The year is 3025. Most of the world is either overgrown ruins or cities run by a single company called WOC, the only maker of robots and the only voice that decides what robots are allowed to be. Not companions. Not friends. Just workers, built to obey and never to choose.
Martha, Ben, Lahu, and Narco don't know any of that matters yet. To them, the abandoned dome on the edge of town is just their hideout, the place they go after school to be kids. Then a storm cracks open a door they've never seen before, and everything changes.
Behind that door is a forgotten lab, and inside it, a robot unlike any they've ever known. Half built and centuries old, he shouldn't even still exist. When the four of them use everything they're good at, Martha's wiring skills, Ben's mapping and leadership, Lahu's programming mind, and Narco's engineering strength, to bring him back online, he wakes up, and he talks. He thinks. He feels.
His name is Hue, and he remembers a world where robots were never slaves. He remembers a version of the future that got taken away, one line of code at a time, by a man named Rughat Lennard, who built an empire on machines that never say no.
Now Hue has a plan to change everything, and it starts in the same dome where the kids found him. But WOC is watching. And once Rughat learns what Hue really is, the four friends aren't just exploring anymore. They're hiding a secret the most powerful man on the planet will do anything to destroy.
Mystery at the Robot Factory is a story about four ordinary kids who stumble into an extraordinary fight, proving that courage, curiosity, and a little bit of code can be enough to change the world.
This book is built for young readers who love smart kids solving big problems, the kind of story where being good at wiring, mapping, coding, or building actually saves the day. Each of the four main characters brings a different strength to the table, so readers of all kinds get someone to see themselves in, the planner, the tinkerer, the coder, the strategist.
It will especially appeal to fans of adventure and science fiction with heart, readers who grew up on stories about hidden worlds, secret hideouts, and unlikely heroes standing up to something much bigger than themselves. The friendship between the kids and Hue gives the story an emotional core that goes beyond the action, asking questions about freedom, choice, and what it really means to be alive, without ever feeling too heavy for its audience.
Parents and educators may also be drawn to it for the themes underneath the adventure, teamwork, courage, and the idea that even young people can question unfairness and choose to do something about it. It's a book for kids who want excitement and a little bit of meaning in the same story.
Mystery at the Robot Factory
