Synopsis

Dan1 breeds machines for the Biota labs. Starting as a lowly technician on the manufacturing floor, he is thrust into the highest echelons of the world’s most popular blood sport. A strange mixture of sport, politics and personalities leads him straight into the teeth of a hostile work environment.

His new job gets trickier when he starts dating El9, whose life goal is to ban the blood sport. She will use any means to persuade him to join her protest movement. But El9’s unswerving belief in the cause is about to be tested by her father’s extreme plans.

And a decades old murder case is reopened when Dex, the city’s most experienced bounty hunter, is approached by the enigmatic Professor Wilson. Wilson and Dex attempt to set things right, in a world where right and wrong are not particularly well defined.

The First Dan is the opening novel The Biohacker's Almanac series, set at a time when humans have acquired a God-like control over DNA and are able to manufacture any machine organically. When technology has made animals and machines indistinguishable we face the question, what makes us human?

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Jamo Kane's aim is to take the raw fundamentals of science and press them into the service of imagined technologies so wild and so extraordinary they appear magic. That's the thrill of great sci-fi: real magic.

Today in 2016, humans have reached a point where we can program the DNA of an organism in the same way we write code for computers. That is not science fiction - that is the current state of our technical art. That is astounding.

Strangely, this incredible innovation has not yet inspired us in the same way that space travel did in the mid-20th Century or cyberspace in the 80s and 90s. The emerging science of synthetic biology is an opportunity to project ourselves forward again. To tell a big story in the tradition of Asimov or Gibson.

Today we raise cows and turn their meat into food and their hide into leather shoes. Scientists are working on streamlining that process to grow meat in a lab. Now let's reach beyond that and imagine programming an organism that grows into a shoe. Extrapolate from there: imagine if everything around us - our clothes, tools, transport, habitation and even our cities - were all living organisms, designed by us and for us from encoded DNA. 

That's Jamo's big idea. And he has built a story world to house it. 

It's easy to imagine how conflict will arise. If PETA opposes industrial farming, how will those same people feel about engineered organisms pressed into service? Is it moral to design a life purely to serve human interests? What's the difference between an organic computer and a thinking brain? It's a story world full of conflict - between innovators and moralists, between doers and idealists.

These larger questions form the background to The Biohacker's Almanac: a fast-paced race through our future.

Outline

Part 1
Professor Wilson discovers a young boy among the grisly remains of a murdered mother in the hills behind Melbourne. The city is slowly recovering from the devastating effects of Leviathan, a brutal organism designed by the previous government to maintain law and order. The city’s renaissance has been largely dominated by a benevolent corporate patron, Biota. Two orphans, Locky and Dan1, are taken in by the matriarch of Mother Umami’s Magic Show and Lucky Protein Carvery du Jour. They forge an unconventional family, Mother Umami and Locky playing parents to the lost and insecure Dan1. Now in their late teens and early twenties the boys have rebuilt their lives, working as corporate drones for the Biota behemoth.

Dan1 is at the arena watching the gladiorgs, a local bloodsport fought between two giant genetically modified contestants. He finds himself trapped in a raucous and violent crowd. Meanwhile Dex, a local private detective who has been hired to track down Dan1, is closing on his target. Tensions in the crowd explode when two members from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Sentient Organisms (PETSO) stage a protest in the arena. Dan1, suddenly threatened by the violent crowd and the menacing detective, flees with the protesters and escapes the arena. Although pressed together for only a short time, Dan1 gets to know one of the protesters, El9, and is intrigued by her politics and lifestyle.

Dan1 arrives home to discover that the overbearing Locky has entered them into a local gladiorg competition. Locky has little skill at engineering organisms so Dan1 is suddenly thrust into the cutthroat world of gladiorg breeding. From his menial position at Biota he manages to get access to some of the most sophisticated genomic engineering equipment available. Applying his untapped skills he breeds a formidable beast for competition.

Dex is summoned to the university where Professor Wilson hires him to obtain a DNA sample from El9. Dex has a hard time breaking into the PETSO compound and is nearly killed several times on the way there and back. He finally completes the job for Professor Wilson only to be offered more work. Professor Wilson wants Dex to investigate the unsolved case of a mother murdered in the hills behind Melbourne. In what Dex suspects is not a coincidence, the case was the last Dex investigated before a nervous breakdown forced him from his job as a cop. Dex refuses the job and returns to hunting Dan1’s DNA for another client, the world’s foremost gladiorg designer, Theodor Slit.

Both Dan1 and Dex find themselves at the local gladiorg competition. During the competition Dex surreptitiously takes a DNA sample from Dan1, who is distracted by the surprisingly brutal performance of his gladiorg. After several rounds of competition Dan1 is stunned to win the grand final. Theodor Slit emerges from the crowd to personally congratulate him, offering him a promotion into Biota gladiorg design team.

Returning home Dan1 discovers an old photo of his mother standing next to Theodor Slit, his new boss. Back at his office, Dex plugs Dan1’s sample into his system only to discover that Dan1’s mother was the victim of the unsolved murder from the hills.

Part 2
Dan1 is assigned to the key task of lab technician in charge of the gladiorgs’ brains. He is almost instantly promoted and quickly finds himself working directly under Theodor Slit. The pressure of his new job is compounded as he slowly collects evidence that his intimidating boss is also his father.

There is a brutal murder in the city with the same characteristics as the case of the murdered mother in the hills. Dex is drafted by the police to work with them as a special consultant. A hefty paycheck convinces him to join the effort.
Dan1 is drawn deeper into Slit’s world and is embraced by the gladiorg design team at Biota. He has been put on a special project with Slit, designing an extremely sophisticated brain that mimics human consciousness. The team take him to an illegal gladiorg match where he is horrified by the violence. He is even more shocked when he discovers El9 there, recording footage. After El9 is spotted by security, Dan1 helps her escape.

There are more murders and Dex is slowly drawn back into the unsolved case. The DNA at the scene is very unusual, most likely from a highly sophisticated transgenic human. It constantly shifts and changes, mutating as soon as it comes into contact with other DNA. The mystery of the curious DNA reminds Dex of the stress that drove him to his first breakdown.

Professor Wilson begins his own subtle surveillance of Dan1, intrigued by his relationship with El9.

The authorities start to investigate Slit’s lab for possible ethical breaches relating to his work with conscious brains. The team suspects that Dan1 may have tipped them off. For the first time in his life Dan1 finds a spark of independence - both from the overbearing Locky and from the corporation that sustains the city. He satisfies his rebellion towards both by pursuing a relationship with El9. He is drawn into her world. He learns about how the Circle of Seven were formed to ensure corporations like Biota followed ethical and moral principles. He begins to see things from PETSO’s point of view, questioning not only the power of Biota in the city but the morality of society itself.

Locky, of course, is implacably opposed to Dan1’s relationship with El9. In the middle of this tension, Dan1 visits Mother Umami and learns about his past. He discovers that his mother was the victim of a murder in the hills behind Melbourne. According to Mother Umami, Theodor Slit is unrelated to Dan1 and his father, Peta Singer, disappeared at the time of the murder.

Dan1 and El9 hit the town for a night out. The two of them appear to be falling into a serious relationship. El9’s intentions are muddied when her father, the leader of PETSO, calls to confirm that everything is going well with her mission. The two lovers stay out late and Dan1 wakes with only scant memories of the end of the night.

That morning Dex is summoned to the scene of another brutal murder. After exhaustively collecting the DNA from the scene he discovers traces of Theodor Slit’s presence. Almost as soon as he makes this discovery two of Slit’s goons break into his shack and chase Dex across this city. He arrives completely disheveled at the police station ranting about Slit and the murders. Thinking he has had another breakdown the Captain removes him from the case.

Professor Wilson goes to visit the Circle of Seven, who are still actively monitoring the city. They are concerned about Dan1’s activities.

Dan1 and Locky have a confrontation about El9. Regardless of Locky’s protestations, Dan1 continues to see El9 and their relationship deepens. Meanwhile, Locky is working for Slit as a mole, funneling funds to his secret projects. In return, Locky has been moving swiftly through the Biota ranks for years, despite his clear incompetence.

Dan1 is introduced to Slit’s new project. Their attempt to mimic the human brain was thwarted by the authorities, so Slit has begun work on Project Menos, a system to remotely control a gladiorg’s brain. Dan1 begins to suspect that Theodor Slit is carrying out clandestine experiments in a hidden laboratory under the city. El9 reveals to Dan1 that she is working on a mission from PETSO to expose Slit’s illegal experiments. The two of them hatch a plan to break into a secret lab at the base of the city.

Dan1 tries to enlist Locky to assist in his plans with El9. Locky is torn between his allegiance to his adopted brother and maintaining the conspiracy with Slit that has served him well.

Dex has a breakthrough theory on the unsolved murders. He is increasingly convinced that the boy found next to the murdered mother at the original crime scene wasn’t a victim, he was the perpetrator. He believes Dan1 is somehow manipulated by Slit, explaining why the murders resumed when Slit and Dan1 were reunited. Dex sets off to track down Dan1 at Biota.

Dan1 and El9 break into Slit’s laboratory. Their suspicions are proven correct when they discover the result of Slit’s illegal experiments, including a transgenic human. Dan1 and El9 release the transgenic organisms from the lab, creating chaos as the animals rampage into the Biota labs. During their escape, Dan1 discovers that he too has transgenic abilities.

Dex is confronted by a transgenic human who he thinks is a transformed Dan1. He comes off second best in the confrontation. Meanwhile, Locky’s choice of allegiance becomes tragically clear when Slit returns to the lab carrying Locky’s decapitated head. Slit hands the head to the transgenic human released by Dan1 and El9, who turns out to be Slit’s lab partner, Thomas Wotan.

When El9 and Dan1 arrive at the PETSO compound they are met by its leader, Peta Singer, a man Dan1 suspects is his biological father. Dan1 is suddenly confronted by his brother’s death and the horrible realization that he may have been sleeping with his sister.

Part 3
Dex survives his injuries and goes back to the police captain’s house to recuperate. After his encounter with the transgenic human he begins to look at the case afresh.

Dan1 flees from the PETSO compound after Peta Singer tries to poison him. He arrives at Mother Umami’s house and together they go to visit the man who initially brought them together, Professor Wilson. The professor explains that Thomas Wotan is a sophisticated transgenomic organism, able to adopt the abilities of any organism he comes into contact with. Unfortunately he has little control over his mutations and is dangerously unstable. Dan1 is a superior genetic clone of Thomas Wotan - created by Wotan and Slit. Dan1 has all the same abilities, if he chooses to develop them, but they are more stable.
El9 and her father are kidnapped by Slit’s henchmen and taken to the arena, where the final battle of the gladiorg season is about to begin. Meanwhile, Dex and the police captain realise that the murders were committed by Wotan and Slit. Dex arranges to meet Slit at the arena to confront him.

Dan1 hears the story of his mother’s murder in the hills, told by Professor Wilson who was eyewitness. He learns that the murder was a fierce battle between himself, only just a baby, and Wotan. He forced Wotan to flee but wasn’t able to protect his mother.

Scared of his power, the Circle of Seven pressure Wilson to kill Dan1. The professor refuses, instead showing Dan1 how to access his abilities and how to get beyond the reach of the Circle of Seven.

Dan1 returns to the PETSO compound, employing his newfound abilities along the way. When he arrives he finds a scene of devastation, learning that El9 and Singer have been taken to the arena by Slit’s henchman. He races back to the arena to confront Slit and Wotan and rescue El9 and her father.

Dan1 bursts into the arena and sees thatEl9 and Singer are trapped helplessly by a gladiorg under Slit’s control. Dan1 faces down the gladiorg, employing his new found abilities in front of the grand final crowd. Midway through the battle it becomes apparent that the brain Slit and Wotan used in the gladiorg is Locky’s brain. Dan1 withdraws from the fight and helps El9 and Singer escape.

Dex arrives at the arena and arrests Theodor Slit for the murder in the Melbourne hills. Dan1 watches as Wotan defeats the gladiorg on the battlefield, killing Locky in the process.

While Wotan is escaping, El9 kills Slit, completing her father’s mission. Singer and El9 escape from the arena.

Dan1 is left with the unsettling feeling that although he stood up to his creator, he has betrayed his brother and been betrayed by his lover. Dex, Professor Wilson and Dan1 form a pact to defeat Wotan.

Audience

The Biohacker’s Almanac: First Dan is intended for readers from mid-teens onwards. Its strong female protagonist broadens the appeal beyond a traditional male sci-fi audience. At a high level, science fiction has experienced strong growth as a category for some years, growing 44% from 2014 to 2015.

The central subject matter, synthetic biology, is appealing to a passionate and growing community of practitioners, futurists and enthusiasts. A well framed marketing plan will leverage this small but passionate community to build awareness both of synthetic biology as a topic and the novel as an easy onramp to understanding the social, technological and ethical implications of this emerging field.

First Dan is a reading experienced defined by short, fast-paced chapters that combine to weave a larger, epic narrative. This format of brief bursts of easily digestible narrative has been designed for commuters and eBook readers, those who enjoy novels but don’t have hours to curl up with a book.

Promotion

I have spent the better part of the last decade selling in emerging technologies such as AR, VR and AI to media companies around the world. I have a personal social media following of 1000+ and have built a social media following under @the_biohacker of around 1000 followers. There are several active communities, both online and offline, around synthetic biology, genetic engineering and biohacking.

The issue these scientific communities are facing is contextualising their discoveries for non-scientific communities. CRISPR gene editing technology is an extraordinary breakthrough, but how to explain it to laypeople? For this reason, I have found these communities to be extremely receptive to activities adjacent to their scientific work, such as art projects, ethical enquiries and other related activities. The media is also hungry for stories around this ‘brave new world’ and looking for a spokesperson who can speak clearly and effectively to non-scientists on this topic.

The marketing plan for The Biohacker’s Almanac will position the author as a knowledgeable spokesperson on synthetic biology and position the novel as an enjoyable read that can reveal the potential of this technology in an easily digestible format. This begins with a medium/twitter account that publishes regularly updates on synthetic biology news and events, attending key events, such as iGem, and looking for speaking opportunities within the community. Most importantly, actively reaching out to media looking for opportunities to promote the ideas contained in the book, using interest in biological engineering to drive sales.

Competition

'Don't Cross This Line' (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 14) by Michael Anderle

'The Atlantis Plague: A Thriller' (The Origin Mystery, Book 2) by A.G. Riddle

'The Atlantis World' (The Origin Mystery, Book 3) by A.G. Riddle

'The Lost Starship' (Lost Starship Series Book 1) by Vaughn Heppner

'Duel in the Dark: Blood on the Stars I' by Jay Allan

Genetic Engineering is a subgenre of sci-fi that has become popular enough to have its own category on Amazon. In the same way that space adventures dominated mid-20th Century sci-fi and biopunk emerged in the latter part of that Century, interest in speculative fiction centred on biology has been steadily increasing.

The Biohacker’s Almanac is unique in that it does not approach genetic engineering through the lens of human engineering or novel viruses, rather it posits a world where everything can be engineered through organic processes. Marketing this novel presents both a challenge and an opportunity because it explores a new field of science from a novel perspective. The narrative has been structured to appeal to traditional consumers of the genre and those drawn to its innovative ideas.