Existential Phobia and Nihilism of a Robocalyptic World: Envisioning the Post-Anthropocene Dystopian Era in C. Robert Cargill’s Sea of Rust

C. Robert Cargill’s novel Sea of Rust (2017) presents a panoramic vision of a bleak future where all humans have become extinct in the face of a global robotic uprising, and most of the world is controlled by a system of artificial intelligence. This article critically examines Cargill’s novel through a post-anthropocentric framework, analysing its depiction of a speculative future where non-human, technological entities attain dynamic autonomy, agency, and evolution, forcing a critical reappraisal of human exceptionalism, instrumental rationality, and the reductionist ontologies of existence. The novel’s speculative realism interrogates the limits of human intelligence, the instrumentalisation of non-biological entities, and the evolution of autonomous, self- reflexive artificial intelligence. Sea of Rust challenges traditional human-centred narratives of sentience and evolution by foregrounding the dynamic agency of artificial intelligences and robotic life forms. This study argues that the novel not only envisions a decentred, more-than-human reality but also functions as a cautionary tale, exposing the existential fear, ontological anxieties, and dehumanising trajectories of technological progress. In doing so, it engages with broader scientific, philosophical, and literary turns that reappraise the vitality of the non-human and interrogate the future of autonomy, identity, and agency beyond the Anthropocene.