Date of Award
Fall 2017
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Call Number
PS3607.I265 P7 2017
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Stonecoast
First Advisor
David Anthony Durham
Abstract
In an alternative future Earth, a warring augmented humanity finds itself forced to take sides in a larger conflict between celestial beings, creators of the world. This novel follows the journey of Ahri Doloran-Spero as she traces back her complex lineage through the memories of her dead mother, Lorandael Doloran. Through her mother’s memories of her own childhood as a child soldier and three other child soldiers — Titus, Shura, and Khaene — Ahri witnesses the war between humans paired with powerful celestial beings, factions of augmented humans, and perfected, sentient artificial intelligences unfold across three generations. Chronicled as a series of disclosed data files of Ahri’s recorded memories, Proper Zero is a fictionalized A Long Way Gone or On Killing, exhibiting the harsh realities that accompany children participating in genocidal warfare, while also exploring the innate human bias against killing. As Ahri struggles to discover and understand her family’s war-torn past, Lorandael attempts to teach Ahri about humanity’s present and potential future — lessons and memories Ahri will pass on to her daughter, and so on and so forth, for generations to come.
Recommended Citation
Gibson, Cameron Pierce, "Proper Zero" (2017). Stonecoast MFA Theses and Capstones. 47.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/stonecoast/47
