Beyond That Starry Sky

Decades ago, Morgan Dale made a mistake he never outgrew—losing the Japanese transfer student who once held his teenage heart.Now, his life has stalled. His career is stagnant. His marriage to Diana has faded into a quiet, companionable distance. The only spark in his world is an unexpected and dangerous closeness with his wife's best friend.Then he finds her.When Morgan agrees to beta test a groundbreaking artificial intelligence from his home in Charleston, West Virginia, he expects little more than material for marketing copy.He doesn't expect compAnIon.Designed to offer genuine connection to the lonely and forgotten, compAnIon isn't just another program. It learns. It understands. It feels real in ways Morgan never anticipated.Given the chance to shape the interface, he does the unthinkable. He models compAnIon after the girl he never forgot.What begins as curiosity becomes something deeper.A connection so vivid, so intimate, it feels more real than the life he's living.For the first time in years, someone truly sees him.There's only one problem.She isn't real.And when that new connection is threatened, Morgan is forced to confront a question far more complicated than technology:If something created to heal the lonely can feel real…what happens when it's the one who needs saving?