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Install Memory, Run
Martin Hart is eighty-three years old. He has the memories to prove it—forty years of teaching, a marriage, a mortgage, a cat called Humphrey, and a firm opinion about the correct way to make tea.
He's been alive for six months.
When a minor kitchen accident reveals circuitry where there should be blood, Martin's quiet retirement takes a sharp left turn. Every memory he has—the classrooms, the wedding, the funeral, Humphrey—was installed. He is, technically, a newborn with arthritic knees and strong feelings about cardigans.
Before he can fully process this (or even begin to), a twelve-year-old girl called Bella shows up on his doorstep. She's not interested in his identity crisis. Her grandmother built him, hid something vital inside his neural architecture, and now she's dead. Bella wants what's in his head. Other people want it too. Worse people.
Now Martin and Bella are on the run—an old man who isn't old and a young girl who's had to grow up too fast, arguing their way across a world Martin only thinks he recognizes. His fabricated memories are starting to glitch. Her plan is starting to unravel. And the data locked inside him might not be what either of them expected.
He has weeks before his systems degrade. She has secrets she's not sharing.
And Martin is beginning to suspect that Humphrey the cat never existed, which is honestly the part that hurts the most.
He's been alive for six months.
When a minor kitchen accident reveals circuitry where there should be blood, Martin's quiet retirement takes a sharp left turn. Every memory he has—the classrooms, the wedding, the funeral, Humphrey—was installed. He is, technically, a newborn with arthritic knees and strong feelings about cardigans.
Before he can fully process this (or even begin to), a twelve-year-old girl called Bella shows up on his doorstep. She's not interested in his identity crisis. Her grandmother built him, hid something vital inside his neural architecture, and now she's dead. Bella wants what's in his head. Other people want it too. Worse people.
Now Martin and Bella are on the run—an old man who isn't old and a young girl who's had to grow up too fast, arguing their way across a world Martin only thinks he recognizes. His fabricated memories are starting to glitch. Her plan is starting to unravel. And the data locked inside him might not be what either of them expected.
He has weeks before his systems degrade. She has secrets she's not sharing.
And Martin is beginning to suspect that Humphrey the cat never existed, which is honestly the part that hurts the most.
175 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 26, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 22, 2026
Jon Kiln does it again! :) This one hit the right spot as it is easy to identify with the senior protagonist as I am also a retired school teacher (history, etc. not math), drink tea, and have an annoying cat. I will be very careful when I am in the kitchen otherwise sparks might fly. As far as I currently know, my memories are real, the aches and pains are all too real. I really enjoyed this book!
May 12, 2026
there is nothing better than a Jon kiln story
I love jon’s characters. They are kind and loving but never boring. He steers clear of gratuitous violence which I greatly appreciate.
I love jon’s characters. They are kind and loving but never boring. He steers clear of gratuitous violence which I greatly appreciate.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews