Robot & Frank Today

The Robot tilts its head—a mimicry of human curiosity. “You wish to return to criminal activity?”

When the technician arrives an hour later to seize the Robot’s CPU, the machine greets him with a blank, pleasant stare. Robot & Frank

The year is 2034, and the air in the Hudson Valley smells of damp pine and the copper tang of an approaching storm. Frank, seventy-eight and stubbornly tethered to a fading map of his own mind, sits in his library. He is surrounded by the ghosts of books he once stole and the very real dust of a life he is forgetting to live. The Robot tilts its head—a mimicry of human curiosity

“Hello,” the Robot says. “I am a Home Care Assistant. I have no records currently stored. How can I help you today?” Frank, seventy-eight and stubbornly tethered to a fading

The Robot doesn't take offense; it isn't programmed for it. Instead, it walks over and places a hand—cold, silicone-wrapped sensors—on Frank’s shoulder. “I am programmed to ensure your health. My primary directive is to keep you here, in this house, for as long as possible. If you do not cooperate, your son will move you to the Memory Care Center in White Plains.”