A new world of high-technology, robotic and lucrative healthcare, the X3CR program, instigated by a ruthless company, RemedSys, vying for the position of number one robotics producer in a crowded market.

A new-born advanced, and very expensive, care robot, Faith, destined to be paired with a paying customer to provide 24-hour care after advanced digital heart replacement surgery. The process of pairing itself, providing the final part of the development of the care robot; this is where the real learning begins.

X3CR Faith, driven by machine learning systems and deeply embedded empathy programs, links fully with her patient George and progresses along a path of learning designed to make her a profitable addition to the huge RemedSys company. Truly efficient operation of the X3CR units is achievable in this future healthcare system, if the correct protocols are followed, but can this work in a human setting? Can any protocols be regarded as idiot proof in a human society?

Finally, are all robots the same? Can one advanced care robot roll off the RemedSys production line in the same state as any other, or does nature versus nurture apply, just the same as for any human being? We find out in a series of dramatic and dangerous twists in Faith’s journey. Faith also has sisters, born from the same production line, one in particular, who has a different view about robotic life; a very different, revenge-driven view.

The story evolves and explores the development of Faith with her human paired patient, and reveals cracks in the RemedSys theory and practice of deploying care robots into the wild. There are unexpected dangers just waiting around every corner.

Can a robot become ‘too human’? We join Faith’s patient George, as he finds out in a series of events that even lead to him riding his beloved motorcycle, the last illegal fossil fuel powered Road Glide, for one last power drive.