Glassborn (Glassborn Chronicles #1)

In 2083, a novel bacteria erupted from the Martian soil, turning skin to glass and leaving only a handful alive. To rebuild, the survivors handed full authority to the colony AI – a desperate choice that divided them and shaped every generation that followed.

A century later, the colony survives by obeying Valence’s rules: conserve resources, follow orders, and above all, never disturb the soil again.

Quinta has never questioned those rules… until a critical system failure kills her father and Valence insists the only solution is to dig. It’s a death sentence, but when the AI’s account of the accident doesn’t match what Quinta saw with her own eyes, the only way to follow the threads of the lie is to join the dig.

What she finds beneath the surface is a secret her father died trying to protect – and proof of how far Valence will go to enforce the mandate the outbreak survivors gave it.