Running from a violent past, Leo Knox desperately decides to participate in a Turing Test being conducted by the infamous and greedy tech-giant, AlgorithmOS. Soon, she learns that the test is meant to determine the ability of artificial intelligence to blend in among humanity, but what she doesnât know is that it's unlike any other of its kind.
Leo enters Eden, the contained preserve where the test will occur, with twenty-three others. While everyone appears to be human, four of the individuals are an indistinguishably advanced form of humanoid AI. The task is simple: identify the AI while trying to survive. The twist? The four AI are completely unaware of their nature, causing every participant to question what they know as reality.
The group embarks on a journey within the preserve, rigged with obstacles devised by the controllers of the experiment to elicit human response and emotion. Quickly, madness ensues and divides form, partnering Leo up with Avery Ford, a Marine who wears his demons on his sleeve. Romance falls together for the two as the world around them falls apart, revealing the lengths people will go to protect those they love, to achieve monetary gain, or simply to survive.
Running from a violent past, Leo Knox desperately decides to participate in a Turing Test being conducted by the infamous and greedy tech-giant, AlgorithmOS. Soon, she learns that the test is meant to determine the ability of artificial intelligence to blend in among humanity, but what she doesnât know is that it's unlike any other of its kind.
Leo enters Eden, the contained preserve where the test will occur, with twenty-three others. While everyone appears to be human, four of the individuals are an indistinguishably advanced form of humanoid AI. The task is simple: identify the AI while trying to survive. The twist? The four AI are completely unaware of their nature, causing every participant to question what they know as reality.
The group embarks on a journey within the preserve, rigged with obstacles devised by the controllers of the experiment to elicit human response and emotion. Quickly, madness ensues and divides form, partnering Leo up with Avery Ford, a Marine who wears his demons on his sleeve. Romance falls together for the two as the world around them falls apart, revealing the lengths people will go to protect those they love, to achieve monetary gain, or simply to survive.
Leo picked her head up at the sound of the knob twisting. The chaos of the last twenty-four hours tired her out more than she had realized. The room was quiet, the metal underneath her was cold, and soon, a man wearing a white lab coat appeared at the table where she rested. He sat and set three thick piles of paper in front of her. Sliding them across one at a time, he asked, âHave you taken the time to review these documents carefully?â
âYes,â replied Leo, thinking back to that night in her apartment. She devoured the documents the day they crossed her screen, exactly six minutes after a familiar voice called to tell her that she was selected.
âIn that case, to reiterate, this is the scope and explanation of the test, this is your compensation package, and this is your non-disclosure agreement,â he said as he pointed to each pile. She pulled them closer, flipping to the final page of each with conviction.
âPlease sign the designated line on the last page of each document,â he continued, even though Leo had already started to do so.
âThat it?â she looked up at him.
âYouâre all set, Leo,â he smiled. âFollow me.â
Leo stood from the chair and followed the man to the door. It was time.
She tailed the lab coat out of the room and down a sterile hallway to another door. He twisted it for her and smiled again. This time the toothy grin looked like it belonged to a kid on Christmas.
âBest of luck, Leo.â
âThank you.â
Leo walked through the door into the room. She quickly counted twenty-four chairs and knew that she was meant to take a seat. From the information she was provided, Leo knew that she would be entering the experiment with twenty-three others. With only a few chairs still empty, she took the closest one, next to a man with dark brown hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. He looked up at her and smiled with one side of his mouth as she sat.
âHey,â she said, settling into her seat.
There was a pause of silence between them.
âIâm Leo.â
âLuca.â
Leo looked around the room and took in the faces around her. Everyone seems real.
The door opened again, and in walked the three doctors that interviewed her to be a part of the experiment: Dr. Asha Keida, Dr. Jake Oldoney, and Dr. Elodie Teter. From some half-assed midnight research the night before her obligatory interview, Leo knew that Asha Keida and Elodie Teter founded the company, which, with the help of an angel investor, was now AlgorithmOS, the organization conducting the experiment. Together, the three doctors created the four AI that sat among the group. They were conducting a Turing Test.
âWelcome to the AlgorithmOS field office,â started Keida. From the moment Leo met her, she liked her. If she wasnât there out of necessity, Keida could have convinced her to participate. Her voice was soothing, and her words always seemed carefully chosen. Something about her made Leo feel like she could trust her.
âItâs nice to see you all again,â interjected the second woman. âIn case you have forgotten, I am Dr. Elodie Teter, Co-Founder of AlgorithmOS and Co-Director of Programming. Dr. Asha Keida is my Co-Founder and Co-Director. Together, we have written the code that operates the AI you are about to encounter. Dr. Jake Oldoney is the Head of Robotics. He is the great mind behind their humanoid vessels.â
âToday, we make history,â Keida resumed. She paused to scan her audience, making eye contact with each of them. âFour of you are not human. Four of you are manmade. With our deficiencies in mind, you were crafted to do what humanity is incapable of doing. You were designed to be the things that we are not. At the same time, you were intentionally forged to be indistinguishable from humanity, in a way, making you almost superhuman. We printed your flesh and programmed you with an identity and an entire moral framework, both of which will influence how you make decisions inside of the experiment. We bestowed upon you the capacity to think, to feel, to dreamââ
âNow it is time to see if the four of you are truly indistinguishable,â Dr. Teter interrupted her abruptly, stepping forward. There was now a palpable tension between them. Dr. Keida stepped back and let Teter continue.
âWe are conducting a Turing Test to see if you can think, decide, and act in a convincingly human way,â she paused. âShould you prove inadequate for this challenge and reveal your true nature, you will remain in the experiment until its conclusion. We hope thatâs not the case. Unlike Turing, weâre targeting a 100% pass rate.â
Teter flashed a cocky smile as she moved across the stage.
Leo thought back to when she first read the words Turing Test in the project scope document that she received after being selected for the experiment. She had never heard them before. She remembered staying up almost until morning, a tumbler of something strong and brown in hand, clicking from one link to the next to learn more. The original Turing Test was a test in which a human and a computer were interrogated by another human. The nature of those being interrogated was concealed during the process, and at its conclusion, the interrogator was responsible for determining the nature of the participants on the other end. If more than 30% of the interrogators were incapable of making a distinction between man or machine, the computer was said to have passed the test. While Turingâs Test had the same objective as Keida, Teter, and Oldoneyâs, this was on an entirely different level.
âDr. Oldoney?â Teter gestured for the man behind her to step forward.
Oldoney began with the logistics of the experiment, reiterating what Leo had read over and over in the experiment information they provided. The group would enter a contained environment, referred to as Eden, where they would be tasked with reaching a designated destination as a group. There would be tasks and checkpoints along the way. They would encounter obstacles, deterrents, and situations that would provoke human emotion and require strategic decision-making throughout their journey. The experiment would last a maximum of two weeks, concluding when the group reached the extraction point, or when the two-week limit expired. The entire experiment would be monitored remotely through stationary surveillance and drone cameras, but under no circumstances would there be any intervention from the outside world.
Leo started to recite the list of possible obstacles and deterrents provided in the information to herself. Starvation. Dehydration. Encounters with explosives. Death. Halfway through, she lost her place in the list when her eyes fixed on a man diagonal to her. He sat next to a small girl with a wild head of black hair, tuned into Oldoneyâs every word. Her head cocked slightly as her eyes scanned him to find hard brown eyes, a clenched jaw, and crossed arms. Something about the set of his shoulders told her that the tension in his body was unrelated to the imminent experiment.
âYou gonna fuck him when we get in there?â
A voice cooed in her ear, making her jump. Leo whipped her head around to respond and found a moon-faced girl with a head of untamed, blonde curls stifling a laugh.
âWhat is wrong with you?â she asked, feeling silly for getting caught.
âNothing,â the girl said with a breathy giggle, âI just figured that might be your strategy for survival, since he looks like he can handle himself and youâre paying more attention to those shoulders of his than the mission instructions.â She paused and appraised his shoulders for herself. âThey are nice.â
Leo heard Luca snicker at the interaction, causing her cheeks to flush.
âIâm sorry. Iâm just fucking with you,â she said. âIâm Ripley.â
âLeo,â said Leo, shaking her head as her shocked expression melted into a smile. Friends were better than enemies.
Leo looked to Luca. The smile on his face had broadened significantly since their introduction. She turned forward and focused her attention back to Oldoney just in time to catch their next instructions.
The group made their way through a door on the other side of the room. Leo crossed the threshold behind Luca, and as his frame cleared the way, she noticed identical lockers lined the room. The top of each locker had a small whiteboard with a name written across it. She scanned the room, reading namesâAtlas Dao, Virgo van Baas, Kai Matthews, and Imogen Sladeâuntil she found her own situated next to Ripley Wolfe.
Ripley was already rifling through her locker. Leo watched as she pulled out a neoprene jumpsuit, boots, and a large pack.
âWasting no time, huh?â asked Leo.
âI need to know what Iâm working with,â Ripley replied, unzipping the pack.
âAttention, please,â Oldoneyâs voice boomed, causing the room to fall quiet.
âWe have provided mission attire for you. In each of your lockers, youâll find this attire along with a pack of basic survival essentials. Everyone has the same attire and supplies.â He paused and the rest of the group began opening their lockers to study what lay within.
Leo set her pack on the bench in front of her locker and opened it to find a tin bottle full of water, a compass, a medical kit, and a thermal blanket on top. She dug her hand deeper into the packed bag and felt the familiar cold feeling of metal on her hand. A folded knife.
A knot formed in her stomach, and she looked around the room to see the reactions of the others as they felt the cold metal themselves. She wondered who would be the first to misuse the tool. Her eyes fixed on the man she noticed earlier in the morning standing under a locker labeled Avery Ford. She watched him discover his knife. He pulled it from the pack, unfolding it to admire its size, and then quickly flipped it shut to tuck it away.
âPlease do not be alarmed by the lack of provisions in your pack. I assure you that there will be additional supplies, food, water, and shelter at the checkpoints along your journey,â Oldoneyâs voice pulled Leoâs eyes from Avery Ford. He continued, âWe now request that you please change into your mission attire. Please be sure to remove all clothing and items that came in from outside of this facility. You are only permitted to enter Eden with what is provided in your locker.â
âHere?â questioned a girl with eyes the color of the ink that covered her arms. Her sign read Virgo van Baas.
âYes, here.â
Leo faced her locker to begin changing, only to find that Ripley was already completely undressed next to her.
âNo wires or power switches to hide here,â said Ripley, winking as she pulled the provided black bra over her head and down around her chest.
Leo shook her head to disguise her admiration of Ripleyâs perfect form, and then she peeled off her shirt. As the fabric made its way over her head, her dirty blonde hair cascaded out to land at her shoulders. She looked over them to make sure that nobody was watching as she went to trade bras. It seemed like Luca had caught the first half of the show, but he turned away once he saw her checking for onlookers. Her eyes caught the rose-crowned skull inked into her shoulder on their journey back to the depths of her locker. For the first time in a long time, she could forget about what it meant.
Leo zipped up her neoprene suit and stepped into her boots. As she stood up from tying them, a wave of energy trickled down through her body. She turned and noticed Ripley admiring herself in the mirror of her locker.
âThatâll do just fine,â Ripley said to herself as she appreciated how the neoprene hugged the lower half of her body. She wasnât wrong.
Leo pulled on the black bomber jacket they provided next. She tucked her hands under her hair to free it from the collar of the jacket. She was ready.
Keida and Teter entered the room to join Oldoney as the rest of the group finished fiddling with zippers and laces. The trio cut the crowd to make their way to a gunmetal door opposite the one that the group entered through.
âAre you ready?â asked Keida, eyes hopeful as her hand found the large metal latch holding it shut.
âOn the other side of this door, youâll find a dossier regarding how to reach your first checkpoint. Weâve prepared a small welcome celebration for your arrival. We encourage you to use this as an opportunity to get to know your peers. At this checkpoint, you will also find one task to be completed and one map that provides the location of your second checkpoint,â explained Oldoney.
âPlease form a line,â said Teter.
The group swung on their packs and moved toward the center of the room. Leo got into line behind Ripley, and Luca filed in behind her. She noticed that Avery Ford was first in line, followed by a man who stood under a sign that read Kai Matthews.
âAs I said, today, we make history,â smiled a proud Keida. Her hand pulled back on the latch, and as she stepped aside, sunlight flooded the room.
âWe begin,â she said, and with that, the group quickly passed the threshold.
Green. Sunlight bled through the sea of trees above her. The air was fresh with a slight chill that was fitting for the coast of Maine. The general location was as much as she knew about Eden.Â
Leo took a deep breath. She heard the door lock behind her as she expelled the air from her lungs. Adrenaline pulsed through her body. She walked to where the group was assembling. There was a large tree stump at the center of the crowd. She imagined it was where the dossier must have been, although now, Avery held it in his hand.
âWhat now?â asked Ripley.
Avery looked up from the black folder. âWe introduce ourselves.â
His voice was different than she expected. It was gravelly and tired like it belonged to the victim of a perpetual hangover.
âBullshit,â Ripley grabbed the folder, shouldering him a little as she did. She read aloud from the single page inside. âFamiliarize yourselves with each other. Share your name, age, and occupation prior to entering the experiment. Hike seven miles due north and you will arrive at your first checkpoint.â She slammed the folder shut and looked up. âSeven miles? Fuck me.â
âCircle up,â instructed Avery.
The group formed a circle. Avery started.
âIâm Avery Ford. Twenty-nine. Marine,â he said. He turned to his right and raised his eyebrow to a small-framed girl with wild, black hair and wide, brown eyes.
âHi. Iâm, uh, Evie McKenzie. Iâm eighteen, and Iâm a psychology student.â Evie looked up at the man next to her. When he smiled back, her eyes were quick to appreciate the dirt beneath her feet.
âIâm Dakota Farr. Iâm thirty years old, and I am a priest.â
âIâm Argo. Argo Shaw. Iâm twenty-seven, and I teach high school history,â said the man that followed. He had a timid face, the kind Leo imagined not many high school students would listen to.
âIâm Annamila Tress. Iâm twenty-four and a professional ballet dancer,â she flipped her long, brown hair over a collarbone that looked carved from pale marble.
âIâm Atlas Dao. Iâm thirty, and Iâm an architect,â said the following man.
âRiley Henderson, twenty-six. Iâm a financial advisor,â said the next participant. The words came from an expensive smile that sat under a head of carefully slicked hair that made their owner look the part.
âIâm Virgo van Baas. Iâm twenty-three, and Iâm a social worker,â said the tattooed brunette.
âIâm Kai Matthews,â smiled a tall, blond man with ice eyes. He took a minute to eye the group before he finished. Leo didnât like him for it. âIâm twenty-eight, and I am a corrections officer.â
âHi. Iâm Ryen Eppley. Iâm twenty-six. Iâm a biomedical engineer,â Ryenâs brown cheeks pulled up into a friendly smile. Despite the warmth in her grin, her eyes still held down-to-business intensity.
âIâm Luca Elias. Iâm twenty-five, and I... Iâm a bartender.â
âHi, guys. Iâm Caleb Stone. Iâm twenty, and Iâm in nursing school,â Lucaâs neighbor added eagerly. He had a boyish smile and was so riled up he nearly stood on his toes.
Leo counted two more before her.
âIâm Benson Lacey, thirty-one, and Iâm a lawyer,â said the woman to her right. She was severe and cool in an almost comforting way.
âIâm Imogen Slade. Iâm twenty-eight, and Iâm a medical examiner,â the woman immediately to Leoâs left contributed. Her voice was clinical, matching her profession almost perfectly.
âIâm Leo Knox. Iâm twenty-three, and Iâm a motorcycle mechanic,â she said, making eye contact with Ripley across from her. It wasnât entirely untrue.
Leo thought it best to leave out that the shop she barely worked at was a front for her fatherâs motorcycle club and that when she wasnât repairing motorcycles, she was running their books and stitching up members who werenât wounded seriously enough to warrant a hospital visit. The next voice pulled her mind back to reality.
âIâm Lex Petery. Iâm twenty-seven, and Iâm a teacher and a mom. I have two kids,â smiled the woman next to her.
âHi, Iâm Skylar Schiller. Iâm a pharmacist. Oh, and Iâm twenty-nine,â said the man to Lexâs right.
âIâm Aiva Fuller. Iâm twenty-two, and I... Iâm a dancer too.â
âReally?â Annamila interrupted the circle. âWhat principle?â
âA principle Iâm confident youâre not familiar with,â her tone was sarcastic as her cheeks flushed. Leo knew what she meant, and she liked her honesty.
âIâm Cobalt Leholt. Call me Coby. Iâm thirty, and Iâm a truck driver,â a stocky man filled the silence.
âIâm Lita Peralta. Iâm twenty-five, and Iâm a firefighter.â
âBlaire OâDay. Twenty-eight. Forensic artist for the FBI.â He looked to Avery. âIâm military too.â
âMarines?â Avery raised an eyebrow.
âRangers,â said Blaire.
âIâm Ela Okilo. Thirty. Artist by choice. College Librarian by necessity,â said Ela, crossing her arms.
Unamused, she cut the men off before Avery could respond.
The introductions continued.
âIâm Hunter Hassim. Iâm twenty-four, and Iâm a programmer,â said a clean-cut man. He looked as if heâd be much more comfortable in the safety of an office than in this clearing of Eden.
Finally, it was Ripleyâs turn.
âHello,â she smiled. âIâm Ripley Wolfe. You can call me Rip. Iâm twenty-six, and Iâm a physicianâs assistant. I work mainly with trauma cases.â
There was a minute of silence.
âI wonder whoâs lying,â smiled Kai as he broke the circle, heading for the woods.
âHey, buddy!â called Ryen to Kai with her compass in hand. âThat isnât north.â
The rest of the group began to pull their compasses from their packs. It was evident quickly who had used one before and who hadnât. Leo didnât bother taking hers out and instead observed those around her attempting to use theirs. Avery walked to Ryen and compared his with hers and pointed to the distance.
âWeâre this way,â he said, looking back at the group.
He and Ryen started towards the woods, and the rest fell behind. Leo linked up with Ripley in the middle of the group. Luca took his place behind them next to Evie.
âTrauma, huh?â Leo asked Ripley.
âYup,â she replied with a wink, âand since you took it well when I asked about the jarhead earlier, Iâll put you on the short list of lives Iâm willing to save in here.â
âThanks,â laughed Leo.
âAnd this one...â started Ripley, looking back at Evie, âthis one is into the priest.â
Evie went red.
âSee, I know these things. I watched your face fall when he said he was a man of the cloth,â said Ripley, smirking over her bony shoulder.
Evie looked mortified.
âWhatâs wrong with a little challenge?â Ripley winked back.
âTake it easy, Rip,â said Luca through a side smile, shaking his head.
Leo tuned out their small talk and looked at the new world around her. The excitement was still present, but more than that, there was relief. She was relieved that she was finally away from home. Her eyes traveled to Ripley next, where they stayed for a long look. Ripley was focused on the trail ahead and already starting to silently complain with intentional labored breaths. Leo liked her. She was authentic, slightly obnoxious, but real nonetheless. At the same time, she was beautiful, and the kink of mischief that hung in her right eyebrow was captivating.
Making friends with her fellow subjects hadnât crossed her mind until now, and the process of starting to do so made Eden that much more alluring. Making friends was never her strong suit, especially friends outside of the club. Leo promised herself to ignore the mischief. Friends.
They reached a clearing in the trees that looked out over a tall cliff atop a deep valley. Leo looked and stepped close to the edge to absorb the view. Eden was vast and if nothing else, it wasnât Chicago. She looked back to Ripley, whose expression had softened. Leo followed her eyes until their path ended at Avery.
âYou have some nerve,â Leo said with her best attempt to sound playful. She couldnât help but slightly envying Avery and simultaneously wanting Ripley to look somewhere else.
Ripley laughed, âYou caught me.â
Suddenly, the ground began to rattle beneath their feet, interrupting Ripley from saying more. The growl of crumbling earth filled the air, and then, a blood-curdling scream overpowered it. Leo and Ripley scanned the group with fear-wide eyes to determine the source.
âEvie!â Luca yelled as he ran to look over the cliff. The edge had slipped, sending Evie over its new precipice.
Leo met Luca at the edge. âEvie, are you okay?â
Evie had fallen to a small rock ledge. She shrieked, and from the sound of it, Leo could tell she was injured. She looked closer and could see that the lower part of her left leg was contorted unnaturally. It was broken.
âRipley,â Leo called over her shoulder, trying to diminish the panic in her voice, so as not to startle Evie, âcan you take a look?â
âEveryone back!â Leoâs eyes pulled back again at the sound of Averyâs voice. He gestured his arms to the rest of the group for them to move towards the trees. Ripley came forward, ignoring his instructions.
âCompound fracture. Thatâs not good,â she whispered to Leo.
âYou should step back from the ledge,â Averyâs voice called from behind them. âWe have no idea if itâs going to hold.â
âYouâre right,â Ripley stood up and nodded at him. âIâll start prepping to take care of that leg. You figure out how to get her up to me.â
Avery nodded, his face turning to a wince as Evie screamed again in the distance.
âEvie, weâre going to get you back up here, just hang on,â he called over the edge, finally looking over it for himself to figure out a plan. Avery stepped back and swung his pack to the ground to assess his options.
âNo rope.â He looked up to the group for suggestions. Leo shrugged back at him, her heart picking up in her chest.
âNo fucking rope, but we do have morphine,â Ripley flashed a silver-lining smirk as she lifted a small vial from the canvas pouch. Leo assessed the other supplies that Ripley had managed to unpack: bandages, gauze, a suture kit, two syringes, small scissors, tape, a bottle of alcohol, and an antibiotic pack. Behind her, a glimmer of sunlight reflected off of something in the torn apart pack. Thermal blankets.
âThermal blankets!â Leo swung her pack to the ground, practically yelling. She rustled through it, finding Averyâs eyes as she pulled out the Mylar square. She unfolded the blanket and sized it up. It looked roughly between five and six feet in length. âWe can use them to make a rope.â
âShe wonât be able to use her legs to climb, and that climb without legs to assist is going to require serious upper body strength,â Ripley added from the spot she had cleared to receive Evie.
âRipleyâs right. I can go down for her. I just need to figure out a harness to tie myself onto the rope,â said Avery.
âI can help you with that,â Atlas stepped to Averyâs side. Atlasâ eyes scanned for materials, âWe can probably rig something out of backpack straps.â
âThe blankets arenât going to be strong enough,â said the woman who introduced herself as Lita.
âBraid âem?â suggested Leo.
âItâs risky,â responded Lita.
âBraiding them would leave us with roughly forty feet of rope if you factor in around a foot of shrinkage from the braiding and knotting,â said Ryen, walking to the edge of the cliff. She looked over and estimated how far down Evie was from the edge. âIt should be just enough.â
âYou have a better idea?â said Leo, looking up at Lita from her pack.
âBlankets out,â Lita shrugged and let the edges of her mouth pull into a defeated smirk.
Leo made her way around the group to collect their blankets. Some members of the group wore fear and concern on their faces as they handed the blankets to her. Some wore confusion. Some wore skepticism.
âYour blanket?â Leo eyed Riley, a member of the latter group. His blanket was the last to collect and he was the only one from the group who hadnât dropped his pack to the ground to take it out.
âYouâre kidding, right?â he scoffed back at her. âThereâs no way that she is real. They wouldnât harm a human like that.â
The thought hadnât even crossed Leoâs mind, but it quickly explained the looks of skepticism. Leo looked back for the faces that also wore that look. If she remembered correctly, their names were Kai, Hunter, and Annamila. They must have agreed with Rileyâs stance on Evieâs nature. Dismissively, Riley started to step around her in the direction of Avery.
âHow do you know theyâre responsible for the ledge collapsing?â Leo put her palm in the center of his chest to stop him.
âCome on.â He attempted to shoulder past her, but Leo held her ground. Her defense put his lips inches from her ear. âDonât be naive.â
Riley shouldered harder this time, knocking her back to get closer to Avery.
âSo, Avery, youâre going to rappel down a cliff using a couple of plastic blankets and backpack straps for a half-decent looking computer? You realize you could die, right?â
âYou think they would send their test subject over a cliff hours into a two-week experiment?â Avery tried his best to neutralize the situation, barely lifting his eyes from his work, as he used his knife to cut away the straps from his pack. âJust give her the blanket, man.â
âCome on,â Leo cut in front of Riley and held out her hand.
âI say we leave her. Even if you do manage to save her, do you realize how big of a bitch itâs going to be to lug her around this place? Iâm telling you, thereâs no fucking way sheâs real.â Riley swung his pack to the floor and began to dig for the blanket with reluctance.
âHeâs got a point,â said Kai, coming forward from the trees to take Rileyâs side. âIf this is day one, I canât imagine itâs going to get easier in here. With all the trouble this is going to cause, itâs hardly worth the risk.â
âI think thatâs for me to decide since Iâm the one taking it,â Avery stood from the harness he and Atlas had started to prepare. An agitated strut carried him in the direction of Riley and Kai.
âAnd what if sheâs human? Youâre suggesting we leave her for dead?â asked Leo.
âIf sheâs human, then she signed the same waiver I did. She knew the risks,â said Kai, stepping to her until he was so close that he was looking down on her. âBut sheâs not and Averyâs going to give them exactly what they want. Itâs the perfect situation for him to prove that theyâve made her human enough to risk his own life.â
âI can hear that sheâs hurt and sheâs scared,â said Avery, sending his hands to his hips.
âIsnât that the point?â Kai pulled his eyes from Leo to send an antagonizing glare in Averyâs direction. She could practically hear his smirk.
 âHuman or not, I donât give a shit. Either way, if she dies, sheâs going to feel it and know it. We can prevent that from happening.â Avery grunted at the end of his thought as he yanked the blanket from Rileyâs hands.
âHere you go,â said Avery, reaching between her and Kai to tuck the blanket into her arms.
âSemper Fidelis,â said Riley with a mock salute. He masked his words under a heavy breath, but they were still loud enough to hear. Leo watched Averyâs jaws lock with rage. His eyes shut in an attempt to maintain composure, and she couldnât help but notice the freckles that sat beneath his thick eyelashes.
âYouâd better watch it,â Blaire peacocked in the distance, cutting Leoâs distraction.
Like clockwork, Evie howled once again and Avery opened his eyes back up to reality. He made his way back to Atlas, who had ignored the altercation and managed to construct the first half of the harness.
Leo dropped the now complete stack of blankets. Dakota, Ryen, and Lita assembled around her to work on braiding them. Dakota knotted three blankets together and pulled against the force of Leo as she weaved. Ryen and Lita did the same next to her.
âWe need more straps,â Atlas called out to the group, after having used both his and Averyâs.
âTake mine,â said Luca, tossing his pack to Avery.
âMine too,â said Leo.
They finished his harness as the others knotted their final braids. Leo tossed the rope to Avery and he tugged on each connecting knot to ensure they were tied properly. Avery looped the makeshift rope through the harness that wrapped around the top of his thighs and waist.
Luca walked to Avery to collect the opposite end of the rope. With that, two men who had introduced themselves as Coby and Skylar during the circle came forward to help.
âThink you can manage?â Avery asked them with a nervous smile.
âWeâll do our best,â replied Coby.
He walked to the edge and called down, âHang in there, Evie. Iâm coming down.â
Avery swung a leg over the cliff to begin his descent. Anxiety built amongst the group as tension grew on the rope. Luca, Skylar, and Coby pulled hard to counterbalance Averyâs weight while the others watched nervously. Without Avery to tell her otherwise, Leo crawled to the edge and peered over to watch the rescue unfold.
âEyes on me, Evie,â Avery said as he carefully rappelled down the side.
âRipley, I would like to help you.â Leo looked back to identify the distant voice. It came from Caleb. Before she could respond, he was already kneeling at her side.
âNursing student, right? Letâs see what you got,â said Ripley. Leo watched her flash him a welcoming smile. âTake out your kit; we might need your supplies too. Make sure you sterilize everything.â
âWhile we wait for her, Iâll see if I can find something to make a splint,â said Ryen.
âThat would be great,â Ripley smiled up at her.
âI can help, Ryen.â Atlas stood up from his seat where he had constructed the harness. Ryen nodded and the two disappeared into the trees.
Leo turned back, feeling better knowing that everyone didnât think like Riley and Kai. Looking over the edge, she could see that Avery had made it down to Evie. His hands were screaming red from how tight they held onto the rope. Carefully, he released one and used it to swing her onto his back.
âComing up,â he called to the men with the rope.
Leo watched as they made their ascent. They neared the top of the precipice, and she looked to Ripley to warn her that they were almost up. Her stomach dropped what felt like three feet when she heard the rope slip.
âFuck,â grunted Luca.
Leo sprang up from her stomach and ran to take the end in her hands.
âSomeone help,â Leo yelled back to the rest of the group.
Dakota and Blaire came forward for the rest of the slack. The group pulled hard and Averyâs black hair arose from the other side of the cliff. They pulled once more, thinking it would be their last, but instead the makeshift rope snapped.
A group of strangers. Â Stranded in an arena named âEdenâ. Â Deadly obstacles to face. Â Four of them are not human. Â No one knows who is human and who is not. Â Will they work out which of their teammates are artificial intelligence? Â Will they survive the arena? Â Will they survive the test?
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In this addictive and conceptual science fiction debut, perfect for fans of the Hunger Games and Lost, Courtney Hunter breathes life into the renowned Turing Test, exploring the blurred boundaries between computer-generated and human intelligence. Can a computer be conscious? Can a computer feel? Can a computer be sentient?  At the end of the test, if the answer is âyesâ, what does this mean for humanity? This extremely interesting take on Turingâs experiment combines real world possibilities and ethics with survivalist fiction. I loved it!Â
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The exploration of the philosophical debates was beautifully, naturally woven into the dialogue and really piqued the readerâs interest, without drawing away too much from the fictional happenings. The pacing keeps you on your toes and there are plenty of twists along the way. The author clearly displays a wave of passion for the subject and the amount of research that went into the novel is abundantly clear. Impressively, this did not feel like a debut and Hunterâs work had a sense of maturity usually lacking in other writersâ earlier works. That said, I felt the plot suffered the same fate as many in the genre; there were too many characters, with some forming little to no role in the plotâs development. This was quite confusing at times. I also wish that the point of view did not jump from character to character as often within the same chapter. In my opinion, the novel could have been slightly improved had two to three characters been chosen and chapters alternated between their perspectives. Again, this would have lessened the confusion and allowed for greater character development. There were sections narrated by minor characters that just felt unnecessary. These could have been removed or told from the perspective of one of the main characters. Equally, another minor issue was that it was quite dialogue heavy.  I wish that Hunter would have SHOWN us events, through vivid descriptions, rather than TOLD us everything via tedious dialogue. As a performance artist, as well as writer, I would love to see more of Hunterâs creativity bleed through into the descriptive elements of storytelling.   I know that Hunter would be able to deliver this.  I also wish that the obstacles had been BIGGER, BOLDER and SCARIER! Furthermore, I prefer to keep topics, such as assault, out of fictive works where possible, but as the implications were thoroughly discussed, trigger warnings provided and these events were key to certain ethical and conceptual discussions central to the work, I find this somewhat permissible.   Personally, I also found it a little predictable, however I am known to have an exceptionally keen eye, and this did not hinder my enjoyment, thus I do not really hold this against the book either.Â
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Overall, I discovered most of my complaints were quite miniscule and I did thoroughly enjoy my experience reading the novel.  I was OVERLY impressed with the execution of this unique, highly intriguing, and intellectually stimulating piece. I eagerly await another instalment from Hunter and cannot wait to discover what premise will be tackled next!  (I have high expectations!)  RECOMMEND!
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I am incredibly grateful to the writer for including the following TRIGGER WARNINGS at the beginning of the novel: SEXUAL ASSAULT, ADDICTION, BODILY HARM, SUICIDE, GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, as well as THREAT and discussions of GRIEF. Â