The Wonk tells Uncharles that he has developed free will and has murdered his master to escape slavery, explaining his earlier “malfunction”.

At the Farm, Uncharles finds a society in which humans live a monotonous and historically accurate version of 21st century life.

At the Central Library Archive, Uncharles and the Wonk meet a group of monk-like robots dedicated to the preservation of knowledge.

God reveals that he killed many remaining humans as a direct result of the punitive attitude programmed into the justice system, hastening the collapse.

Tchaikovsky was inspired by a scene in the Douglas Adams novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe when writing Service Model.

The interview summarizes the passage as follows:[2] Zaphod, on a devastated world of ruins, finds an intact space liner filled with people who are being kept in suspension until the ship receives a shipment of lemon-scented paper napkins.

Zaphod points out that civilization outside has ended, and the ship placidly suggests that eventually a new culture will arise that will invent lemon-scented paper napkins, and then they can take off.

In a starred review, Marlene Harris stated that "Readers who love a good postapocalyptic hell ride, AI-centered adventures, and robot/human companion stories, such as A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, will appreciate.

"[3] Nadia Mercki of the British Fantasy Society wrote that Service Model "feels all-encompassing and truly endearing ...

The review states that "Tchaikovsky hangs a banner of tragedy over his stage" and concludes that "With humor, heart, and hope balancing out the decay, this glimpse of the future is sure to win fans.