To The Piper's Tune

In Corynth, the dawning of artificial general intelligence has seen totalitarianism reach its absurd apogee, with State-sponsored benevolence and entertainment masking the reality of the cold machinery of control. Citizens willingly sacrifice their freedom on the altar of AI-provided convenience, where pregnancy, birth, life and death are all licensed for the common good, happiness a fundamental right.
Thoughts and behaviours are guided by neurotech, gene editing, social credit scores, the pleasures of being in-game and dropping hypno. It's a great life for a citizen...as long as their Credyt is good.

Anastasya is an AI-whisperer, whose rare talent in bridging the artificial intelligence "intuition gap" affords her a position of privilege amongst the elite. But the rejection (execution) of a friend and the visit of an outsider to Corynth trigger Anastasya to challenge the idyll she has been presented with, a voyage of discovery accelerated further by the discovery of a shocking State secret.

In 1984 meets Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, can human agency triumph over the algorithms? Or are we doomed to be controlled - ignorantly blissful, until we are called for rejection.

Inspired by watershed happenings today, Corynth is the embodiment of all that is fast coming our way.

"Humanity is sleepwalking into a neurotech disaster" - Camilla Cavendish, Financial Times

"The world around us is being revolutionized by CRISPR, whether we're ready for it or not" - Jennifer Doudna, Nobel Laureate

"I mean with artificial intelligence we're summoning the demon" - Elon Musk

"It is scary how many similarities there are between this industry and the mob. The mob makes obscene amounts of money, as does this industry. The side effects of organized crime are killings and deaths, and the side effects are the same in this industry. The mob bribes politicians and others, and so does the drug industry" - Peter Rost, former Pfizer Vice President