Ascendant

In a world dominated by The Mesh—a collective consciousness promising peace by erasing pain—seventeen-year-old Maya Thorne finds herself at the center of a moral dilemma after her fall from a virtual-reality empire leaves her hunted as a terrorist. As she confronts the true cost of unity and the fragile nature of human suffering, Maya must decide whether to embrace the bliss of forgetting or fight to preserve the imperfect truth of humanity. Meanwhile, a visionary named Alexander Vance aims to reshape human existence, adding complexity to the struggle for true peace.