Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

The robots say humans are no longer present in their world, which has allowed their war to tear through cities, turning them into rubble. But, in the wake of the destruction leaves a shrinking invisible human civilization fighting for survival. S8601 is a scout robot designed to be sent beyond the vanguard to place signal beacons to detect enemy robots. When deployed into the seemingly lifeless city, S8401 is hit by a rifle crippling its mobility and damaging its communication capabilities.

Grey, an experienced power hunter moves to disable S8601, but something it says catches him off guard. It acknowledges him as a human. Intrigued by the odd behaviour Grey delays dismantling the robot and brings it back to the hunter’s camp. S8601 is left among a pile of broken and dismantled robots where it watches Grey. Later, Grey sits with S8601 revealing things he has kept hidden from his fellow humans. He questions his place and purpose as a human and a hunter who lives in their broken world. S8601 does not have any answers for Grey and is left alone.

As its battery slowly ticks down S8601 watches the hunters as they go about their lives, laughing and arguing with each other. One day a heated argument erupts between Grey and June, another member of the hunting party. The subject of their argument was S8601. June, in an increasing state of frustration, moves to strike Grey, but S8601 uses the last of his power to protect him. S8601’s critically low power level triggers an emergency response in its programming calling for its destruction. In S8601’s final moments it understands that humans survive against all odds because they have and help each other. S8601, wanting to help Grey and the other hunters, warns them about its imminent destruction and apologizes to Grey because it has no more power for the hunters to harvest. S8601 waits for its destruction, but at the last moment Grey stays next to S8601 so it is not alone.