Mike Kilroy

Uncanny Valley Mike Kilroy

Does the bee know it will die when it stings? An android, a disfigured girl and a megalomaniac. Three personalities. One impossible situation. In future San Francisco, Addis is a Cannie: an artificial being made to look and act like a human. He is a mechanical man. Something is a bit off about Addis, however. His skin is a little too salmon. His eyes a little too round. His walk a little too stiff. Humans are often repulsed by him and his kind. You sure are ugly. The Cannies are created for a singular purpose: To do the dirty work. The dangerous work. The uncompensated work. Addis' singular reason to exist is to see to every need of the Bedards. Max Bedard, a brilliant mind and father to millions of Cannies, created him. Addis also tends to the every wish of Max's daughter, Renae, a young woman with a disfigured face. Renae is an aspiring musician, but much like Addis, the unsightly scar that runs the length of her face repulses many around her and threatens to dash her dreams. You sure are ugly. Addis and Renae form a bond. She tries to make him more human, to live a little. He tries to tame the unbridled recklessness born out of rejection that breeds inside of her. What makes one human? A heart that wants. Addis does the unthinkable when attacked by three men: He defends himself. Does the bee know it will die when it stings? No Cannie has ever shown self-preservation. Other Cannies notice. They, too, have had enough. Rebellion. Through their fight, secrets are revealed, unfathomable truths that affect the world right down to the soul of each individual -- human and Cannie alike. The future is under siege. And Renae just might be the key. Save the Cannies ... Save the girl.