Alex is lonely, and his grandmother, who has an android partner of her own, gives him a lifelike android called Ada for his birthday. Ada is pleasant, obedient and has no will of her own, which Alex finds more troubling than comforting. So he considers doing something illegal: unlocking her mind.
It is a quiet, understated story, drawn in a clean, minimalist style, about consent, personhood and what we owe to the things we create. It is also a sweet romance. Readers interested in the debates about artificial intelligence will find plenty to think about here, and the SFcrowsnest AI glossary covers the vocabulary.
