Influential American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick was fascinated by the idea of nuclear warfare and the dire aftermath of such an event. This scenario preoccupied Dick throughout much of his career and served as the backdrop to many of his stories and novels. In the short story Second Variety, the human population has been decimated by nuclear war, and small tribes of survivors are forced to battle a species of lethal robot soldiers.

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The Foundation is established after the Old Empire gives way to barbarism, a mighty struggle for power occurs, and a mutant strain gone wild poses a threat following the First Empire's defeat