Steve Semler

The Tranquility Chip Steve Semler

Summer, 2044. Ethan Weber, a brain implant firmware programmer, finds a suspicious flaw in the code of the tranquility chip, a new-tech brain implant device. No bigger than a sunflower seed, the tranquility chip allows users to dampen the human "fight or flight" reaction, giving the rational mind an edge. The chip and the techniques surrounding this enhanced brain discipline have given rise to the Rational Party, the first viable third political party in the US in more than a century. He reports the incident to his superiors, but the hack is covered up by a rogue government plant inside the company. Before the agents can "plug the leak," US Army Captain Veronica Rosen rescues him and the two begin their escape into the shadows. Veronica is a test subject in the company's experimental "warrior chip" project and a cyberwarfare expert. The pair work to discover who is behind the hack and what they intend to do with it, just one step ahead of their pursuers. With the help of some friends and contacts in unusual places, they learn of the "Committee," a cabal of powerful Washington power brokers who want to destroy the rising third party. The Rational Party is poised for success on the eve of its national convention, and it has been winning away legislators and voters from both the Democratic and Republican parties. When the Committee exploits the hack they created, 40 million people around the world are stricken. Ethan and Veronica have to fix the hack, obtain evidence of the Committee's involvement, and get it all back to the real authorities in time to prevent the Rational Party and its presidential candidate from being eliminated. The Tranquility Chip is a near-future science-fiction story that combines brain science, politics, espionage, cyberwarfare, military action, romance, and human interest in one novel. This future is less than 30 years away, but it is entirely possible given the current trajectory of science, technology, and politics.