A story of a man who, through good intentions and unlucky circumstances, becomes the most wanted criminal on the planet. Hired to a powerful tech company with no background in the field, Nathaniel Hensley has to discover the mysteries that surround him if he has any chance of making it out alive.

Community Reviews(2)

GyodedRoyal Road

★★★★★ 5.0

What a story. I honestly don't know where to begin, but I'll try.
Nathaniel is one of my favorite main characters that I've ever read about, even if sometimes it didn't quite seem like he was the main character--he was almost a side thought of those who were more powerful then him, with motivations that only strung him along. Still, I found him the most interesting. He took those motivations, and he really tried.
I wanted to know more about his past, more about what drove him to run with such guilt from himself. He was impulsive and instinctual, yet truely seemed to know what he wanted--even if he hated that part of himself, enough to try and desperately change it. I felt sympathy for the intense guilt he felt, only for being who he was. His nature was not chosen by him, yet in the time of the story, he seemed to hate that very nature, and it was saddening. "He convinces people he is worth something, worth something positive and good." I feel he tried to convince himself of that most of all.
The ending was fantastic. We don't know whether Nathaniel will choose to use perma tech, but even if he does, everything will still be transitory. No one will remember what he did; Anders will most likely be forgotten even though he achieved his goal. In hundreds of years, perhaps no one will know that he started it all.
What a world the author built, but still the best part is the characters. With nothing left to live for, as there is nothing preventing death, the degradation of what makes those humans unique is the most depressing thing of it all.
Perhaps I've gotten everything wrong, but I still want to say thank you--thanks for writing such a story, and for allowing me to read it. I hope you continue to write, and share your ideas with the world.

KurtOfConspiracyRoyal Road

★★★★ 4.0

This was a fun little story. When so many web fictions are endless sprawling things, I liked reading something quick that has a proper ending before too long.
The ideas in the story were interesting. A bit shallow, but that's hard to avoid in a shorter story. The characters were a bit one-note as well. This felt very intentional in Anders, he was an interesting antagonist, purposefully inhuman and therefore dangerous without being evil or malicious. But the other characters being almost as flat weakened the effect. They all fulfilled their purpose just fine, they just would have contrasted better with Anders if a bit less strange themselves.

The Prototype

Community Rating

Description

Information

Tags

Royal Road Stats

Chapters(20 total)

Reviews

Community Reviews(2)