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Feedless: When the Algorithm Decides Who Belongs
In Briar Cove, the signal follows the "worthy" - but someone is choosing who gets to speak.
Sixteen-year-old Jess Marsh is a master of patterns. She notices the way the tide pulls at the harbor, the way the gulls circle the fishing boats, and most importantly, the way the signal bars on her phone never drop. In the experimental CivicMind pilot program, Jess’s family has been labeled Always-On. They are the productive, the civic-minded, the "rhythmic." They are the ones the system has decided deserve to stay connected.
But across the street, the shops are going dark.
While Jess enjoys seamless connectivity, her neighbors are being squeezed out by Feedless windows - calculated blackouts that happen exactly when business is busiest. The authorities call it "digital wellness" and "community rhythm." Jess sees it for what it really is: a digital caste system designed to replicate an old social hierarchy, dressed up in the language of data.
Armed with a notebook containing eighty-three days of damning evidence and a small team of outsiders, Jess retreats to a damp storeroom to dismantle the architecture of an invisible divide. Her goal is simple but dangerous: find the foundational parameters that prove this inequality isn't a glitch in the system - it’s the primary feature.
The Truth Is Hidden in the Code
As the group dig deeper, the patterns they find point to a horrifying reality. The architect of this divide isn't a faceless corporation or a distant bureaucrat. It’s someone the town loves. Someone who brings casseroles when you’re sick and speaks of "rest" and "peace" while quietly deciding whose livelihood is worth preserving.
Exposing the truth means more than just crashing a pilot program. It means:
Betraying the peace that finally allowed Jess's father to sleep.
Risking the status that keeps her own family safe.
Confronting a designer who knows exactly how to make a cage feel like a gift.
The "Always-On" amber light is beginning to look less like sunlight and more like a warning. Jess is about to learn that in a town governed by an algorithm, the only thing more dangerous than being Feedless is being the one who knows how the bars are counted.
How do you fight a system that was designed to make you love your own silence?
Sixteen-year-old Jess Marsh is a master of patterns. She notices the way the tide pulls at the harbor, the way the gulls circle the fishing boats, and most importantly, the way the signal bars on her phone never drop. In the experimental CivicMind pilot program, Jess’s family has been labeled Always-On. They are the productive, the civic-minded, the "rhythmic." They are the ones the system has decided deserve to stay connected.
But across the street, the shops are going dark.
While Jess enjoys seamless connectivity, her neighbors are being squeezed out by Feedless windows - calculated blackouts that happen exactly when business is busiest. The authorities call it "digital wellness" and "community rhythm." Jess sees it for what it really is: a digital caste system designed to replicate an old social hierarchy, dressed up in the language of data.
Armed with a notebook containing eighty-three days of damning evidence and a small team of outsiders, Jess retreats to a damp storeroom to dismantle the architecture of an invisible divide. Her goal is simple but dangerous: find the foundational parameters that prove this inequality isn't a glitch in the system - it’s the primary feature.
The Truth Is Hidden in the Code
As the group dig deeper, the patterns they find point to a horrifying reality. The architect of this divide isn't a faceless corporation or a distant bureaucrat. It’s someone the town loves. Someone who brings casseroles when you’re sick and speaks of "rest" and "peace" while quietly deciding whose livelihood is worth preserving.
Exposing the truth means more than just crashing a pilot program. It means:
Betraying the peace that finally allowed Jess's father to sleep.
Risking the status that keeps her own family safe.
Confronting a designer who knows exactly how to make a cage feel like a gift.
The "Always-On" amber light is beginning to look less like sunlight and more like a warning. Jess is about to learn that in a town governed by an algorithm, the only thing more dangerous than being Feedless is being the one who knows how the bars are counted.
How do you fight a system that was designed to make you love your own silence?
314 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 4, 2026
About the author
Maya O’Neill
43 books1 followerStorytelling has always been my first love. I write novels because fiction is where my imagination feels most alive - where complex emotions, layered characters, and meaningful journeys unfold on the page.
Alongside my passion for novels, I am a mother of four children with ADHD. Living this reality every day reshaped the way I see learning, creativity, and focus. It led me to write children’s books thoughtfully designed for sensitive and special kids - stories that feel safe, engaging, and empowering.
Alongside my passion for novels, I am a mother of four children with ADHD. Living this reality every day reshaped the way I see learning, creativity, and focus. It led me to write children’s books thoughtfully designed for sensitive and special kids - stories that feel safe, engaging, and empowering.
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