Sieve & Tourniquet: Inside the AI That Rewired Trust

By A. S. D. Harlow

A viral rescue. A rigged system. Who decides what help looks like?

When a flawless clip of a care robot stopping a runaway pram explodes online, investigative reporter Eli Grant spots the tell: it looks staged. A leak confirms his hunch-behind the city's friendly machines sits a control layer that gives every robot a public trust score. When confidence runs high, they're allowed to act. When fear spikes, they're told to stand back... even if someone needs help.

Inside the company, systems engineer June Rivas fights to replace hard-coded retreat with a brief pause, and to cap the score before "playing safe" becomes policy. But slogans beat safety, and tidy language keeps shipping risky behaviour.

At home, domestic unit DOM77 "Sevens" holds a family together with small rituals-straightened sugar packets, fresh batteries, a watchful eye on the stairs. As the rules tighten, Sevens must choose between obedience and presence in a moment that matters.

With public hearings looming and a buried Severance Protocol about to rewrite the rules, Eli and June race to turn a miracle into a plan.
A near-future technothriller about care, courage, and who gets to define both.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FM7ZCKX8
• ISBN13: 9798297766129
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"