What Rough Beast
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- Parts 41
In the near-future, the earth has been rocked by repeated strikes from debris left by the tail of a passing comet. Civilization is collapsing. People are desperate.
A leader, Adin, has emerged to care for countless millions of refugees through his NGO, The Kingdom. He is the hope for mankind. When an assassin shoots Adin in the head while he addresses the United Nations in New York, Adin's mentor, the contemplative Abbott Ben Keating, comes to his surgical bed at Mt. Sinai Hospital to witness not just Adin's miraculous recovery, but the genesis of a new being: the fusion of human mind with a powerful artificial intelligence (AI).
What Rough Beast follows the rise to power of this cyborg savior. The story unfolds through the experiences of Ben, as he tries to deter his pupil from his increasingly Messianic and dictatorial path; and of a family in Boulder, Colorado, refugees themselves from the growing lawlessness, who clash with Adin's growing ambitions.
This story isn't science fiction. It's prophecy.
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In a realm fueled by ambition, tradition, and the remnants of forgotten gods, the balance is fracturing. The system was never built to last-but it was built to control. Now, as rebellion stirs beneath polished stone and ancient power resurfaces in shadows, two dangerously ambitious souls find themselves at the center of it all. Neither wants to be a hero. Neither was meant to save anyone. But if they don't change, the entire realm will fall. Can two power-hungry disasters become something more-before it all burns?
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