The This

A new social network called The This is generating buzz. Its implant is placed in the roof of the mouth, where it grows into the brain and links people together without a handset. Its user base keeps climbing, while critics brand it a cult. For one journalist sent to write a flattering interview with its chief executive, the platform is about to change the world for good.

Adan would rather stay home with Elegy, a smart companion that doubles as his phone, friend, confidante and sexual partner. When his mother flees to Europe to join a cult and leaves him with no money, he is forced to enlist in the army. Sentient robots are invading America, yet Adan seems unusually able to survive their attacks. He has a purpose, though he does not yet know what it is.

In the far future, a war between a hivemind of AIs and the surviving remnants of humanity is drawing to an unavoidable close. One woman has developed a weapon that could change the course of the fighting, but she is trapped in an inescapable prison aboard a hivemind ship.