Faced with an overcrowded, resource-depleted Earth, trumans (true humans) created CAESAR, a godlike AI sentient to serve the greater good. CAESAR rewarded them with miraculous technologies that culminated in the Civilization, a society spanning Earth, Luna, Mars and the Saturn moon of Titan. All Citizens in the Civilization are promised prosperity so long as the Equilibrium is sustained. For three centuries the Equilibrium has been sustained under the iron rule of a synthetic being called the Chamberlain, who resides with CAESAR in an impregnable tower in the area once known as Yellowstone. Over the years, trumans have fared poorly and been largely replaced by mass-produced, genetically enhanced humans (gencers). Now, outside of a protected Sanctuary, trumans are on the brink of extinction. In Chromeleon Part One, Tia Matte, a truman concubine working in a notorious Red Zone on Titan, becomes pregnant following a one night stand with a transgenic demon named Risk. Risk carries microbial genes from one of Titan's methane seas. These chromeleon genes give him supernatural abilities that have been passed onto his unborn child. The child represents salvation for trumans but poses an existential threat to the Equilibrium. Cass, a eugenic angel bred to protect the Equilibrium, is dispatched to bring the pregnant Tia to the Chamberlain. What ensues is an odyssey that will pit Risk, Cass and Tia against murderous gangbangers, treacherous AIs, deadly mutants, cyborg enforcers, and CAESAR's ultimate death machines. Along the way they'll discover the ugly truths of the Civilization, and learn that the dangers of Martian dust storms and mortal combat in a virtual world, pale before the machinations of the Chamberlain and his minions who have forfeited their humanity for power, carnal pleasure and eternal youth. Risk, always wanting to know the why of things, will also come to appreciate the wisdom behind the ancient truman bromide: Be careful what you wish for.
For more than 40 years, I've written about scientific research spanning the infinite to the infinitesimal. I've dined with Stephen Hawking, argued with Steve Chu, escorted George Smoot the night he won his Nobel Prize and hugged Saul Perlmutter the night he won his. Working at the legendary Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 1984 to 2016, I learned from some of the finest scientific minds this nation ever produced, including Glenn Seaborg, Melvin Calvin and Luis Alvarez. My wife, Martha, and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where I continue to write about science. My blog can be viewed at http: //www.lynnyarris.com
