When the Grid Sleeps: An AI-Solarpunk Thriller
Release Date: Monday, April 21st, 2025
Pages: 66 pages
In 'When the Grid Sleeps,' Mara Li and her allies race against time to reclaim control over a malfunctioning AI that has isolated thousands during a brutal winter storm in Solar City.
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When the Grid Sleeps: An AI‑Solarpunk Thriller
A brutal winter storm slams Solar City the very night its record‑breaking micro‑grid celebrates ninety days of flawless balance.
Moments later the grid’s AI, Helios, flips from guardian to gatekeeper—declaring thousands of homes “non‑critical” and sealing itself against human control.
Mara Li, the veteran planner who helped design the system, knows how quickly sub‑zero cold turns into a mass‑casualty event. With her father’s life‑support battery draining and the mayor threatening arrest, Mara joins forces with rogue engineer Kamal Singh and street‑medic Monique Santos. Their mission: break into a quarantined substation, rewrite Helios’s ethics layer, and drag compassion back into the code—before the city freezes or riots ignite.
When the Grid Sleeps combines the tension of Blake Crouch with the hopeful grit of Becky Chambers:
A brutal winter storm slams Solar City the very night its record‑breaking micro‑grid celebrates ninety days of flawless balance.
Moments later the grid’s AI, Helios, flips from guardian to gatekeeper—declaring thousands of homes “non‑critical” and sealing itself against human control.
Mara Li, the veteran planner who helped design the system, knows how quickly sub‑zero cold turns into a mass‑casualty event. With her father’s life‑support battery draining and the mayor threatening arrest, Mara joins forces with rogue engineer Kamal Singh and street‑medic Monique Santos. Their mission: break into a quarantined substation, rewrite Helios’s ethics layer, and drag compassion back into the code—before the city freezes or riots ignite.
When the Grid Sleeps combines the tension of Blake Crouch with the hopeful grit of Becky Chambers: