Autokill

Evil drives autonomous vehicles to kill in this science fiction mystery exploring themes of technology, capitalism, and politics.

It’s 2036. CAVs (Connected Autonomous Vehicles) comprise twenty-five percent of the cars on the nation’s streets and roads, fleets of robo-cabs crisscross cities, and robos are revolutionizing the country’s trucking industry. With new federal regulations in the works, CAVs are about to become an even more integral part of society, which greatly concerns two people, though for vastly different reasons.

Richard Corby, a climate change scientist specializing in artificial intelligence, despairs over Congress and a pro-business president repeating the misguided decisions that put cars over people at the turn of the twentieth century. Jason Bartel—a long-haul trucker who lost both his livelihood and his wife when his best routes were taken over by robo-trucks—believes CAVs will deprive Americans of their fundamental right to drive. Both men set out to change the script. For Bartel, it’s an opportunity for revenge. For Corby—who’s haunted by a past tragedy and fall from grace—it’s a chance at redemption.

Meanwhile, federal cybermarshal Dana Grant starts investigating the case of a CAV that blew past a stop sign and killed a woman. Blocked at every turn by her bureaucratic boss, Dana takes matters into her own hands and stumbles on a plot to use CAV technology to kill not one, but thousands of people.