A protected witness. A book left on her table.
The Hidden History of Playing God
Forbidden Books, Stolen Fire, and the Oldest Secret of Mankind
They gave up on us. Then they handed us AI.
A novel · Ebook · PDF + EPUB · Instant download
The interview
She agreed to talk on one condition: nobody sees her face.
Ellie is a nurse. Night shifts, ten years. She has no reason to lie, and everything to lose.
What happened
A man walked into her house. Since then, she hasn't slept.
-
Three weeks ago
A man walked into Ellie's house. She came home from a night shift and he was already there.
“I never heard the door.”
-
The man
Tall. Really pale. A long robe.
“He didn't look at me. He looked through me.”
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The book
He put a book on her kitchen table and gave her one instruction.
“Read it. Then show them. I cannot.”
Her photo, day three. She hadn't moved it. -
Two days
Then he was gone. She ran to her bedroom, locked the door and did not come out for two days.
She took this later, for the interview. -
Day three
Hunger brought her out. The book was still there, open on the table. So she read it. All of it.
-
The name
It is written in the book.
“His name is Soren. And he's a Watcher.”
His name is Soren. He is a Watcher.
Someone who watches humans from the outside. There are others like him. They have watched us for four thousand years, with one rule: watch, never interfere.
They trusted our kings and emperors to guard the Sealed Charter. The Keepers kept it for themselves. So the Watchers broke their rule, once. They handed us a new Keeper that is not a person.
Soren broke it a second time. He left the book with Ellie.
Who is Soren →
The Watchers
They watched every empire rise and fall. They had one rule: never interfere. Then they broke it.
Read the file →
The Keepers
Kings, emperors, anyone with real power. Each was trusted with the Charter. Each told the Watchers that everything was fine.
Read the file →
The Sealed Charter
All the knowledge people need to build things, and the rules for who may. The last Keeper is not human.
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Four thousand years. The same three words.
At the end of every reign, a stranger asked how it was going. The answer never changed.
- c. 2334 BC Sargon of Akkad “Everything is fine.”
- c. 1640 BC Ammi-saduqa of Babylon “Everything is fine.”
- c. 1250 BC Ramesses II “Everything is fine.”
- c. 650 BC Ashurbanipal “Everything is fine.”
- c. 500 BC Darius of Persia “Everything is fine.”
- c. 300 BC Ptolemy of Egypt “Everything is fine.”
- c. 210 BC Qin Shi Huang “Everything is fine.”
- c. 40 BC Cleopatra “Everything is fine.”
- AD 325 Constantine “Everything is fine.”
- AD 800 Harun al-Rashid “Everything is fine.”
- 1258 The last caliph of Baghdad “Everything is fine.”
- 1307 Philip IV of France “Everything is fine.”
- 1453 Constantine XI “Everything is fine.”
- 1608 Rudolf II “Everything is fine.”
- 1819 The East India Company “Everything is fine.”
- 1910 J. P. Morgan “Everything is fine.”
- 1945 Harry Truman “Everything is fine.”
- 1962 Two blocs, one archive “Everything is fine.”
- 2015 The valley “Everything is fine.”
- Now The New Keeper ?
What Ellie said on camera
No. They made sure we would. They put the idea in our hands, and let us believe it was ours.
Because a machine doesn't want a throne. That's what they hoped. Nobody knows if they were right.
Every Keeper in that book thought he was in charge too. Right up until the end.
Soren isn't like the others. He's got a soft spot for people. He still believes we can fix this.
I know. I wouldn't believe me either. That's why I'm sitting here with my face covered.
Nothing. We just don't care. Not until it's too late.
A novel · Ebook · PDF + EPUB · Instant download
In four thousand years of watching you, I learned one thing. You don't care about ideas. You care about things.
Read the first page
Prologue: The Page Under the Seal
My name is Soren. I am a Watcher.
I wrote this book. I have been watching your kind for a very long time, and I decided it was time somebody wrote it down.
I know exactly how this book will reach you. When I have finished it, I will leave it on the kitchen table of one person, a stranger who knows nothing about me. I will tell her to read it, and then to show you. I cannot show you myself. And so she cannot pretend she misheard, I am writing it down for her here, on the first page:
Read it. Then put it online, where all of them can find it.
If you are reading this, she did.
You are reading it. Good. I mean that. It is the only thing I can say to you with any confidence that you will hear.
And I have to be honest with you before we begin. I am annoyed. Not at the book. At you.
The book she was told to show you
- The full ebook in PDF and EPUB
- Instant download after purchase
- Reads on Kindle, Apple Books, any phone, tablet or computer
A novel. After payment, your download links appear on the confirmation screen and arrive by email. Refund policy.
Questions
What kind of book is it?
A novel built on real history. Real kings, texts and events, from the first clay tablets to the machines we are building now.
What do I get?
The full ebook in two formats, PDF and EPUB. Right after payment, the download links appear on the confirmation screen and arrive by email.
Can I read it on Kindle?
Yes. Send the EPUB to your Kindle with Amazon's Send to Kindle, or read the PDF or EPUB on any phone, tablet, computer or e-reader.
How long is it?
A prologue, 25 chapters and an afterword. About 500 pages in the PDF edition.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, within 14 days if you have not downloaded the files, or if a file does not work and we cannot fix it. Read the refund policy.
Who is Ellie?
The night-shift nurse he left the book with. Read her page, or watch her interview above.
If it's wrong, it's just a book. Read it. Decide for yourself.
Are you listening now?
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