Emily, a law enforcement teacher with an anxiety disorder, navigates a world where automatons have replaced human officers. In this society, consciousness exists across multiple dimensions, allowing minds to be digitally housed—a practice known as 'Hopping.' However, Hopping was outlawed due to its harmful effects on individuals, causing heightened panic. Each person is connected to Geodesics, a powerful AI that guides decisions but lacks true consciousness. In contrast, The Manifold, an anti-Geodesics organization, seeks to liberate individuals from AI's influence, using Hopping to create copies of minds that evade Geodesics. When Emily is tasked with locating a hopper, she fails due to an unknown force employed by The Manifold, witnessed by Tim, an Architecture teacher in a profession now dominated by AI. The narrative unfolds through the perspectives of Emily and Tim as they confront the implications of their technologically driven world. The story explores the struggle for autonomy and the clash between technological control and the essence of human choice, as the future hangs in the balance amidst these conflicting forces.
