by Kate Wilhelm
First published 2013
A lethal weapon receives a human brain that teeters on insanity. The machine struggles with its new consciousness while retaining its capacity for destruction. Elsewhere, laboratory apes receive injections that grant them human-level intelligence. They escape their captivity and establish a bizarre civilization of their own making. A brilliant child possesses intelligence from another realm but faces his practical father in a battle that could destroy them both. Meanwhile, a carefully selected space crew gathers for a launch sequence. The countdown approaches zero, but no one knows if they will witness humanity's greatest achievement or its final moment. These interconnected stories explore what happens when the boundaries between human and machine, animal and person, child and adult blur beyond recognition. Each character must confront the consequences of intelligence unleashed in unexpected forms.
Genres: science-fiction, literary-fiction, fantasy, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: artificial-sentience, child-genius, found-family
Setting: Laboratory
Period: 21st-Century
212 pages · Kindle Edition · Gateway
Content warnings: body-horror, violence