Sixth Iteration

by E. Hughes

Overview

Sixth Iteration takes place in the future where robotics and other technology has advanced enough that artificially intelligent machines and robots are in full application and use by the public but are not autonomous (at least, that anyone is aware of). The machines are so integrated into society that it's become difficult to distinguish them from human beings. Enter Victor Reid, CEO of Reid Robotics, who has hired Stella Andrews to teach his machines humanity but not so much that they would seek freedom or free will. That's where Victor draws the line.

Of course, Victor's plans go too far with his top secret MEO project. He is designing hybrid AI beings who look human and share some biological features but are mentally, fully programmed AI. Stella is brought in to make them sentient, but not so much as to perturb the company's CEO. Victor Reid is a modern version of Dr. Frankenstein, only more inhumane and brutal. Cue, uncanny valley. Victor's derision towards artificially intelligent machines whom he sees as his personal army of toys, is clear. The robots are his playthings and so are the scientists who work for him. In fact, he has paired Stella and Randall together for his own nefarious reasons. He understands that in pairing two attractive beings together that a relationship might possibly emerge between them. The question is, will Stella learn who-or what Randall really is before it is too late and she is already emotionally invested? This is the sixth iteration of the MEO software and Victor knows enough from previous pairings between scientists and MEO that a connection between them is inevitable. This is history repeating itself iteration after iteration. But why? This is the question Victor wants to answer--and control.

After signing on to work for Reid Robotics, Stella immediately begins working on the MEO project with Randall Reid, a mathematician and programmer dispatched by Victor to oversee the program and to manage Stella's dealings with R1836. Randall's job is to rein her in and ensure that their AI doesn't become more sentient than Victor desires. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens when R1836 falls in love with Stella, unbeknownst to the scientists. Problems ensue when Stella and Randall end the troubled project and find themselves on the run from Victor who demands that they return something that belongs to him. Something that could cost them their very lives. 

A secondary plot and timeline emergences involving a corporate spy dispatched to steal Victor's secrets and disrupt his plans...a task handed to a beautiful dancer, a woman with whom he has been secretly infatuated. The question, is she a cold-hearted spy or a woman just struggling to survive? Will she allow her heart to overrule her head?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781737705239
Publisher:	Love-LovePublishing
Publication date:	02/18/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	306
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

E. Hughes is a novelist and author of Sixth Iteration, Time and the Multi-Universe: A philosophy of time and time travel, The Penelope Children's Books, Disappear, Love,, A Mediterranean Romance : The Capa Royals, Business as Usual, Infatuation, The Sapphire Chronicles: Broken Lair, and Beyond the Plain. In her spare time, she is a hobbyist animator and previously wrote for screenwritersdaily.com. Hughes is also an avid observer of cultural and societal idiosyncrasies. Hughes has lived on the west coast and in Las Vegas, NV but spends most of her time in the Midwest where she writes and publishes novels, nonfiction, and children's books. .Hughes previously taught publishing and marketing at a Wisconsin college and appeared as a keynote speaker and expert at writing and publishing seminars and conferences. Hughes currently serves as the president of a publishing company where she works with authors nationwide and abroad.

Editorial Reviews

08/14/2023

This rich exploration of what it means to be human, alive, and loved from Hughes (author of Time and the Multiverse) blends chick-lit romance, smart of-the-moment science fiction, and a thrilling chase. In 2058, Dr. Stella Andrews is head researcher for the Anthropology Department at St. Claire University in Maine. She’s approached by eccentric Victor Reid from Reid Robotics Technologies to use computational linguistics to develop artificially intelligent programs that can learn human language as well as traits like happiness, anger, and hope. Her colleague is Victor’s partner Randall Reid, whose Greek-god physique and chiseled jawline make Stella swoon, but she soon finds him to be cold, disinterested, and focused solely on work. For the next year, Stella talks to R1836, a prototype AI program, teaching it about humanity, love, and attachment, preparing it for achieving sentience when it will then be transferred into an android-like organic Mechanically Enhanced Organism (MEO).

Hughes’s exploration into the process of human thinking and reasoning is sophisticated and introspective, as is the all-too-human need for love, attraction, and closeness, expertly developed through Stella’s compassion and intuition. But Stella gets concerned when she learns that R1836 has been accessing the lab’s cameras to watch her. Its interest is chilling: it declares its love for her, and says, “my desire is to leave the mainframe to be with you.” The tension mounts as she rebuffs it—and Randall rushes the experiment— all as Stella’s work is threatened by Elito, a corporate espionage agency.

Penned in crisp prose, this bold combination of romance and science fiction will thrill readers of various genres as the twists and turns of Hughes’s plot lead to a knockout revelation. That’s especially true as Stella and Randall must go on the run from the corporate spies and from Victor who intends to activate the AI’s kill switch, creating desperate, dangerous opportunities for this compelling duo to connect more deeply.

Takeaway: Smart, enticing blend of SF, romance, and a desperate chase.

Comparable Titles: Cassandra Rose Clarke’s Our Lady of the Ice, Michelle Diener’s Dark Horse.

Production grades Cover: B Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A- Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews