The Wild Robot Protects

The glacier’s slippery, rocky surface isn’t safe for Roz, so she climbs atop a cliff to better view the landscape. As she starts trekking across the glacier, the frozen land captivates her attention. Roz slips and falls into a glacial melt lake. She begins swimming across the lake to safety. Suddenly, Roz feels the lake sinking and falls through a crevasse into an ice cave. Roz calls out for help, but only the echo of her voice answers her. She sees a mouse preserved in the ice cave and wonders how long it has been there. After days of trekking through the ice cave, Roz uses her hands like ice axes to carve an escape hatch. She emerges onto the coast just as part of the iceberg calves into the northern ocean, barely escaping the ensuing tidal wave.

A herd of walruses covers the beach, and Roz climbs on top of one, mistaking it for a rock. The walrus doesn’t know where to find the Ancient Shark but tells Roz that the giant bull, Big Shot, will know. Suddenly, a polar bear appears and begins hunting the walruses. As the herd frantically moves back into the safety of the ocean, Roz is caught in the crush. A small walrus gets left behind, and Roz watches as she’s sure of its fate, but Big Shot intervenes and shouts, “If you want her, you’ll have to kill me first” (141). Big Shot and the small walrus escape, leaving Roz alone with the polar bear on the beach.

The polar bear laments losing a meal. The poison tide has driven away all the bear’s food sources. The polar bear is skeptical of the Ancient Shark and wonders why it hasn’t yet intervened. Pointing to a fixed star called “the guiding star” (143), the polar bear explains that is where Roz will find the Ancient Shark. Roz says her island is also in danger and pledges to do all she can to help.

As Roz swims, she notices the harshness of the far north and how the animals must adapt to survive. However, many of the animals have left to escape the poison tide. She hears clicking and sees a pod of narwhals moving south. She descends to find the Ancient Shark when the guiding star is above her.

Using echolocation, Roz finds the Ancient Shark whose real name is Gurry. Gurry is blind, with a face that is battered with scars. Gurry has been waiting on Roz and knows all about her ocean adventures so far through hearing reports from other creatures. Gurry has been alive since ships were made of wood, and Roz’s database estimates Gurry is 500 years old. Roz asks why Gurry hasn’t yet intervened, and Gurry says it’s been waiting for Roz to arrive because she is the only one who can help. Robots are at fault for the poison tide.

Gurry explains that a crab-like robot excavates an underwater mountain for a mining company. The poison tide is from the debris released into the atmosphere. Humans conduct the mining operation from a floating structure which Gurry plans to attack. Roz suggests they reason with the humans instead of resorting to violence, but Gurry insists they must take action to avenge the deaths of all the creatures. Roz explains that she cannot fight because it goes against her programming. Gurry dares her to fight back and rushes at her. Roz fears that Gurry’s teeth will puncture her body, and before she can realize it, her arm hits Gurry in defense, knocking out some of the shark’s teeth. Roz realizes that, along with being waterproof, her new body can fight. Instead of making her happy, “it caused our robot to feel something like sorrow and loss” (154). Roz prizes her nonviolent temperament and doesn’t want to fight. She apologizes for hitting Gurry and asks Gurry to allow her to negotiate with the humans before attacking.

While Roz makes her way west following Gurry’s directions, she ponders the new information about her body and why Dr. Molovo gave her the ability to fight. Roz resolves only to use her new ability for defense and vows to show Gurry that problems can be resolved without violence. Roz thinks of Brightbill and wonders if Glimmer’s goslings have hatched. Soon, she feels the earth tremble and sees the mining station ahead.

Roz rides an iceberg to get closer to the mining station called Juggernaut, which “looked like a floating city” (158). The station is solidly constructed to withstand the powerful movements of the ocean. An underwater door opens, releasing three aquatic robots resembling torpedoes labeled “HYDRO.” Roz climbs off the iceberg and onto the mining station, where she sees a robot carrying pipes that look like her. Several others follow, and all the working robots are labeled “BOSUN” with a number. The night floodlights switch on, illuminating the entire station, and Roz fears she’s been caught, but the robots move along unphased. She stealthily moves toward the control room, but it’s empty. Hoping to find the humans, she opens the door and goes inside.

The control room has many computers and instruments to oversee the mining operation. Roz sees signs of humans, such as jackets, binoculars, and food wrappers, but she doesn’t see the dust cloud outside. Then she notices a screen showing the robot digging the mountain, sending dust clouds into the water—“All the harm done to the ocean wilderness had started right there in that deep-sea mining robot” (166). Roz is hiding under a table when a human enters the room. From the nametag, Roz sees this is “Akiko Fuji, Mining Station Manager,” and thus, the person at fault for the poison tide.

Akiko takes a video call from her partner, Leo. Leo doesn’t like Akiko being so far away from their family. Akiko’s daughter joins the call, exclaiming her excitement for their upcoming camping trip. Akiko delivers the bad news that she won’t make it. She tells Leo she doesn’t like working at the mining station and will get a job closer to home. After ending the call, Akiko cries as she leaves the control room. Roz comes out of her hiding spot.

Seeing the human cry makes Roz think she couldn’t be at fault for the poison tide and gives her hope that she can negotiate with her. Roz hides on the control tower roof overnight and meets a seagull named Nimbus, who has just come from feeding on crabs killed by the poison tide. Nimbus has an infected eye and is losing some of its feathers, and Roz cautions Nimbus from eating the contaminated crabs. Nimbus has heard about Roz’s mission from other seabirds and keeps Roz company throughout the night. Roz thinks she is well hidden, but the mining station drone flies above them and spots her.

The intruder alarms sound, and Roz takes off running in giant strides. The BOSUN robots chase her, but Roz is too fast. However, she can’t escape because the drone tracks her every move. Roz knows she can fight the other robots but is committed to nonviolence. Faced with no alternative, Roz leaps from the station into the ocean, but before she hits the water, a robot claw captures her, and HYDRO robots surround her.