Anti-Im! Anti-Im! Day One, a Modern Parable

Book excerpt: Anti-Im! Anti-Im! Day One, revives an ancient art form, the parable, to weave a modern mystery in four parts. At the heart of the mystery that unites artificial intelligence, genetic warfare and genocide into an entirely plausible context is 15-year-old Nicole Dee Showalter, a biracial girl from a small southern town, a nobody until she becomes the active carrier of a contagious disease that modifies the human genome. She is now on trial for a capital crime she allegedly committed when she was a teen. Four years beyond 15, she is in her 40s, aging quickly from her infection and fighting not just for her life but for the lives of countless humans who carry the latent germ she circulated. The parable is full of dark moments and sayings told in a well-lit courtroom. Day One is the first installment of four.