Echoes of Progress

About this book

In the year 2037, the New Seattle-Toronto sprawl is a beacon of human achievement, powered by Eidolon Drives—neural implants that allow for instantaneous mastery of complex skills. Humanity has solved climate change and engineered megastructures, but this rapid evolution comes at a terrifying cost. A phenomenon known as 'Cascade Drift' is causing enhanced minds to fracture into predatory 'echo selves'—dissociative personalities with godlike intelligence and no empathy. Lena Korsakov, a brilliant but haunted exobiologist struggling with her own deteriorating neural stability, discovers that these Drifts are not accidental. Alongside Jax, a non-binary data-diver, and Dr. Mira Voss, her estranged former lover, Lena uncovers a conspiracy led by pharmaceutical titan Dr. Victor Hale. Hale is engineering the Drift to cull the population, preserving the future for a chosen elite. As Lena's own mind begins to splinter, she must harness the chaotic power of her echo self to dismantle Hale's empire, navigating a landscape of visceral high-tech combat and intense, neurally-amplified connections to save humanity from its own perfection.