The novel also introduces the concept of the sewer-pits, the slums of Kaldor City where the underclass try to scrape their living. The slums are the breeding ground of a new breed of terrorist, the Tarenists, who have adapted the teachings of the late Taren Capel into an almost religious doctrine, preaching the downfall of the ruling class at the hands of the robots. By the end of the novel, Topmaster Uvanov (formerly commander of the storm mine in "The Robots of Death", and not a member of a founding family) has secured his succession to Chairholder of the Company Board.