Second Variety

American author Philip K. Dick's science fiction novelette Second Variety was initially published in Space Science Fiction magazine in May 1953. The plot of the story which is set in a world where a war between the Soviet Union and the United Nations has turned much of the planet into a desolate wasteland centres on the discovery by the few soldiers who are still alive that self-replicating robots designed to kill Soviet agents have developed sentience and are now plotting against both sides. It is one of numerous tales by Dick that explore the effects of nuclear war particularly after the planet has been largely or completely devastated.