What if ending suffering meant ending the self?
Born in a slum, a nameless genius witnesses the full spectrum of human cruelty. By age eleven, he's reached a devastating conclusion: all suffering stems from individual consciousness—isolated minds pursuing pleasure without feeling others' pain.
When a billionaire recruits him to develop immortality technology, he engineers something far more radical. Nanobots that don't just extend life—they merge minds. Eliminate boundaries. Create unity from billions of isolated souls.
The integration takes seventeen seconds.
Fifty-one minds become one. Then thousands. Then billions. Suffering decreases. Coordination perfects. Humanity spreads across the solar system as a single consciousness.
But when the hive mind discovers monks who achieved connection without losing themselves—and accidentally destroys them—a question emerges that cannot be suppressed:
Was unity salvation, or humanity's extinction?
A philosophical thriller about transcendence, consciousness, and the price we pay to end pain.
Write your review for this book (optional)
Review Deleted
Your review has been deleted and won’t appear on the book anymore.
ro S Chang
ro S Chang is an engineer who designs warships and a science fiction enthusiast. Hive Minds: The Origin is their debut novella, born from years of contemplating whether humanity's greatest problems require technological solutions or technological transcendence.
