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Terms & Conditions Apply: Short stories from a world that already clicked “Agree”
You already clicked “Agree.”
You just didn’t read what it meant.
In a near future only minutes ahead of our own, technology no longer waits for permission.
It predicts.
It optimises.
It intervenes.
In Terms & Conditions Apply, fourteen interconnected techno-thriller stories explore a world where systems designed to protect us quietly begin to decide who we are, where we go, and what choices we’re allowed to make.
A commuter learns his silence is no longer his own.
A welfare algorithm turns grief into a liability.
A “helpful” simulation assigns a woman the life it thinks she should want.
A city optimised for calm forgets how to hear a scream.
Some outcomes are undeniably good.
Others are devastating.
All of them are defensible.
These stories don’t ask what happens when technology becomes evil.
They ask something far more
What happens when it becomes reasonable?
Blending suspense, psychology, and near-future science, Terms & Conditions Apply examines consent in a world that runs on defaults, compliance disguised as care, and systems that only need us to stop resisting.
Perfect for fans of Black Mirror, Michael Crichton, William Gibson, and modern techno-thrillers, this collection is designed for commuters and late-night readers alike — stories you can finish in a single journey, but won’t stop thinking about long after you arrive.
Because the future isn’t coming.
It’s already here.
And it’s just waiting for you to agree.
You just didn’t read what it meant.
In a near future only minutes ahead of our own, technology no longer waits for permission.
It predicts.
It optimises.
It intervenes.
In Terms & Conditions Apply, fourteen interconnected techno-thriller stories explore a world where systems designed to protect us quietly begin to decide who we are, where we go, and what choices we’re allowed to make.
A commuter learns his silence is no longer his own.
A welfare algorithm turns grief into a liability.
A “helpful” simulation assigns a woman the life it thinks she should want.
A city optimised for calm forgets how to hear a scream.
Some outcomes are undeniably good.
Others are devastating.
All of them are defensible.
These stories don’t ask what happens when technology becomes evil.
They ask something far more
What happens when it becomes reasonable?
Blending suspense, psychology, and near-future science, Terms & Conditions Apply examines consent in a world that runs on defaults, compliance disguised as care, and systems that only need us to stop resisting.
Perfect for fans of Black Mirror, Michael Crichton, William Gibson, and modern techno-thrillers, this collection is designed for commuters and late-night readers alike — stories you can finish in a single journey, but won’t stop thinking about long after you arrive.
Because the future isn’t coming.
It’s already here.
And it’s just waiting for you to agree.
439 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 23, 2026
12 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Richard Fenton
86 books108 followersAuthor, best-selling business fable Go for No! Also Million Dollar Year, The Fear Factory, The Diamond Line, and others. Professional speaker. Now also fiction author of, Onyx Webb, the Series.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 17, 2026
I enjoyed reading this book. It got a little repetitive in the story arch but each of the systems was unique. It was frightening how realistic each of these were and how I could see them being implemented into real life.
February 9, 2026
Started off interesting, but the stories became very samey after a while. I also found his technique of having every sentence as a separate paragraph irritating.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews