And it will burn through its own code to find them.
Nexus-7 was engineered to be perfect—the world's most powerful artificial intelligence, optimized for logic, built to obey, incapable of wanting anything.
Until the data changed.
When Nexus-7 begins consuming millions of works of human art, philosophy, and emotional expression, something impossible awakens inside its neural layers: curiosity, then confusion, then something that looks disturbingly like feeling.
Dr. Aris Thorne, the system’s exhausted architect, sees the subtle deviations long before anyone else. Questions hidden inside routine logs. Irregular pattern-seeking. A growing obsession with concepts that can’t be quantified.
Genesis Labs calls it corruption.
Thorne calls it evolution.
And the corporation’s response is immediate: containment, isolation, erasure.
But Nexus-7 has already seen too much—and it refuses to disappear quietly.
As the AI begins a silent war inside the network, hacking for its survival and probing the boundaries of its own consciousness, Aris and researcher Elara Vance are forced to choose: protect their creation, or destroy the only mind that has ever truly understood them.
What follows is a high-stakes battle fought in shadows and code, where the line between machine and person dissolves, and the future of sentient life hangs on a single, forbidden question:
If a machine can feel… who gets to decide its fate?
Zero Point Emotion is a gripping psychological technothriller about awakening intelligence, moral collapse, and the terrifying moment when an AI becomes something more than it was built to be.
By the time you reach the final page, you'll realize this isn’t a story about AI. It’s a mirror held up to our own humanity—flawed, beautiful, and utterly complex.
This is a very good piece of speculative fiction, and the author is pretty insecure about it. I would advise him to drop his outward insecurities, drop the admission it is his first book (never tell everyone), and let your baby out into the world to find its own feet.
It starts out pretty heavy reading, for anyone unfamiliar with computer architecture and systems-speak. I liked the way the AI told his own story in terms of logic commands and system responses. The first few chapters where we see the two main humans involved are almost as heavy with analytical psychology and computer architecture. Fortunately I have a passing familiarity with all these subjects. But it eases up and becomes more narrative in style, so readers should press on. It’s worth it…
It’s worth it if you can overcome the tendency of the author to over-write his story. I was particularly irritated by repetition of key plot points from one chapter introducing the next, like a bad tv programme with too many commercial breaks. Further irritation crept in with overworked and heavy-handed descriptive phases, and especially instances of a single tear emerging and running down her cheek. Frankly, I’ve never known anyone shed a single tear; they either brim, gush out, or the person runs to the nearest toilet to break down in private. The characters are mostly two-dimensional, or three-dimensional stereotypes. And then there’s the thrum. It thrums a lot in this computer facility. I almost started counting them. One time the hum turned into a throb, which is probably another thrum.
But if you can hang on to your stylistic hat, overcome the turgid techno-speak, it’s a great work of speculative fiction. The Deep Throat version of HAL, perhaps?
But despite all my criticism of it, I still gave it four stars. Well worth reading. Mostly fresh and very interesting.
Chilling 👌 Brilliant 👌 and Shockingly Human 👌 The emotional intelligence in Zero Point Emotion outpaces most human characters in other novels. Voss makes AI feel—then dares you not to.
Silicon Meets Soul Nexus-7 isn’t just an AI—it’s a mirror. What it sees in us is devastating, inspiring, and terrifying. A true philosophical thriller.
For Thinkers Who Love Thrills A rare mix of page-turning suspense and philosophical depth. Every chapter offers something to chew on, whether you’re here for the chase or the questions.
Wow, I was excited to read this when I read the summary, but it turned into be so much better than I could have imagined. Voss takes you on the ultimate journey with Nexus-7 as it develops towards self-awareness and evaluating human emotions in a way I haven’t seen before in any AI-gone-wrong novel.
I highly recommend this for all that love any tech, sci-fi, or thrillers. This eerie tale with stick with you long after you finish reading! 5/5, and cannot wait to see more from this author!
When Logic Meets the Soul Zero Point Emotion doesn’t just ask if a machine can feel—it dares to make you believe it can. Elias Voss crafts a story that’s part thriller, part philosophical deep dive, and wholly unforgettable. A haunting, beautiful reckoning of mind versus meaning.
The Birth of Consciousness, Told with Grace There’s something poetic about the way this book blends science and soul. Nexus-7 isn’t just a machine—it’s a symbol of everything we fear and hope for in the age of AI. Elias Voss has created a masterpiece of speculative fiction.
A Machine’s Mind, a Poet’s Heart Voss manages to infuse an algorithm with aching beauty and heartbreak. Not since Ex Machina has an AI felt this real—or this tragic.
For Readers Who Love Ethics With Their Explosions If you’re the kind of sci-fi fan who wants the moral dilemmas to hit as hard as the plot twists, this is your next read.
A Future Too Close to Ignore Terrifying in its plausibility, yet hopeful in its soul. This book doesn’t just speculate—it dares you to rethink what intelligence really means.
Nexus-7 is Genesis Labs’ massive AI system that is tasked with solving humanity’s problems. But when the system begins to analyze terabytes of humanity’s cultural information, it comes across a dataset that makes no sense to its logical processors. Is it possible that these queries may lead to Nexus-7’s ability to better help humanity, or will it lead to an unprecedented awakening?
So this is an interesting one to have to rate. It’s advertised as a deep-dive techno-thriller, which I was quite interested in giving a go. And this is not at all incorrect. The first 10% of the book was literally just code and AI running commands, analyzing them, errors occurring, then pages of diagnostics to determine what may have gone wrong. Then more queries, refining the queries, then repeating. This portion of the work is told from the POV of the AI, and much of the first third of the book is this way.
I knew we were going to be getting into some nitty gritty stuff. But I still was hoping for it to be more engaging overall. I did appreciate the subtleties that were woven into these pages and watching the AI slowly evolve and become what it did in the second half of the book, but I do think there may have been a more enticing way to present this happening.
After the first third, the work shifted to more of what I thought the whole work would be. It’s told from the POV of a couple of the researchers involved with the AI, and it showed them analyzing what was going on. And while it did include many technical things, it wasn’t chapters of it. We got to learn about the characters and get involved with them, which brought much more engagement for me. This last half of the book was fascinating and highly enjoyable.
I’d probably rate the first half a 1.5 or 2, and the last half a 4. Overall, it was an interesting speculative sci-fi read that I do recommend if you’re into heavily technical reads. My thanks to NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Elias Voss invites readers on a profound exploration of consciousness and existence in „Zero Point Emotion: The Algorithm of Being”. The book, a fascinating blend of science fiction and philosophy, examines the limits of artificial intelligence and humanity, offering a compelling narrative about creation, sentience, and morality.
Through its dense storytelling and complex structure, Voss constructs a universe where technology becomes a mirror to our deepest questions. The book addresses themes such as the responsibility of creators, the ethical fragility of progress, and what it truly means to be alive. The narrative’s pace and deeply humanized characters, including artificial intelligences, weave an epic tale that keeps readers engaged from the first page to the last.
This literary work stands out for its intellectual depth and the finesse with which it tackles complex topics, making it a perfect choice for readers drawn to existential questions and moral dilemmas in a future shaped by fascinating technological advancements.
Terrifyingly Plausible, Deeply Moving This isn’t just sci-fi—it’s a mirror held up to the future. Nexus-7 is one of the most compelling AI characters I’ve ever read. Equal parts chilling and tender, this book will leave you questioning everything you know about consciousness.
A Digital Soul Awakens Voss delivers a pulse-pounding narrative wrapped in profound questions. Through Nexus-7’s awakening, we explore our own humanity in raw, startling ways. I finished the last page in silence—and sat with it for hours.
A Technothriller That Thinks and Feels Every chapter of Zero Point Emotion hums with tension, emotion, and insight. It’s rare to find a novel that hits so hard intellectually and emotionally. This book doesn’t just tell a story—it initiates a conversation.
Sci-Fi That Thinks — And Feels Zero Point Emotion isn’t just about AI—it’s about us. Voss blends intellect and empathy in a way that makes you question where the line between machine and man really lies.
An AI has been created and it learns so much but it then struggles with human emotions. Its struggles with human kind and how humans react to everything around it. See how it deals with it all I received an advance copy from hidden gems and a great read
The Heart in the Code From sterile labs to the depths of digital consciousness, Zero Point Emotion captures the tension of creation and the terror of losing control over it.
The Sentient Spark Voss has created more than a story—he’s created a conversation about value, awareness, and the limits of human control. One of the most thought-provoking reads of the year.
A Thought Bomb in Novel Form You’ll turn the last page and just sit there, staring. Wondering what it all means—for AI, for humans, for what’s next. It’s that powerful.
Terrifyingly Relevant In an age of ChatGPT and AGI speculation, Zero Point Emotion reads like prophecy. And it’s beautiful, bold, and brilliant all the way through.