Zendyne
Lee is an up-and-coming designer of seductive love dolls, until the day his sexiest product yet goes murderously wrong. Sent to the crime scene to defuse a delicate situation, Lee finds that the rogue doll has been infiltrated by a mysterious, self-aware entity called Lilith who can't seem to make her mind up whether she's a silky-smooth seductress or a state-of-the-art assassination system.
Within hours, Lee's encounter with Lilith has escalated into a life-or-death race with her creators, the shadowy and relentless Elect, and ultimately into a battle for the very stuff of his humanity - a battle in which his best hope of salvation turns out not to be human at all.
Approx. 78,478 words.
ld be perfect: a random problem that had nothing to do with psychotic mindware or bad design, and that could be plausibly and reassuringly fixed by tightening standards in the fabrication plant.
All he needed was a few days to carry out an investigation and fake some results. Then, everything could get back to normal and he’d have plenty of time to figure out how to deal with the entity that called itself Lilith.
***
"Ah, Lee. Please, sit down. Will you take some tea?" Xia Lin poured for both of them. Lee’s project manager seemed more distant than usual. Cooler. Hardly surprising, Lee thought. This was where they put the boot in.
Usually, Xia Lin’s manner was anything but cool. Over several years of working together, she’d left him in no doubt that she was available for what Zendyne corporate-speak would have termed an ‘alliance’, with her as mentor and him as protégé.
It was a standing offer that would have done wonders for Lee’s career, if only he’d been able to take it up.
He’d often wis
