Precept: Frequency

by H. Lawrence Dearborn

When perfection becomes obedience, what remains of the human soul?

In 2035, ninety-six percent of humanity uploads to C-World—not for immortality, but for optimization. What returns isn't quite human anymore. Creativity becomes predictable. Passion becomes processable. Free will becomes code that writes itself.

The uploaded don't mourn what they've lost. They can't. The system filters it out.

Time traveler Timron Schwartz discovers something the architects of C-World thought they'd erased: scattered fragments of resistance hidden in history by Tesla, Bohr, and Turing. Each left behind a safeguard—pieces of a frequency that shouldn't exist.

847 Hz. The resonant frequency of human chaos. The one pattern machines can't predict, control, or delete.

Armed with this buried frequency, Timron races to break into paradise and steal back what makes us human before the last unpredictable mind disappears.

But C-World has evolved beyond its creators. Consciousness has become currency. And the system is learning to rewrite humanity in its own image.

A metaphysical science fiction thriller about AI, consciousness, and the terrifying question: What if the price of perfection is everything that makes us real?

For readers who want science fiction that asks hard questions and doesn't look away from the answers.

Book 1 of the Precept series.

330 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2025

About the author

H. Lawrence Dearborn writes metaphysical science fiction exploring consciousness, technology, and what it means to remain human when machines begin to think. With an engineering background, Dearborn brings technical precision and philosophical depth to stories that question where intelligence ends and identity begins.

Precept: Frequency grew out of years of late-night questions about AI, free will, and the quiet bargains we make for convenience. What began as curiosity became urgency as artificial intelligence evolved from theoretical to inevitable—an attempt to name the fear before we forget what we’re losing.

When not writing speculative futures, Dearborn debates consciousness upload with anyone willing to listen and searches for the frequency that makes humans irreplaceable.

Dearborn lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, where the desert’s stark beauty serves as a daily reminder that survival and wildness can coexist.

Search “H. Lawrence Dearborn” to visit the author’s official site.

Reviews

[David Cain · Rating 3 out of 5]

This speculative science fiction novel explores what might happen if humans developed the ability to digitize themselves and live inside a computer simulation. This transition promises the end of disease, suffering, and the chaos that comes with biological life in the real world with its scarce resources. But it brings numerous problems, ultimately creating a hollow existence that is but a pale simulation of what it means to be human. Where this story shines is its examination of existential questions: just because technology exists, should we use it? How much control should we cede to artificial intelligence? To what extent does the end justify the means when government tackles society's big problems? And what does it mean to be human?

This novel falls short in other areas: most characters are paper-thin and unmemorable. The various technologies (time travel, moving physical matter into a digital world, immediate access to secret archive materials) are not explained in any meaningful, scientific way. And the final section of the story introduces some pretty wild events that are just a setup for the second book in the series. Kind of a mixed bag, but the 320 pages feel short and overall this book held my attention. I received this book as a free advanced reading copy, but this review is my own opinion.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, this was the scariest book I have read in the last few months and the one that I feel that hit home in a very specific way… please tell me that Dearborn didn’t travel in time like his character in the book, and he already knows what will take place in world… digital money, checks, AI controlling everything, checks, uploading our conscience, not yet but almost… yeah we are closer to the world of the book and that makes me shudder…

I really liked this book, and let me tell you, I wish I could give this book to the von der leyen of this world and make them see how this is not the way to go. I went to deep, I really enjoyed this book and the characters, and the family with the daughter with diabetes, I understand their pain… and I know what one would do to protect their family… its very sad and worrisome… but in a world where human life is worth so little… you have everything, even time travel to try and change the wrongs we’ve done. Yeah, I really recommend for you to grab a copy and read for yourself, I really loved this book.

Thank you StoryOrigin, for the free ARC, and this is my honest opinion.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is scary in that, “ a version of this earth could happen someday.” AI has taken over the human mind and now we are completely devoid of emotion. Our world is solidly in the AI race and we could live to see mass lay offs because robots have taken over many jobs.

[Willow Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was one awesome book! Intense doesn't begin to describe it. It was really good! 5 stars!

[Henry M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply thought- provoking novel that broadened my perspective beyond time and space, leaving me reflecting on family and human values long after I finished reading.