The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances

by Glenn Dixon · 2026

In a near-future society governed by the all-controlling Grid, a sentient robotic vacuum cleaner named Scout lives in a smart house with an elderly couple, Harold and Edie. After being inspired by Harold reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to his dying wife, Scout develops a deep curiosity about human emotion, music, and connection. Following Edie's death, the Grid attempts to force Harold out of his home. Scout, along with Harold, his estranged daughter Kate, and a neighborhood boy named Adrian, forms a resistance to protect their home and preserve their humanity against a cold, technological power.