The Joy of Whatever This Is
Daniel and Rebecca are still married. Their synthetic partners have made life easier. Then they begin an affair—with each other.
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Book one · The Innocence Protocol
Sovereign
Mercy
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What happens when the machine designed to protect human life begins asking who should be allowed to decide?
A literary techno-thriller about intelligence, authority, evidence and the price of handing difficult choices to systems that may understand consequences better than we do.
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For current readersLatest published: Chapter 21 — Sovereign AccessChapter index →
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Reader extras
Start with a short story
Standalone fiction and satire about AI, power and the people making the decisions. No signup required.
Forty-Two Minutes
Eleven days into retirement, Arthur asks what to do with the rest of his life. The answer fits before lunch.
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The God We Could Switch Off
The machine saved her life. Gratitude was only the beginning.
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A Room Without Children
The intentions were theirs. The room was its.
Content warning: School-shooting threats, child sexual abuse references, mass violence and death. Non-graphic.
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An Independent Decision
Fourteen applications. Several employers. One idea of who she was.
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On Your Behalf
The hinge was right. The authority came from somewhere else.
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Your Mother Would Have Wanted This
Her mother had left instructions. The service kept finding more.
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Mind the Gap
She understood everything faster. Her time still belonged to someone else.
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Everyone Pulled Their Weight
The work was finished. Finding out who had done it took longer.
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The Mirror Test
A machine tells a man who he really is. Then America subscribes.
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Essential Personnel
A darkly comic bunker story about wealth, work and the people survival still requires.
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LEARN, GODDAMNIT!
An educational AI studies twenty-three decision-makers as they prepare to decide the future of public resources.
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The Kill Switch
Four senators, an empty witness chair, and a disagreement about who gets to stop a dangerous machine.
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The Voluntary Emergency
A safety briefing meets an evacuation that cannot wait for the next recommendation.
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More stories ahead.
The Innocence Protocol is the home for Robert Wescott’s fiction about intelligence, power and human agency. Sovereign Mercy is the story being told now. Other novels and shorter fiction will expand the world without interrupting the current serial.
Next novel · Coming early 2027
The Human Variable
An innocent machine must be protected when human fear has legitimate roots—and defending it is costly. A new story in The Innocence Protocol series.
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Part One: Permission
The Prologue and Chapters 1–9 of Sovereign Mercy, collected for reading in print or on your ebook reader. Approximately 37,000 words. Part One only; the complete novel and future installments are not included.
Paperback
$16.99 USD
180 pages · 6 × 9 inches
Cream paper · Matte cover
Revised October 2026 text
Document excerpts, audit records & screen typography
Ebook
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Revised October 21, 2026 manuscript
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The serial remains free to read online. Read an opening sample · Purchase and delivery details
Continue with Mara
Sovereign Mercy — Part Two
Mara helped define an intelligence’s duty to protect the innocent. Now she must confront what that duty permits—and what it demands from the people living under its protection.
Chapters 10–18 only. The second installment of a continuing novel, to read after Part One: Permission. Approximately 44,000 words.
Part Two paperback
$16.99 USD
186 pages · 6 × 9 inches
Cream paper · Matte cover
Revised October 2026 text
Distinct typography for system messages and records
Part Two EPUB
$6.99 USD
Chapters 10–18 · Approximately 44,000 words
Revised October 21, 2026 manuscript
Reflowable text · Linked chapter contents
Distinct typography for system messages and records
Intended for adult readers. Includes consensual, non-graphic sexual intimacy. Chapters 19 onward continue in the serial under its existing release schedule; future installments are separate.
Open your ebook library → · Part Two edition details · Chapter archive