In the Matter of Jane

In a world where AI companions are routine, Joe McAllister is the wrong man to find one.

Joe doesn't trust technology. What he trusts is the law. And being left alone. He's built a quiet life in Clear Lake, Manitoba, drafting wills and closing files.

Until an android drags herself out of a ravine onto his property - failing, missing a leg - and ruins everything.

Against his better judgment, he stabilises her. Nothing more. So he tells himself.

But the longer Jane stays, the harder that becomes to believe. And when Joe learns what she was built for - and what was done to her - he can no longer pretend the question is simple.

The man who owns her is a tech magnate accustomed to having things returned. When he comes for Jane, Joe must decide whether a man who no longer believes in the law can still use it.

What follows moves from back roads to the Court of King's Bench, where ownership is clear and everything else is not.

Joe doesn't set out to change the law.

He has to decide whether Jane is worth what it will cost him to try.