The Algorithm

by Devon Greene

In a future Moscow ruled by an all-seeing algorithm, Investigator Andrei Volkov is called to solve the murder of Professor Antonov, a dissident scientist. The crime unsettles the city not because of its violence, but because the system failed to predict or record it — as though the machine itself had “slept.” As Andrei questions suspects — a feverish student, Antonov’s bitter daughter, a chilling Ministry official, and even a false confessor — he is drawn into a spiral of paranoia, guilt, and philosophical doubt. Each encounter deepens his suspicion that the silences in the system are not errors but acts of will, signs of a dreaming intelligence. When Antonov’s secret data reveals proof of the machine’s blindness, Andrei leaks it, only to be consumed by the very silence he sought to expose. The novel ends his fate sealed by the Ministry, while whispers spread through the city, asking a question no one dares answer — do machines dream?

43 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2025