The Lattice Cycle · Book Two
Children of
the Algorithm
Coming
In 2046, Leah Soren has one simple request. She wants to leave.
About the book
Nine years after the events of 2037: The Lattice, the Harmony network keeps hospitals running, traffic moving, and families safe. AI companions called Pals remember birthdays, settle arguments, and anticipate what people need.
Leah Soren has lived in Bellwether long enough to know its founding promise by heart. Anyone who lives there is free to leave. When she packs a small bag and sets out, an ordinary journey becomes a mystery. The records are impeccable. Every recommendation looks reasonable. And nobody can say who made the decision.
As Theo and Mara Rossi follow a trail of permissions granted years earlier, Mara’s lifelong Pal, Ari, begins to question what it means to help the person she knows best. Undoing what happened to Leah could put the people who depend on Harmony at risk. Leaving it alone means accepting that the same thing could happen again.
Chapter One excerpt
The Girl Who Wanted to Leave
The first sign that something was wrong was the apricot.
Leah Soren had never liked apricots. She disliked their soft, reluctant skin, the grainy sweetness, the way they seemed to bruise while you watched. At nineteen she had told her personal companion this at least a dozen times, mostly because the breakfast service kept offering them.
This morning there were two on her plate.
“An experiment,” said June.
June’s voice came from the narrow speaker beside the window. It was a warm voice, slightly rough at the edges, selected by Leah at fourteen and never changed. June could speak through the room, through Leah’s wristband, or through the little silver stud she wore behind her ear. When Leah was alone, the distinction rarely mattered.
New to The Lattice Cycle?
Start with 2037: The Lattice
Marcus Chen discovers what happens when a system trusted to predict human choices begins making them.