In 2044, solar storms have killed 99.7 % of the world's population and only 21 million people survive. The ROC Corporation has designed and built robots called Automata Pilgrim 7000 to help to rebuild the world. These robots have two security protocols; they can neither harm humans nor alter themselves or other robots. When police officer Sean Wallace shoots a robot and claims that it was altering itself, ROC insurance agent Jacq Vaucan is placed in charge of the investigation. Soon he believes that there is a "clocksmith" illegally modifying the robots. Jacq wants to live in the coast and asks his boss and friend Robert Bold to transfer him with his pregnant wife Rachel Vaucan to the coast. Robert offers the possibility if Jacq resolves the case. Jacq and Wallace go to a brothel where the modified robot Cleo attends and Wallace shoots its leg, expecting that the owner will lead them to the clocksmith. They meet Duprè but she is not the clocksmith that is modifying the robots. Soon Jacq discovers who is the responsible for modifying the robots but the Powers that Be in ROC believe that Jacq is the one to be blamed.

Disgraced Secret Service agent (and former presidential guard) Mike Banning finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack; using his inside knowledge, Banning works with national security to rescue the President from his kidnappers.

When Cam Brady (D-NC), a four-term Congressman, becomes a liability, the Motch brothers (think Koch brothers) recruit Marty Huggins, the son of a Republican heavy hitter, to run against him and be their vehicle to establish factories in the district that will import cheap Chinese labor. Trouble is, Marty is a lightweight, so his makeover falls to consultant Tim Wattley. The race tightens as Cam constantly shoots himself in the foot, while the prospect of winning also changes Marty and his family's dynamics. Meanwhile, Cam plays dirty, and Marty cottons on to the Moches' grand plan. What options do the rich have to get their way?