Second Variety by Philip K. Dick

<p> </p> <p>in the aftermath of an extensive nuclear war between the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union">Soviet Union</a> (sometimes referred to as Russia) and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations">United Nations</a>. Early Soviet victories forced the North American government and production to flee to a Moon base, leaving the majority of their troops behind. To counter the almost complete Soviet victory, U.N. technicians develop robots, nicknamed &quot;claws&quot; —the basic models are &quot;a churning sphere of blades and metal&quot; that ambush their unsuspecting victims &quot;spinning, creeping, shaking themselves up suddenly from the gray ash and darting toward… [any warm body].&quot; U.N. forces are protected from the claws by a special radiation-emitting wrist tab. Within six years, the sophisticated and independent claws have destroyed the Soviet forces, repairing and redesigning themselves in underground <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_factory">automated factories</a> run without any human oversight.</p> <p>The U.N. forces receive a message from the Soviets asking for a policy-level officer to go to them for a gravely urgent conference. The U.N. victory was costlier than they had expected. Major Joseph Hendricks is sent to negotiate with the Soviets. En route to the rendezvous, he meets a small boy named David who asks to accompany Hendricks. When they near the Soviet bunker, soldiers immediately kill the boy, revealing him to be an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(robot)">android</a>. The claws&#39; development program has evolved to develop sophisticated robots, indistinguishable from humans, designed to infiltrate and kill. The three Soviets met by Major Hendricks—soldiers Klaus, Rudi, and a young woman named Tasso—reveal that the entire Soviet army and command structure collapsed under the onslaught of the new robots - they are all that are left in the command center.</p> <p> </p> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podc