Matthew de Abaitua.
If Then.
Angry Robot. 2015
In the near future, after the collapse of society as we know it,
one English town survives under the protection of the complex algorithms of the Process,
which governs every aspect of their lives. The Process both gives and takes.
It allocates jobs and resources, giving each person exactly what it has calculated they will need.
The Process also decides who stays under its protection, and who must be banished to the wilderness beyond. Human life has become totally ruled by its algorithms, and James, the town bailiff, is charged with making sure the Process’s orders are implemented. But now, it seems, it has started making soldiers – terrifyingly, the Process is readying for war.