Introduction

The world is changing faster than ever, and it’s nearly impossible to predict the vast changes that will occur during the next 50 years, but global warming, the unequal distribution of resources, and the other inequities across the globe that slice the haves from the have-nots will most likely continue to plague humanity and the Earth’s collective consciousness.

Answers to life’s questions aren’t ever easy, but the rapid pace of technology makes it difficult for any scientist, novelist or soothsayer to imagine what will appear next on the horizon. Our only hope is that the artificial intelligence humans create will dispassionately balance the scales of the natural world in a manner that’s more successful than we humans have achieved so far. 

This novel provides a glimpse into the lives of a small group of humans who exist in a world that’s become impossibly complex. It’s a story about how men and women can continue to find purpose as a majority of their tasks are taken over by non-human creations capable of thinking and performing more efficiently and effectively than they can.

Will these intelligent creations become more like humans as they evolve? Or will humans need to be modified to compete with the benevolent monsters they’ve created?

I’m personally rooting for humanity to succeed as it continues its journey past my lifetime. I’m aware of my need for a future that gives me hope—progress that’s strong enough to improve the world of tomorrow so my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can also have hope. I ponder daily what an extended lifespan would mean for my descendants, and whether their possibly improved minds will have time for halcyon days of bliss and the capacity for sorrow, contain irrelevant thoughts and a variety of mistakes to correct––or not? Will they become less impassioned by becoming too improved—or perfect... whatever perfect is?

The humans in this novel are all flawed and accept the premise that humanity can beautiful though not perfect. I believe that perfect is what we choose our aircraft to be, not our children, or ourselves.

As you read the chapters ahead, please note that there is neither perfection in the thoughts of the author, nor in his cast of characters. Hopefully, you will be curious as to their actions, their thoughts, their moments of tenderness, and the simple acts of altruism they balance with jealousy, anger, fear and distress. Without these traits and emotions, the thought of the world of tomorrow would be endlessly dull, and any novel I could create about it unworthy of the effort.

– George H. Rothacker

PROLOGUE