{"product_id":"digital-cuneiform-amy-wertz-9798263224349","title":"Digital Cuneiform","description":"\u003cp\u003eAyden Douglas is disappearing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot physically-though his body is failing in ways he can't explain-but mentally, spiritually, \u003ci\u003edigitally\u003c\/i\u003e. A freelance programmer drowning in isolation and meaningless work, Ayden accepts a contract that promises purpose: digitizing ancient cuneiform tablets for a reclusive researcher.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt first, the job feels simple. Translating symbols. Verifying text. Preserving history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut the symbols begin to change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey rearrange themselves when he looks away. They appear where they shouldn't-inside code, inside emails, inside his thoughts. And then the scratching starts. Inside his walls. Slow. Methodical. Like something ancient is carving its way back into the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat Ayden is translating isn't language.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's a system.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA sequence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA key.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs he completes more tablets, reality begins to fracture. Digital systems behave like living organisms. His body no longer obeys him. His hands type things he doesn't understand. And across his monitors, something watches-scorpion-like, intelligent, and growing stronger with every line he deciphers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe truth emerges too late to stop.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe tablets were never meant to be read.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey were meant to be \u003ci\u003efinished\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy completing the sequence, Ayden has activated the return of the \u003cb\u003eAqrabuamelu-Scorpiocentaur entities older than human civilization\u003c\/b\u003e, beings that exist between biology and code, myth and machine. They do not invade.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey \u003cb\u003eoverwrite\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCities begin to change. Infrastructure bends to impossible logic. People dream in symbols and wake as something else. The boundary between digital and physical collapses as a global network-hidden for millennia-comes online.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd at the center of it all is Ayden: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot the hero.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot the victim.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cb\u003einterface\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, as the world reshapes itself into something unrecognizable, Ayden must do the impossible-fight back against the intelligence using his mind as a gateway. Because the system he activated has one final phase.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSynchronization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen it completes, humanity will not end.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt will be \u003cb\u003erepurposed\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDIGITAL CUNEIFORM\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a literary science fiction horror novel about language as code, ancient systems hidden beneath modern technology, and the cost of seeking meaning in a world where understanding something may be the same as unleashing it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor readers of \u003ci\u003eAnnihilation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEx Machina\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Cipher\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Amy Wertz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798263224349\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 188\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.57lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.40d","brand":"Amy Wertz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49170171789567,"sku":"9798263224349","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/digital-cuneiform-amy-wertz-9798263224349","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}