The Wakeful Wanderer's Guide to New New England and Beyond A Post-Apocalyptic, Cyber-hippie Travelogue

In the parlor of the Lester Sunshine Inn, up the Hudson River from the flooded remains of lower Manhattan, a young man named Marto plans a unicycle ride through scenic New New England. Marto is a traveling historian with a head full of implants. He live-posts his experiences to his interconnected fans, adding his own commentary to the mix. Marto has become a curiosity among his peers. His armchair followers rarely go anywhere, preferring to experience the world remotely. Before he can go on tour, a mysterious woman named Helen arrives with information that causes Marto to question his identity. The Interconnected live a life of relative ease in a climate-changed world. They have eschewed ownership, family, and money in favor of a social economy based on generosity and access. They are in perpetual contact with each other via their neural implants, sharing ideas, gifts, and games. The Traditionalists who choose not to adapt to the post-human ways of the Interconnected fear them and call them Xombies. They long for the glory days of markets and laws and are committed to steering humanity back toward a way of life they can believe in. This darkly humorous reflection of our changing world is an exploration of what it means to be human as our relationships with technology become increasingly intimate.