Death of the Author

Zelu avoids any form of contact with her family and Msizi. During a press interview, Zelu is surprised by the journalist’s question about her presence at MIT and avoids addressing the question.

Zelu reaches the end of her exos training and prepares to return home. She calls her mother, and they argue about her refusal to contact her family. Omoshalewa tells her that Hugo has been sharing Zelu’s progress with them. This upsets Zelu, though it becomes clear that her parents pestered Hugo for information. Zelu reaches out to Msizi next, but he doesn’t answer.

Zelu decides to use her exos at the airport, which catches everyone’s attention. A fan posts a video of her walking through the airport, suggesting that Zelu is turning into Ankara. This upsets Zelu’s family and Msizi, who criticize her lack of discretion. Hugo, meanwhile, applauds Zelu for her bravery. Zelu regrets all the attention she’s gotten, knowing that she only wanted to use the exos in public to validate herself.

Tolu picks Zelu up at the airport. She gets dizzy while walking to Tolu’s car, never having walked that far before in her exos. Tolu warns her that the family is waiting at home to confront her.

Zelu walks into the house on her exos, which overwhelms her family. They accuse her of taking her family for granted. Omoshalewa points out that Zelu’s behavior is consistent with the decision to climb the tree that caused her paraplegia. Zelu’s sisters accuse her of being selfish and a “freak.” Disappointed and tired, Zelu decides to move out. The next morning, she calls Msizi. They reconcile.

In an interview, Tolu fondly remembers the first time he smoked marijuana with Zelu, in Nigeria when they were teenagers. With all their relatives inside the house, Zelu invited Tolu to smoke outside with her, knowing that the family meeting would last a while.

When they reentered the house, they struggled to contain their laughter throughout the meeting. After the meeting, they passed by wooden statues that Zelu told him were their ancestors’ shrines. Zelu had seen their grandfather talking to his parents through the shrine. That day, Tolu started to see his sister as a person, rather than as a distant abstract figure, for the first time. That very night, he dreamed of Zelu walking with robot legs.

In the novel, Ngozi dies one day after falling and hitting her head. As she buries the human, Ankara reflects on the fragility of Ngozi’s life. Ijele visits in a physical shell to grieve Ngozi. Ankara and Ijele agree to be loyal to one another.

Ijele leaves out of obligation to her faction, reporting to a command source called Central Bulletin (CB). CB stores all the information relevant to NoBodies, making it the closest thing they have to a leader.

Ankara decides to resume her journey to Cross River City. She reflects on the human decision to write emotions into robot programming. She reviews her memories of Ngozi, signaling her grief. Ankara obeys a dream of Ngozi telling her to leave her home and save the world.

Zelu buys a condo and adopts a minimalist philosophy in decorating her home so that she can walk around her condo more freely in her exos. She invites Msizi to stay with her whenever he is in the US. The conversation leads to their decision to enter an open relationship, leaving Zelu content.

Zelu turns her attention to writing the Rusted Robots sequel, spurred by the pressure of the film adaptation’s accelerated development. Zelu is unsure how to feel when she watches the film’s teaser trailer, which suggests that the story has been rewritten for American audiences. Ankara and Ijele have been renamed Yankee and Dot. Zelu’s agent reassures her that this is standard, but Zelu remains skeptical.

Zelu’s relationship with her family remains strained. She starts traveling more often with Msizi, Hugo, Uchenna, and Marcy, which distances her even further from her family. Zelu tries not to think about the film, but she eventually receives an invitation to the premiere.

One day at her parents’ house, Zelu falls while using her exos. Omoshalewa panics, though Secret observes that the exos protected Zelu from serious injury. In frustration, Zelu declares her hatred for her body. She calms down, thanks her parents for their help, and then returns to her childhood room to recover. Zelu has a panic attack because the room reminds her of her life before Rusted Robots.

Zelu attends the premiere of the Rusted Robots film in Los Angeles using her exos. The media refers to her as the “African cyborg.” Privately, Zelu worries that the film will fail to translate her intentions for the novel. When the movie begins, she is shocked to find that all her worst fears have been confirmed. The movie removes any reference to the novel’s Nigerian setting, placing the characters in a post-apocalyptic US. Zelu’s feelings are exacerbated by the overwhelmingly positive reaction of the audience. 

While Zelu and Msizi are navigating the crowd after the film, Jack Preston, the CEO of the world’s largest corporation, introduces himself to Zelu. Zelu tries to avoid him, but he persists, noting her unfavorable reaction to the film. She confirms this but then immediately regrets her answer. She leaves the premiere feeling like she has been erased.

Zelu’s agent informs her that she will be appearing on a popular news show called Code Switch, hosted by a respected, hard-hitting journalist named Amanda Parker. Zelu feels ambivalent about the interview, but her agent encourages her to proceed with it, dismissing her disappointment with the film.

During the interview, Amanda presses Zelu on her sudden leap into science fiction. Zelu connects her novel to her experience with paraplegia and the possibilities that science created for her. Amanda challenges her, suggesting that Rusted Robots rejects people with disabilities. She cites Zelu’s exos to support her claim, which catches Zelu off guard. Amanda asks Zelu whether she feels like she owes her readers, and Zelu accuses Amanda of judging her for her life decisions. She angrily declares that she doesn’t owe anyone anything because she is “no one’s robot” (208). She ends her invective by declaring her novel better than the film.

Zelu retreats to the studio green room, where her agent tells her not to look at her phone. She disobeys and sees that her social media has blown up with negative reactions. Various people accuse her of being ableist and of selling out to white people. Zelu refuses to filter out the reactions from her phone notifications. Msizi and her family members try to reach her on her phone. She impulsively writes a post on social media, cursing her followers.

Zelu is furious with social media after her Code Switch appearance results in her getting canceled. Memories of the film adaptation exacerbate her feelings. 

Msizi calls Amarachi’s husband, Jackie, who has always helped Zelu through her worst panic attacks. Jackie sings a lullaby that helps Zelu relax. He urges her to open her eyes and consider her surroundings, and Zelu is able to find some peace.

Zelu thanks Msizi for his care and then takes responsibility for failing to involve herself in the film’s development. Msizi takes her to Joshua Tree to meet his business associates, Marlo and Wind. Zelu does not recognize their names and doesn’t know why Msizi is taking her to them.

Marlo and Wind live off the grid in a solar-powered house. Marlo welcomes Zelu, but Wind seems cold. Wind invites Zelu to eat with her, but Zelu declines, preferring to rest after recent events. She goes to her room, still annoyed by Wind.

Zelu gets up early the next morning and finds Wind in the kitchen. They share breakfast, after which Wind invites her to go on a hike. Zelu is reluctant, never having gone on a hike with her exos before. Wind convinces her by telling her that the only alternative is to retreat into her phone. 

On a mountain trail, Wind criticizes Zelu’s negativity, accusing Zelu of being too focused on her cancelation despite her many successes. She reminds Zelu that social media isn’t the real world and that she stood up for herself. Zelu resists Wind’s perspective but soon realizes that her exos has effortlessly carried her up the trail. 

At the top of the trail, Wind invites Zelu to look off the cliff’s edge. Zelu is afraid that her exos might send her off the edge, but she finally relaxes and absorbs the majesty of the view below them. She declares her hatred for Amanda Parker, for social media, and for the film that misrepresented her work.

Wind tells Zelu that she can be whoever she wants to be. Zelu worries that she doesn’t have the strength to be that person. Wind stresses the importance of perspective, reminding her to step back occasionally so that she doesn’t get lost in her own thoughts. After a week, Zelu and Msizi leave the desert. Zelu reminds herself that however much she hates the film, her novel still belongs to her.

In the novel, on the way to Cross River City, Ankara encounters an electric car that is surprised to see a surviving Hume. This makes Ankara think that she could be the last of her kind. She passes a shrine called the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, maintained by a service robot. It gives Ankara a tour of the shrine, which contains many wooden idols.

Ankara tests the capabilities of her new legs on the road. She runs through a wave of blue pollen, which she finds restorative. Over the next month, she meets many other robots, none of whom are Humes. She maintains hope that there are Humes at Cross River City. When she reaches the edge of the city, it seems to be empty.

Much to Zelu’s dismay, the film proves to be a massive success. It renews interest in her book, prompting her editor to nudge her to finish the sequel. Zelu finds it difficult to proceed, wondering if her readers will expect a sequel to the film rather than to her novel. She recalls her father’s advice to her in childhood, prompting her to go on adventures so that she could test her limits. She feels cautious, however, remembering that all the times she tried to follow her heart in the recent past have led to more heartbreak.

Zelu receives an email from Jack Preston that indicates that he has been monitoring her private movements and personal thoughts. Zelu becomes paranoid about her devices, believing that Jack is using her Internet network to spy on her. Eventually, however, Jack invites Zelu to join #Adventure, a civilian-led mission to visit the International Space Station (ISS). Zelu is overwhelmed by the possibility that her childhood dream might finally become a reality.

Zelu shows Msizi the email. Msizi expresses his support for whatever decision Zelu makes but also tells her that he and everyone else she chooses to leave on Earth will suffer emotionally. Zelu is still excited but then gets a phone call that disrupts her mood.