In an alternate 1990, a war between humans and robots has left the world in disarray. With the help of Sentre CEO Ethan Skate, who developed Neurocaster Technology that allowed humans to upload their minds into drone robots, humanity managed to win the war, while robots were banished to the exclusion zone. However, the success of this technology meant many people opted to live their virtual lives in a semi-vegetative state while drones did most of the work.

In 1994, teenager Michelle lives with her incompetent foster dad, Ted. Years earlier, she was involved in a car crash along with her family, in which her parents and brother reportedly perished. She has lived with a succession of foster families, unable to find a stable home. She is also having trouble at school due to her refusal to use Neurocaster technology to participate in virtual classes.

One day, the sentient robot Cosmo, a robot character of the cartoon of the same name which her declared-deceased younger brother Christopher, who was a child prodigy, watched, came to seek Michelle out. He is only able to communicate using gestures and a limited set of pre-recorded words, but manages to convince her that he is controlled by Christopher. Michelle and Cosmo set out across a dystopian landscape to find him by finding Dr. Clark Amherst, the doctor who confirmed Christopher’s death.

Along the way, they encounter Keats, a veteran with a complex past, and Herman, a sentient robot who is able to take on multiple forms. Together, they meet up with a band of robots in the exclusion zone, led by Mr. Peanut.

There, they find Dr. Amherst, and his robot friend P.C., who explains that Sentre found Christopher in a seemingly permanent vegetative state after the accident and discovered that they could create the Neurocaster technology by exploiting Christopher’s exceptional intellect and integrating his consciousness into the Neurocaster; this technology was instrumental in giving humans an advantage during the war against the robots.

However, after Christopher unexpectedly came out of his coma thirteen months later, a remorseful Amherst built a way for his mind to escape. Sentre drones under the command of Colonel Bradbury attack, recapturing Christopher, killing Amherst, and destroying the robots’ home.

Determined to rescue her brother, Michelle, along with P.C., infiltrates Sentre’s headquarters with the help of Keats and Herman while the other robots wage war with Skate’s drone army. Disgusted with Skate’s inhuman actions, Bradbury defects and helps Peanut to confront Skate while Michelle discovers Christopher in a comatose state, his consciousness trapped within the Neurocaster system.

In a reunion within the virtual realm, Christopher explains that his consciousness is what is powering Skate’s robots, expressing his desire to be freed from his exploited existence. Respecting his wishes, Michelle disconnects him, resulting in his physical body dying. During the battle, Keats almost loses Herman when his large robot form gets destroyed by a drone robot. However, a miniature version of Herman emerges from the wreckage.

Christopher’s death triggers the shutdown of Sentre’s drone operations, dismantling Skate’s control and ending the exploitation of the Neurocaster technology. In the aftermath, Skate is arrested, and the world begins to rebuild from the devastation wrought by the war and corporate greed. Michelle then broadcasts to the world exposing how the Neurocaster technology has affected people’s lives and inviting those who wish to live in peace to the exclusion zone.

Cosmo’s body is dumped in a junkyard, but he is shown rising up, suggesting that a part of Christopher’s consciousness may still reside within the robot.