Rebecca, a 13 year old girl, and abortion survivor, discovers she is not completely human, but part machine. Her toughest choice lies ahead as she befriends an artificially intelligent android, possibly her only hope for survival. Rebecca ultimately must choose between being human or machine, being defiant or to surrender.
She holds a formula within her so powerful it could change the destiny of the entire human race with a dark secret buried in a robotic facility situated
in the Great Karoo, South Africa, that could not just unlock her mysterious past and unravel the lies of her childhood but threaten the relationship with her mother. When the resistance called ‘Truth’ discovers a transhuman plot to destroy humanity’s freedom, they must find out what makes Rebecca dangerous before it’s too late. A secret that could help her protect humanity from digital slavery and find her purpose…or it might destroy her and everyone she loves.
In her struggle for answers, she needs to learn the sacrifices mothers make
for their daughters and the meaning of unconditional love.
Rebecca, a 13 year old girl, and abortion survivor, discovers she is not completely human, but part machine. Her toughest choice lies ahead as she befriends an artificially intelligent android, possibly her only hope for survival. Rebecca ultimately must choose between being human or machine, being defiant or to surrender.
She holds a formula within her so powerful it could change the destiny of the entire human race with a dark secret buried in a robotic facility situated
in the Great Karoo, South Africa, that could not just unlock her mysterious past and unravel the lies of her childhood but threaten the relationship with her mother. When the resistance called ‘Truth’ discovers a transhuman plot to destroy humanity’s freedom, they must find out what makes Rebecca dangerous before it’s too late. A secret that could help her protect humanity from digital slavery and find her purpose…or it might destroy her and everyone she loves.
In her struggle for answers, she needs to learn the sacrifices mothers make
for their daughters and the meaning of unconditional love.
2052, Castle Hill, England.
Ava kept her gaze fixed on making it to the kitchen as quickly as possible. All her instincts for survival were in overdrive. As she ran ahead of the African American man behind her, she felt a slight twinge of courage. She could hear his heavy breathing and determination to get to her, as she knew she was in great danger, hoping that her head start was enough to get away from him. Fear, exhaustion and adrenaline were running through her like hot melting lava. Her heart felt cold and clammy as she ran with all her strength towards her only defence, a gun she had strapped below the kitchen counter. It all seemed surreal. Her long black hair curled over her face as she ran, focusing only on making it to the gun. She grabbed hold of the kitchen towel rail as she entered the kitchen. Panting like an engine, she dived towards the kitchen counter and crashed to her knees. All she could hear in her head was ‘make it to the gun Ava!’ Gasping, she looked back to see how close he was.
The thought of Rebecca kept her focused as she twisted herself to pull the gun from under the counter. The tape creaked and snapped as she pulled it towards the floor, the gun now firmly in her grip. Logan’s tall, muscular body was frighteningly close to her. She would do whatever it took to ensure she escaped this dangerous situation. Otherwise, there was no chance of saving Rebecca. Even if it meant killing him. A scream of fear broke out inside her. She felt sick and could almost taste it in her mouth. It felt like her blood froze in her veins. The moment was overwhelming.
A million thoughts went through her head like a bullet train and she could feel her eyeliner running down her face. Tears and sweat mixed, touching the corners of her mouth. Then, for a moment, everything felt like it was slowing down, her eyes fixed on his.
“Ava, I’m not going to harm you! Put the gun down,” he ordered sharply.
“Get away from me!” she shouted, her lips quivering. She heaved herself up and when he was about two metres from her, she pulled the trigger. The shock of the bullet going off pushed her backwards. The gun was light and pulled to the right. Bullets drilled into the wall and ceiling as she struggled to control the weapon, but she remained focused. She kept firing. Another bullet whistled through the air and missed. Glass and wood from the kitchen door sprayed over them. He backed off in fear wondering whether a stray bullet would kill him. She was unsteady on her feet as she tried to stand.
She threw her head back and tried to get away from him. She swung the gun round to the left and fired again. One of the bullets missed him by millimetres. He gritted his teeth and steeled himself for the impact. He leapt behind the counter as plates and glasses exploded. She staggered to the passage, hearing him gaining ground. The tears running down her face stung her eyes.
“Where is she, Ava?” he asked.
“Go to hell,” she hissed, knowing it was his turn to vent.
He sighed and walked towards her. “Where is she? I’m not going to ask again.”
Her silence was deafening and her mind was racing with multiple scenarios.
His voice was calm as he tried to make her feel less in danger. “I just want to talk, to understand what happened,” he said, panting. “I can’t wait to see her, Ava. E17 is as much mine as it’s yours,” he snarled, narrowing his eyes, “No one could have expected her to survive that ordeal and yet here we are.”
“You will never have her Logan. Never!” she shouted, feeling her throat cutting her voice.
Again she fired at him, tearing gaping holes in the wooden door frame close to his face.
She pushed herself forward, aiming again at him, but the magazine was empty. She furiously clicked and clicked and in desperation threw the gun at him. He caught it in midair and smashed it to the floor, letting it slide up against the skirting. He moved swiftly towards her and clamped his fingers around her neck. Logan was transhuman and very strong. His legs were robotic and powerful. Ava was panting for air as he gave her a punch in the chest, making her back smack against the wall. She made her fist into a cup and slapped him on his ear, sending clusters of pain down his neck.
She moved forward swiftly and punched him in the throat. He gripped her by the neck and hit her with the back of his hand. She was seeing herself in a fresh new way, almost unknown to herself. Her expression and diction became fitting for the moment in front of her. With her chest burning like it was on fire, she gave constant punches. He grabbed hold of her legs and twisted her again down to the floor.
“Ava, give it up now!” he shouted with his breath caught in his throat as he moved closer to her personal space. In a swift movement, he twisted her arm and brought her down to the floor. With all his strength he dragged her back to the kitchen, pulled out a chair and forced her to sit down. He took out digital cable ties that automatically snapped around her wrists and tied her to the chair. He snapped his fingers around her chin and forced her to look up at him. He seemed agitated. A small trickle of blood ran down her face and she was panting like a dog. He came closer and forced his face right into hers, making laser-sharp contact with her dark brown eyes.
She stayed quiet.
“Did you really think you could hide here forever, hmm?” he asked.
Ava allowed a chilly smile to form on her lips.
He stood up and turned away. Ava remained quiet. She looked in his direction and chewed her upper lip.
“I saved her,” she said, keeping her tone even and clear.
“You need to be reminded that you are the one who created her to be what she is,” Logan said insistently, swearing under his breath as he remained silent for a second.
Ava felt her tolerance for him evaporating.
Despite his flippant comment, she remained calm. Logan had a bad temper and she did not want to provoke him any further. The air in the small kitchen was stale and the walls seemed as if they were closing in on them. She could smell his sweat and he was panting frantically and clearly running out of patience.
Logan was a strikingly good-looking man with strong features and a kind voice that could easily seem gentle but could change in a second. His accent was rough-edged and smokey. Logan formed his flat hand into a fist and pulled his arm back, ready to give her a hard hit to the face when, in mid-air, a strong robotic arm of an android stopped him. She pushed back to brace herself for the impact which never came.
Ava gasped for air when she noticed an android standing behind him. She felt startled and in shock. The robot sized Logan up and twisted his body away from Ava. There was a crushing sound as the force pushed him back against the wall. He clenched his jaw in agony and surged to his feet, hitting the robot’s right arm with the back of his hand.
The android lost his balance slightly with the force of the impact, but he quickly struck him upward, giving him a direct blow on the bridge of his nose, sending blinding pain across his face. Logan’s chest was rising and falling in jerky stutters. Blood came out of his mouth in wet gasps as more bright lights of pain blurred his vision. Logan wriggled himself away from him, twisting his body with immense power and kicked the android’s legs from under him. He crashed to the floor and Logan jumped on top of him, hitting his face repeatedly like a human-machine gun. They rolled, twisted and tumbled across the kitchen floor. Parts of his electronics made sparks as the android took hard hits. The thumping sounds of the fight magnified in the kitchen as Ava tried to worm herself out of the chair, without any luck.
She needed to find Rebecca.
The android jerked his head upwards and hit Logan in the face with the front of his head. The hard metal slammed into his forehead and an unexpected force exploded on his face. He staggered a metre back towards the kitchen counter. It dazed the android as he slowly got back to his feet. Small wheels ejected from under his feet and he glided towards Logan at a super-fast speed, having his right leg dead straight by the time he reached him and kicked him fully in the chest. Logan grabbed a knife from the wooden kitchen block and threw it at the robot, backed up by a few more. They hit him randomly, but his fast robotic arms simply swiped them away. Ava ducked as one knife came flying towards her. She quickly grabbed it and tried to cut the electronic cable ties, but they simply sparked and tightened.
“The end of your kind is coming,” he snapped.
“Not today,” the android said with authority as he gave him a hard punch to the face. Logan stumbled towards the wall, staggering back until he tripped over his own feet and went down. The android switched his focus to Ava.
“My name is Aiden. You need to trust me and come with me at once,” he said in a deep electronic voice. His eyes closed and opened slowly as he turned his head to the side like a dog. Ava was still pale and in shock, looking towards Logan, who could get back up at any moment.
The year is 2052, where technological advancements abound. Such as the fact that Androids now fulfill roles previously designated to humans. For example as in education, customer service, and companionship. They clean streets, collect garbage, and even come in many shapes and sizes. They range from as small as a phone to as big as one meter tall robots. The world government, as it is now known, wants to unite everyone into a global village. There's only one currency and that's digital cryptocurrency, that follows under the control of the World Bank in Rome. The world has even managed to keep national borders, but still divides itself into regions. So, with all these accomplishments the world as a whole must be united as well. And yet, there's an unseen insidiousness that permeates the very air, creeping around much like Invisible Fingers (by Hugh Miller).
Meanwhile, in a small town, in a fairytale medieval village if you will, are Ava and her daughter Rebecca. They are in hiding from Rebecca's very abusive and very powerful father. Among Castle Hill's "undulating pastures, pockets of woodlands and chuckling streams, complete with hiking trails and webs of footpaths, cosy cafes, and pubs for lunch", they reside. Rebecca is a very happy newly turned 13-year-old, but she is plagued by the thought that she
has a greater purpose.
However, everyone in the world isn't living such an idyllic life. There's a campaign to clamp down on right wing extremists fighting against AI intelligence. It's been five years since androids were freed from living segregated from humans (otherwise known as the Droid apartheid). Yet, there's still an issue between Artificial Intelligence and Humans. Enter a resistance group that calls themselves: The Truth. Perhaps the gap could be bridged by Humanities and their next step in
human evolution. Namely, the leap to Transhumanism. Think about it, the ability to transform ourselves into beings with powers and abilities to merit the label of human plus, a movement to enhance humanity through sophisticated technology. Humans version 2. Would humans be creating their own destiny or even their own eternal life. We'd simply have to upload our minds on computers. Imagine your mind, memory emotions, and personality duplicated. A new version of you would exist, but in digital form. But you would need a body for the new you. A human looking android body perhaps?
Hugh Miller has woven a complex tapestry of issues and conundrums into his story. Humans don't trust artificial intelligence (Think about the Terminator movies) yet at the same time they are intent on amelioration by utilizing the strengths from the very beings in which they fear or even hate. This point was made clear when a Transhuman (meaning he has robotic parts as well as is human) tells an android that, "The end of your kind is coming." And there we have the ever engaging battle of us versus them ( in a futuristic context if you will).
Is there anything or anyone that could unite the world in Invisible Fingers by Hugh Miller? Just where does Rebecca fit into all of this? And this notion of combining humans with robotic technology, is this a positive path for humanity or the world's most dangerous idea? You decide....