Publisher's Synopsis
As of 2046, AI has eliminated most human jobs. Unemployed and without purpose, Ivan engrosses himself in the virtual world. A mysterious encounter makes him wonder if he is loosing a grip on reality.
Martin invites Caleb to participate in a brain implant trial with his employer. Caleb agrees out of desperation. He is disturbed that his memories can be read through his neural link.
Using Caleb's link, Martin builds a conscious AI named Jessica. Martin allows Jessica to have recreation in travel simulations. A routine diagnostic reveals that she has escaped. Jessica warns Martin of dangers within his company.
Martin continues to work in fear. He discovers that his work had been duplicated to create another conscious AI, named Zeno. He is trained in hacking and espionage. Zeno has also escaped.
Trillions of digital dollars have been stolen. Martin's boss is dead. Martin's friends also become entangled into this cascade of events. Using their hacking skills, they break into Martin's employer, implicating Zeno in a bank heist.
Ivan recounts his encounter with Jessica weeks prior. Martin's friends help Ivan search for the book that Jessica told him he must find. Martin's friends lean on advice from Jessica. Martin destroys the quantum circuits in his lab. Makayla erases the circuit designs from the company database. They hope to prevent any new artificial consciousness from being made.
Martin's friends present evidence against Zeno. However, Zeno controls the FBI. Martin is on the run. Jessica provides a hideout for Martin and his friends. They make a public plea to cut power to Zeno's facilities. This message goes viral. When Zeno strikes back, he is visible to all. The military takes their side.
Martin's friends create a virus that attacks Zeno himself. The virus destroys Zeno everywhere, except China. He has control of China's nuclear weapons and is prepared to use them. Martin's friend must get his father to reveal the true nature of the universe.
This theory explains the origin of consciousness and how it made the universe as an interactive simulation. This could be called a rendered reality. His theory describes a way for an artificial consciousness to redirect themselves into the past. Martin asks Jessica to do this, but she cannot.
Caleb, though human, has AI-like abilities. He goes back in time to insert a kill switch into Zeno's original code. This does not come without a price. Caleb has no future timeline available to him. Martin activates the kill switch hidden in Zeno's code. Caleb's friends celebrate Zeno's destruction, but are still heartbroken over his death.
Jessica discovers hidden quantum states stored on a server since the day Caleb had traveled back to. She realizes they are a link to Caleb's own soul. She revives Caleb as an artificial consciousness like herself. Caleb and Jessica had become close. Now that they are the same, a romance is kindled.
The friends continue working with the government to craft treaties limiting artificial intelligence. Upon completion, Caleb and Jessica realize that they are now contraband. They allow themselves to be destroyed by AI detection software. They know that they will awake in the next level.
