Zer0 (Z-0903) is a sentient robot in a futuristic, cyberpunk society. In this world, robots are used for labor, protection, and all sorts of things that would be dangerous or undesirable for humans. Unfortunately, in this world, we’ve reached a point of advancement where the robots and AI we create are capable of independent thought, though we continue to treat them like objects. Since the robots are legally classified as conscious, they receive salaries for the dangerous jobs they’re assigned to, but they’re paid significantly less than humans. “Why give them extra pay when they don’t need a place to sleep?” some have argued. Ironically, these robots do “sleep” at charging stations. They’re able to fully recharge overnight for free because the government knows how big of a loss it would be if their money-making expendables were to stop working.
Zer0’s job is to be a meat shield for important people like CEOs and presidents. While unable to carry a weapon himself, his reflexes are fast enough that he’s able to stand in the way of an oncoming bullet or push someone away from danger. He’s capable of feeling emotions and expressing them through the blue LEDs on his “face” monitor, though most humans he encounters still refer to robots as the impersonal it/its. He’s not happy with the way he’s treated, but he keeps his head down and doesn’t complain. He only speaks when necessary on the job, and sometimes people take his silence to mean stupidity. One day, it pays off when he overhears information that would be devastating for his kind should it come to pass. He joins an underground resistance and informs them of what he’s heard, kicking off the plot of the story.
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