The Cortex Protocol

In a city where focus is mandatory and chaos is a crime, the only weapon left is a broken mind.

Neo-Veridian is the perfect city. Crime is zero. Productivity is absolute. The citizens walk in silent, synchronized lockstep, their minds perfectly focused, their bodies perfectly still.

They are compliant. And they are trapped.

The Cortex Protocol-a neural implant fused to the brain's basal ganglia-has eradicated distraction, cured impulsivity, and suppressed the chaotic noise of the human mind. It is the ultimate cure for neurodivergence.

But the architect of the Protocol, a brilliant, burned-out neuroscientist named Aris Thorne, knows the truth: it didn't cure humanity. It lobotomized it.

When Synapse Corp prepares to broadcast the "Lobotomy Update"-a permanent severance of the brain's capacity for divergent thinking-Aris is forced out of hiding. But to infiltrate the most secure fortress in the world, he needs a team whose brains the Cortex network cannot filter.

The Team:

• Kira "Jolt" Jolene: An underground hacker with severe ADHD and Tourette's. Her chaotic, hyper-focused mind is the only thing fast enough to breach the Cortex firewall.
• Silas: A non-verbal, dyspraxic savant. He can't walk a straight line, but his brilliant, terrifying spatial-mapping mind can navigate a shifting, dynamic labyrinth in seconds.
• Elias Vance: A high-masking, psychopathic executive. He is Aris's former partner, and he claims he wants to help take the company down from the inside.