Briareos

The Infallible Machine Briareos

Rien means "zero," or "nothing." From the first words out of his mouth, "Well, I'm no writer, either," we discover that Rien Andreen isn't any good at anything. He's an average 18 year old with no singular qualities about him. But something is wrong and he cannot understand what it is. The world moving around him is not what it seems. It isn't working at all, far from it- it's falling apart. This is crystallized when he cannot save his beloved dying mother from a disease that he discovers was once curable. And there's nothing he can do about it. Rien has no say in this world whatsoever. He cannot affect change in his life. He cannot choose his work. He cannot think for himself or shed the onslaught of tenets piped into his head by the Voice. He cannot create. He is not happy. When he is suddenly chosen for the role as interrogator for a disembodied brain everything changes. The answers to his questions are like nothing he could imagine. Could it be possible that everything he knew, everything he had been told...was wrong? His every premise is challenged and turned upside down. What is this brain? Where did it come from? What exactly is it saying? What do the social engineers want from it? Where will it lead Rien and what will he do now? This is where the story begins....