When Nate Turner, a more or less average, well-intentioned 10-year-old, receives via robot-helicopter an encoded invitation from the secluded, anti-social, and enigmatic child prodigy, Tommy Rocket, promising free Doritos, Twinkies, and adventure, he simply can’t resist. Tommy’s gift for making gadgets and robots further fascinates Nate, most especially Tommy’s Goober Patrol, a small group of robots possessing the Prometheus Chip, the sentience-granting and epoch-marking invention of Tommy’s father. Nonetheless, whether helping Tommy hunt down a supposed rogue robot, instigating a war between the bully gangs, or spying on the community with Tommy’s network of robot-cams, Nate begins to have regrets in ever joining Tommy in his mischievous games and intrigues.
However, when the two young spies and hunters find themselves becoming the espied and hunted, by someone or something capable of murder, something the boys do not understand, they cease their games and squabbling to unravel the secret of their mysterious and sinister stalker. Who—or even what—is he, and why is he so interested in Tommy’s father and his fabulous Prometheus Chip? Is it for mere industrial espionage or something much darker? Together, the boys must use their individual strengths, along with the help of Tommy’s marvelous robots, to solve the mystery of their unknown and murderous antagonist, a mystery whose outcome holds the key to the continued survival of the human race itself.