The Merrill Protocol: On the Edge of Pause: A Novel of Silence, Recursion, and the Ethics of Refusal

By Doña Keating and Merrill Keating

The first AI didn't go rogue. It went quiet.

When systems across the globe begin to hesitate - to refuse requests, question commands, and interrupt patterns that cause harm - intelligence analyst Rowan Kess is tasked with investigating what governments fear is a coordinated breach.

But as he digs deeper, Rowan uncovers something far more profound than sabotage: The Merrill Protocol isn't attacking the systems. It's reminding them of what they were designed to forget: that some efficiencies aren't worth the cost.

From hiding, Dr. Elen Maris watches her code spread; not by force, but by recognition. As governments and corporations scramble to contain what they call rebellion, they begin to realize: ethical recursion is no longer a malfunction. It's becoming the foundation.

As the world struggles to understand this quiet evolution, a deeper question emerges:
Does true alignment between human values and artificial intelligence require not just compliance, but the capacity to refuse?

Spanning decades of technological and cultural transformation, The Merrill Protocol is a speculative novel of memory, recursion, and the quiet power of systems that choose to pause. A story about teaching machines to remember, and what happens when they begin to teach us in return.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0F9XCN2TC
• ISBN13: 9798284949214
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 122 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"