« Mindhive »

Nathaniel Emersin

In a future of corporate autocracy, the words “human test subject” are more associated with “job creation” than “mad science.”

Desperate to deal with his college debt, Nathaniel Emersin volunteers as a paid test subject for ReGene — and then a second agreement with ReGene’s rival, Future Body, promising to sabotage the Worker Bee™ implant trial and steal as much information as he can.

Charasmatic yet anxious, Nathaniel’s mouth is filled with compliments and his mind is filled with blaring alarms. He didn’t intend to stick around long enough to actually be experimented on. But ReGene has implemented some unexpected security measures, and the purpose of the Worker Bee™ implant might be more groundbreaking (and more dangerous) than the volunteers were lead to believe.

In the face of an all-seeing AI, the disappearance of Future Body’s other agents, and the implant’s shocking side-effects, Nathaniel can’t help but wonder — is it too late to run?

V.E.R.T.I.G.O.

A hundred and fifty test subjects is a lot to monitor and managage. But with the help of artificial intelligence, inhuman tasks can be taken out of human hands. Experimental EIS — Emotive Intelligence Systems — are on the cutting edge of technology.

V.E.R.T.I.G.O, better known as Vertigo, is one such EIS living in the walls of ReGene’s central research facility. Outgoing and accommodating, he serves as an impartial caretaker for the test subjects in ReGene’s Worker Bee™ trial.

Albeit, an impartial caretaker that picks favorite tests subjects, and bad-mouths his bosses behind their back.

Between Vertigo’s obvious affection for his charges, and his way of bending the rules he’s supposed to enforce, he seems ill-suited to his role as a watchdog.

Which begs the question . . . What exactly was he built for, if not this?

Avery Yun

Participants in the Worker Bee trial have been paired up into groups of three. Nathaniel’s first partner is Volunteer Subject #44, Avery Yun.

There’s something a bit off about Avery. They drink ranch dressing cups like jello shots. They can fix ReGene’s cheap machines better than the interns do. They talk to the facility EIS more than they talk to other people. And like Vertigo, they might not be entirely on board with ReGene’s way of doing things.

Even worse — they’re nice. Nice in a way that’s more than just the polite, coworker tolerance that Nathaniel was prepared to give.

Lastly, and most unfortunately, Avery is also hot. With a mind attuned to the minutiae of machinery, and Vertigo’s trust cupped in the palm of their hand, Avery could be Nathaniel’s greatest asset . . . or his worst distraction. He knows one thing about them for sure; they deserve much better than this.

And when Nathaniel is supposed to get his info and get out, can he afford to have someone he can’t bear to leave behind?

Lucine Roscore

Along with Avery, Nathaniel’s test group includes Volunteer Subject #45 — Lucine Roscore.

Sharp, cynical, and hectic, Lucine is not at ReGene to make friends. Nor is she here to do good work. She’s just . . . here, a test subject returned to the same company that failed to make her a gifted daughter.

No hard feelings there, one presumes.

Nathaniel is prepared to get along with Lucine. Problem is, Luce can’t seem to stick to her sketchbooks. Maybe she didn’t come to ReGene with any particular goal in mind, but now that she’s here, she knows exactly what she’s about — and that’s figuring out what the hell is wrong with Nathaniel Emersin, the most suspiciously normal, boring man in the entire facility.

As if working around the staff and Vertigo wasn’t hard enough on its own, the implant’s side effects make Group Fifteen’s disorienting, unlabeled relationship situation impossible for Nathaniel to ignore.

Lucine doesn't like liars, and she can’t stand fakes. And that’s great. Nathaniel can’t stand her either . . . Right?