The Vectorist: Rise of the Tribes

A Speculative Thriller About AI, Behavioral Data, and the Engineering of Digital Tribes

Must read "Short, expertly crafted near-future dystopian about weaponizing online tribal and separatist behavior" Reedsy Discovery

Two hour and twenty minute multi-voice audio experience narrated by Stephen Dalton.

In the near future, social behavior is no longer debated, it's modeled. Elections, markets, activism, and public opinion are shaped not by persuasion, but by vectors: coordinated micro-interventions whose individual effects are invisible, but whose aggregate direction is decisive.

Marek is one of the best in a new profession, an elite social engineer operating alone with a powerful AI, hired by corporate and political clients to solve problems that no longer respond to argument or ideology. He optimizes outcomes. He manages risk. He believes the system still holds.

His daughter doesn't.

As influence spreads beyond politics into corporate power, regulatory capture, and cultural control, Marek discovers the cost of optimization he never modeled: withdrawal. Exit. The quiet collapse of consent.

Book I of a systems-driven series about power, legitimacy, and what happens when participation stops meaning anything.

©2026 M.E. McMillan (P)2026 M. E. McMillan

looking forward to the book

Unique plot and great narration. The quick pace can leave things a little light on explanation, but the ending pulled things together well. Overall, a satisfying experience, I'm curious to see what next.