Exin Ex Machina: Asterion Noir Book 1

Book 11: Amaranthe

by G. S. Jennsen

Genres: Science Fiction; Sci-fi Action & Adventure; Cyberpunk; Space Opera; artificial intelligence; science fiction; aliens; sci fi; space opera; action adventure

Synopsis

Cyberpunk and space opera collide in a thrilling new trilogy from the author of the acclaimed Aurora Rhapsody saga.
When man and machine are one and the same, there are many crimes but only one sin: psyche-wipe. The secrets it has buried could lead to a civilization's salvation, or to its doom.
*
The Asterion Dominion is at peace with its neighbors and itself. Its citizens enjoy great freedoms and all the luxuries their biosynthetic minds can imagine, design and create. But beneath the idyllic veneer, something is going wrong. People are going wrong, driven to commit inexplicable crimes without motive or purpose. And once imprisoned for those crimes, they simply vanish.

Psyche-wiped and dumped in an alley 5 years ago, awakened into a culture where ancestral memories stretch back for millennia, Nika Tescarav's past is a blank canvas. But if whoever erased her did so in the hope of silencing her, they should have tried harder.

Someone must speak for the lost.

Someone must uncover how and why they became lost.

Someone must find the lost.

Nika is that someone.

ASTERION NOIR
700,000 years ago, the Asterions fled persecution for their pro-synthetic beliefs. In the safe harbor of a distant galaxy, they have evolved into a true biosynthetic race and built a thriving society upon the pillars of personal autonomy, mutual respect and boundless innovation.

Now that society is fracturing at the seams. Beneath lies built upon lies, the shocking truth as to why threatens the future of not merely the Asterions, but all life in the universe.

Enter a world of technological wonders, exotic alien life, enthralling characters, captivating worlds—and a terrifying evil lurking in the void that will shatter it all.

Release date: June 6, 2018

Publisher: Hypernova Publishing

Print pages: 399

Sample

Generation: kyr

Input desired designation: __

Raindrops splattered on the pebbled surface beneath her cheek. One, two, three-four-five they splashed, bounced and rebounded into her face.

Generation: kyr

Input desired designation: __

The input cursor flashed across her vision, blurring and wobbling to mix with the rain. What did it want from her? Who she was?

No. The blinking cursor told her she was no one. Nothing. It asked who she intended to be.

Generation: kyr. Cardinal. First. New. Tabula rasa.

She splayed trembling fingers upon the surface beneath her—a street. She recognized its nature because, without thinking about it, she knew many things. Words. Names for objects. How those objects worked. History…but not her own. Behind the blinking cursor a universe of knowledge waited, prepackaged, catalogued and ready to serve her. Everything in the world except who she was. Had been. Could be.

Her eyes rose to focus on the visual plane stretching out from her, centimeters above the street. Shimmering lights in the darkness. Shadows of buildings swallowed by deeper, darker shadows. From here to the indistinct horizon, raindrops splattering plink-plink-plink.

Who began life sprawled face-first on a street in a rainstorm in the middle of the night?

The answer returned as null. Some before had led to her awakening in this situation now. Kyr was a lie, for this was not the beginning. Something had preceded it to bring her to this moment. But when she sought an answer in her mind, she found only emptiness. A blank slate. Tabula rasa.

Generation: kyr

Input desired designation: __

Desired? She desired the name that went with before. She desired data to fill the emptiness—

Murmured voices flowed into the gaps between the splatter of the raindrops, accompanied by harsh clack-clack-clacks. A shadow loomed over her, and the rain stopped. She looked up.

A woman with long ginger hair, bright blueberry eyes and a freckled nose crouched beside her. Above the woman, a translucent leaf sheltered them both from the rain. “What’s wrong? Do you need help?”

She forced her throat to move, followed by her tongue, then her lips. “I….”

The woman glanced past her to something in the distance. “Joaquim, get over here!”

A new shadow dimmed the darkness further and brought with it a deeper, gravelly voice. “She’s functioning?”

Did her sorry state qualify as functioning? A nod from the woman proclaimed it did.

“Can you sit up?” The deep voice drew closer until it overpowered the rhythm of the rain. “We’re going to scoot you back against the alley wall, okay?”

The alley wall? Had her sordid awakening not even merited a proper avenue as its setting?

Strong hands grasped her shoulders and lifted. She belatedly tried to help, but it made little difference. A second later a hard surface met her back, and she was sitting upright. Two visages hovered in front of her to study her in concern—one open and expressive, the other guarded and cautious.

She moved facial muscles that felt foreign, as though they’d been sloppily glued to the bones beneath them, into something like a smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” The woman continued to scrutinize her. “Are you hurt? Do you need repairs?”

Carefully she shook her head, relieved when it didn’t tumble off its perch. “No, I’m not damaged. I’m ky—”

“Kyr. Yeah, we figured that part out.” The man’s mouth rose on one side as if amused, yet the rest of his expression insisted it didn’t do amusement. “Bit of a rough transition, eh?”

“A rough transition is forgetting where you’re supposed to sleep for the first few days. Something went wrong with her.” The woman flashed her an apologetic smile buoyant enough to bring color and verve to the washed-out world. “Sorry. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Do you want to come with us? We can offer you a roof, a shower and something to eat, if not much else.”

The faint traces of levity vanished from the man’s face. “I don’t—”

“Shush, Jo. She’s in no condition to be a threat to us.” The woman’s warm, comforting smile returned. “Please, come with us.”

She nodded mutely. Notions such as showers and food sounded luxurious beyond imagination, not to mention mere dryness. All this blank slate had known of life thus far was the hypnotic but terribly wet splatter of rain.

“Let’s get you up. It’s not far.” The man took one of her arms, and she climbed to her feet mostly under her own power. Sloppily glued into place or not, her muscles seemed to recognize their function. It was a start.

The woman touched her shoulder in encouragement, or perhaps to provide a steadying hand. “I’m Perrin. This is my friend, Joaquim. What are you going to call yourself? Do you know?”

Know? What did she know? She knew emptiness. A void where there should be data. Wherever her eyes looked, the cursor followed with its incessant wobbly blurred blinking. Taunting her, judging her. Who are you? Who do you intend to be?

Generation: kyr

Input desired designation: __

Her lips moved of their own accord, acting at the behest of something beyond her conscious perception.

“Nika. You can call me Nika.”