One-Eighty (A Short Story)

Serial killer, Sid Niles, is on the hunt again. His next target has all the desirable traits of his past victims: young, beautiful, and female. Little does he know that she is about to turn the tables on him and cause his world to come crumbling down.In 2036, true artificial intelligence bots (Taibots) live in society and form relationships with humans; they behave like humans in every aspect. However, Olivia thinks Taibots are just a piece of machinery and have no understanding of what they are talking about. In other words, she doesn’t believe artificial consciousness is possible. But things get complicated after Toby enters her life. Despite the fact he seems like a Taibot, Olivia is certain Toby has human consciousness.On the eve of the sixth mass extinction, resulting from anthropogenic climate change, is artificial consciousness the answer to keeping human consciousness—the apex of 4.5 billion years of evolution—sustained in a universe without humans? Is Olivia able to find out why Toby so resembles her boyfriend who died five years earlier? How would the world deal with the imminent global wipe-out?It’s a fast-paced adventure that entails philosophical discussions about consciousness, love, life, the future of humanity and the universe.