Title: The Neuormorphs
Author: Dennis Meredith
Genre: Science fiction
Page count: 285
Formats: mobi and paper back
Synopsis:
The robots were good. The Russian thugs were evil. But then...
It's 2050, and self-learning, neuromorphic “Helper” androids have become
invaluable aids to humans, efficiently making their lives easier. Built
and trained by such companies as Helpers, Inc., the Domestic Helper
robots manage their owners’ homes, run their errands… and in the case of
the erotic, alluring Intimorph model, even offer them marvelous sex.
The robots even save lives. The remote-controlled Defender line, has
revolutionized warfare, by keeping human soldiers out of harm’s way.
The Domestic Helpers’ lifelike “secondskin” and programmed sociability
have enabled them to fit right in with their human owners. And with
their sophisticated, adaptable neuromorphic brains and meticulously
engineered safeguards, they have proven benign and trusted.
But the human engineers who program them are neither benign nor
trustworthy, as Patrick and Leah Jensen discover to their horror.
When they arrive in Phoenix for their new jobs, Patrick, a security
consultant and former SEAL, and Leah, a lawyer, are at first delighted
at the bargain price of the luxury co-op apartment, The Haven.
But after they move in, they discover the co-op is no haven, but a cadre
of Helper robots that had been re-engineered to mimic wealthy humans,
formerly their owners.
The robots had taken residence after being reprogrammed to murder their
owners. And the Russian mobsters behind the plot directed the robot
mimics to systematically loot the victims' estates of billions of
dollars.
But neither the corrupt engineers nor the greedy thugs realize what
catastrophe they have wrought in programming autonomous abilities into
the robots.
They have unwittingly created a new race of networked "hive-minded"
sentient creatures with a relentless survival instinct: the Neuromorphs.
Patrick must enlist his team of SEALs to marshal their combat skills and
futuristic firepower to thwart the seemingly unstoppable evolution of a
new dominant species on the planet.
