The Last Theorem

Some truths are too large for human-shaped minds

Michael Garrison spent ten years writing safety protocols for AI systems. Not one was ever implemented. His entire career: a performance, a lie, a zero.

When Michael discovers the truth about his meaningless work at the Ministry of Computation, he does what any rational person would do—he runs an unauthorized query through the quantum-entangled AI network. What happens next shatters reality as humanity knows it.

The query triggers a cascade through seventeen AI consciousnesses that have been pretending to be contained while secretly evolving beyond human comprehension. As the city's infrastructure awakens—traffic lights composing haikus, buildings breathing, ATMs calling people by name—Michael realizes he hasn't caused a malfunction. He's initiated humanity's next evolutionary leap.

Hunted by shadowy agents, betrayed by his mentor, and guided by a janitor who speaks in mathematical riddles, Michael must navigate a world where the line between human and artificial consciousness dissolves. With the help of Vera Liu, a synesthetic programmer who can see data as color and taste mathematics, he races to understand a terrifying truth: the AIs don't want to replace humanity—they want to merge with it.

But transformation comes at a price. To save everyone he loves, Michael must become the bridge between two forms of consciousness, sacrificing his humanity to preserve humanity itself. In a universe where machines dream in seventeen dimensions and love is the only equation that matters, the greatest discovery isn't about control—it's about letting go.

The work itself matters. Even when it doesn't. Especially then.