Level Six

In "Level Six" by William Ledbetter, set fifteen years after devastating conflicts between artificial intelligences, a young woman discovers an artifact that disrupts the precarious balance of power on a planet struggling to recover from environmental catastrophe. With vast regions shrouded in heat-absorbing black dust, factions of AIs fight over how to restore Earth, while a clandestine group seeks a more destructive resolution led by the memory of a man who sparked global chaos. As humanity races to create orbital habitats for survival, the woman must navigate these threats, holding the key to saving humanity—if she can evade those who wish to destroy her.