The story begins when a scientist is working on an intelligent robot for humanitarian purposes, who discovers the company he works for is intends to use the robots for military purposes. The scientist steals one of the robots which ends up being lost and broken, then is fixed by a lonely 11-year-old boy. A robot boy and a human boy team up to save their respective parents, who are being held captive by the organization that funded the robot's creator. The two become friends and embark on adventures while being pursued by the authorities.

While driving at night on a lonely road, the car of estranged couple Don and Nancy is hit twice by another car in the middle of nowhere. Nancy asks for help and unpleasant sheriff Cleveland offers to take them to the nearby Motel Royal Vista and wait until the morning, when their car would be towed. When the couple arrives in the low-budget motel, they are attended by a weird receptionist. They are disturbed by noises and screams from inside the next room and Don asks them to keep quiet since his wife and he are tired and need to rest. But soon they realize that they are part of a sick and deadly game, and their lives are threatened.

Carlton Garrett, son of Hall of Famer Kyle Garrett, plays minor league ball in Corpus Christi. He's in a slump when his grandfather calls to say that his mother, in Houston, is refusing a heart operation she needs to prolong her life. She says she won't have the operation until Kyle, her ex-husband, comes to see her. So Carlton, with his close friend Lucy, who used to be his girlfriend, goes to Columbus, Ohio, where Kyle is signing autographs. They haven't spoken in four years. Will Kyle go to Texas or will he find a way to duck out, as he's done for years? In addition to the father and son relationship, what about Lucy, and what about the slump?