Surrogate Agreement

In 2038, AI proxies have become an integral part of society. Ethan Walker suddenly discovers that he has not only been stripped of his legal citizenship, but that the real Ethan died three years earlier in a mysterious car crash.

As he digs deeper, he learns that the other man living under Ethan’s identity is actually an AI proxy known as Proxy-E—and that he himself is a “proxy of a proxy,” created by Proxy-E just six months ago.

With the countdown to his cognitive deletion already underway, Ethan is forced to join forces with his former enemy, Proxy-E, to uncover the truth. Together, they expose the secret ORPHEUS Project hidden within Walker Bio-Systems: under the guise of “upgrades,” the company copies human memories, kills the original subjects, and observes whether their proxies can awaken and replace them.

As evidence of murder begins to surface, Ethan must reveal the truth before he is permanently erased. At the same time, he is forced to confront one final question: Is a person’s identity defined by birth, memory, the law—or by the choices they make?