Buy Yourself Before You Run Out
Description
In a world where every human is owned by Identity Holding™, people don't live their lives they license them. Born as "Unlicensed Originals," citizens must purchase approved versions of themselves: a productive self, a likable self, a forgetful self. Those who fail the 30-Day Optimization Program are replaced by algorithmic upgrades. Those who trade their memories receive comfort packages in return.
One man discovers he never bought any version of himself. He exists as an illegal original a walking copyright violation. When the system detects his unauthorized authenticity, he must choose: become property, or remain impossibly, dangerously real.
A darkly comic masterpiece in the tradition of Pratchett and Orwell, BUY YOURSELF BEFORE YOU RUN OUT asks the question we're all afraid to answer: What happens when being yourself becomes a crime?
