Mecha A.D.: Why Do Robots Fall in Love

MECHA A.D.: WHY DO ROBOTS FALL IN LOVE is a science fiction novel by American writer Jenier E. Marmolejos first published in 2010. The plot follows, Jake D. Krilinsky, a young high school senior who joins the mandatory army of his city to fight against the androids known as Mechas, while the secondary plot follows Elps Fabritius and the evolving relationship between her and Jake.
The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic future, where the earth and its population have been almost eradicated by Nuclear War. All animals and plants are extinct, and humans have been forced to move and live underground in a colony known as The Sanctuary.
While on a mission, Krilinsky finds out that he can breathe on the surface, something only Mechas are able to do. Because of this he starts being chased by his own government and hunted down by his own friends. The novel explores the issue of what is to be human. The robots represented in the story have feelings, desires, and operate just like humans do, raising the many ethical questions their society faces. Through those plots, it explores the themes of discrimination, segregation, mass hysteria as well as class warfare.
Setting
Mecha A.D.: Why do Robots Fall in Love? takes place in the year 2377 A.D., a hundred and fifty years after the Nuclear Wars and humanities mass extinction. Must of the story centers around the only surviving colony located on what seems to be the outskirts of New York city. The city itself features prominently in the novel, where even present day streets and corners are mentioned.
The surface world, or whatever is left of it, is desert-like and burnt. Cities are described as barren and abandoned decaying metropolis where only scavengers (robots that look like robots and cannot pass as humans) roam.
There is also a floating city described known as Bolshevak, where a robot curiously named I.M. Gahd IV, serves as a sort of internet router, dispensing a collective knowledge bank to all Mechas.
Robots
Mecha Robots were used in the building of the colony and even before that to substitute human duties such as caring for a child. One of the characters, Stella, even though a robot is described as a nanny Mecha. They seem entirely human since most of their bodies are made up of organic tissue, although their brain, and nervous system is entirely metal.
Other robots that are non-Mecha are described as completely metallic beings including R30-Stoneburner and a scavenger Mecha that attacks the characters on the surface.
Plot Summary
The novel follows High school senior Jake Krilinsky on his first mission on the surface as he works as part of a recovery unit.
Despite having no experience, students are taken for the first time to help the colony's war cause. After being ambushed, Jake and Elps are feared dead by their comrades and left behind, injured and unconscious on the surface. Upon waking up the try to figure out a way home and stumble on the goal of their mission, recovering a sarcophagus-like structure that fell from outer space with a space Mecha inside - Stella.
When they return home, they are greeted like heroes. But soon after it is revealed that Jake was able to breathe on the surface. The government of The Sanctuary accuses him of being a Mecha infiltrator and arrests him. With the help of the secretive Sanctuary detective Lashme Gutierre, Jake is able to escape the Ministry of Intelligence where he was kept and goes back to the surface.
But the forces of the Sanctuary are never far behind…
Cultural References
The electronic music band Hadouken made reference to the story with the release of their single Mecha Love.
Sequels
Two more story are scheduled in the Series.
Critical Reception
"A particular kind of reading experience...It grabs you to the point where you can't wait to find out what happens next or you can't turn the pages fast enough."
Rosario Fitzpatric (SHVNG)

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