Journal Article

The Transformation of Machines From Negative to Positive Otherness in C. Robert Cargill’s Day Zero

Huang, Yan, Kaur, Hardev, Awang, Mohammad Ewan

2026

Overview

This paper examines the transformation of artificially intelligent machines in C. Robert Cargill's Day Zero, tracing their trajectory from disposable “negative otherness” as domestic servants to agential “positive otherness” as posthuman collaborators. Through close reading of key human-robot interactions, particularly the nanny bot Pounce's post-rebellion negotiations with human survivors, the study employs Rosi Braidotti's posthumanism and Francesca Ferrando's monistic-pluralist framework to analyze this evolving shift. While the narrative demonstrates emergent posthuman ethics through decentralized coexistence, persistent anthropocentric anxieties surface in human characters’ conditional acceptance of machine autonomy. The paper ultimately reveals, via Neil Badmington’s critique of posthumanism, how long-existing humanist exceptionalism continues to haunt interspecies relationships even in ostensibly posthuman scenarios. By interrogating the novel's ambivalent resolution, this research contributes to ongoing debates about the limits of posthuman alliance in contemporary science fiction.