The story begins in a futuristic city where everything is automated. A self-driving delivery truck arrives at a construction site, unloads a few crates, and leaves for its next delivery. As it zigs and zags through traffic, the truck travels out of the city and into the country: “The landscape outside was now just a green blur, occasionally broken by a flicker of gray as a town flew past” (19). The truck exits the highway and drives deeper into the countryside, where robots are working the farms, and it stops at a run-down farmhouse called Hilltop Farm. The truck delivers a crate carrying a ROZZUM unit 7134 robot, or Roz, where she can begin a new life on the farm.

A dog barks inside the farmhouse as a man with a limp opens the door and inspects the crate. After opening the box and discarding the packing materials, the man sees the shiny robot’s body and clicks the button on the back of its head.

The robot awakens and her programming installs while she introduces herself to her new owner. Roz explains her capabilities saying that she will be fully interactive and become a better robot as she learns.