first small project. Adventures in Coding provides all the information you need, so let's get coding!

    The gameplay system is for solo or 2-player use. There are combat, puzzles, diplomacy, stealth and role playing elements. Collect information, knowledge and goods from the world around you to advance your character.You are an android agent who had been activated after hundreds of years of stasis. Your scheduled mission is still centuries in the future, but your underground base has been invaded and you are needed to defend it.Unfortunately, it will take time for your memories to return. As you fight, trick or sneak your way up from the lower levels to the surface and your memories begin filtering back, you realize that your mission is not what you thought it was—and you may not be who you think you are. Choose your strategy wisely, because every choice you make now will lead to different options later. The world has changed since you were put to sleep, and you will need to decide whether you are still willing to follow your ancient orders or whether you are ready to set a new future in motion.