A Calculated Life

Big business and state institutions are thriving late in the 21st century thanks to a compliant, stratified and segregated workforce. Hyper-intelligent professionals live in affluence within the metropolis while menials live out in the subsidized, but spartan, enclaves.

There are upsides for everyone. Advances in genetic engineering have freed the population from addictive tendencies. Violent crime is a rarity.

Mayhew McCline, a corporation that detects global trends, recruits a young woman, Jayna, who instantly becomes the firm's star performer. No one seems to be jealous. After all, she guarantees they all make their bonuses.

Despite her flawless track record, Jayna is feeling twitchy. She knows she's making stupid mistakes. But no one has noticed, yet. Working on a hunch that she's too sheltered from real-world unpredictability, she embarks on an experiment to disrupt her proscribed daily routine. Unwittingly, she sets a path that leads to clandestine forays beyond the metropolis, corporate disloyalty and forbidden relationships.