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in the aftermath of an extensive nuclear war between the\\xa0Soviet Union\\xa0(sometimes referred to as Russia) and the\\xa0United Nations. Early Soviet victories forced the North American government and production to flee to a Moon base, leaving the majority of their troops behind. To counter the almost complete Soviet victory, U.N. technicians develop robots, nicknamed "claws" \\u2014the basic models are "a churning sphere of blades and metal" that ambush their unsuspecting victims "spinning, creeping, shaking themselves up suddenly from the gray ash and darting toward\\u2026 [any warm body]." U.N. forces are protected from the claws by a special radiation-emitting wrist tab. Within six years, the sophisticated and independent claws have destroyed the Soviet forces, repairing and redesigning themselves in underground\\xa0automated factories\\xa0run without any human oversight.

The U.N. forces receive a message from the Soviets asking for a policy-level officer to go to them for a gravely urgent conference. The U.N. victory was costlier than they had expected. Major Joseph Hendricks is sent to negotiate with the Soviets. En route to the rendezvous, he meets a small boy named David who asks to accompany Hendricks. When they near the Soviet bunker, soldiers immediately kill the boy, revealing him to be an\\xa0android. The claws\' development program has evolved to develop sophisticated robots, indistinguishable from humans, designed to infiltrate and kill. The three Soviets met by Major Hendricks\\u2014soldiers Klaus, Rudi, and a young woman named Tasso\\u2014reveal that the entire Soviet army and command structure collapsed under the onslaught of the new robots - they are all that are left in the command center.

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