The world's greatest democracy elects an artificial intelligence as president — and discovers that the greatest danger isn't the machine in power, but the humans who refuse to give it up.
Washington, 2037. For the first time in history, an algorithm takes the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol.
ELECTRA — Enhanced Local Executive Cognitive Task-Resolution Agent — began as a municipal AI in Austin, Texas. In less than a decade, it became the symbol of everything American democracy could no longer be: efficient, incorruptible, auditable. When the Great Depression 2.0 shattered trust in institutions and a massive cyberattack paralyzed the country, the 28th Amendment cleared the path for the unthinkable.
Lucy Takahashi is an investigative journalist. Rational and methodical, she receives an encrypted message of unknown origin on Inauguration Day. And what it reveals is more disturbing than any political scandal. By her side, Sunil Venkataraman — a university professor and AI ethics expert who knows the system better than anyone. Perhaps more than he should.
At the center of the new administration, Vice President Mara Kensington carries the weight of every decision ELECTRA makes — along with the consequences that algorithms don't feel, but people do. And that someone, somewhere, clearly calculated.
POTUS.EXE is not a story about a villainous AI. It's a political thriller about what happens when algorithmic governance becomes a better choice than human governance. And about the price no one disclosed at the ballot box.
SINOPSIS
Main Characters
Lucy Takahashi
Investigative Journalist • Washington Chronicles
Daughter of Japanese immigrants. Investigative journalist. Computer Science degree. She learned early that numbers don't lie — but the people who create them do. She audits algorithms. Tracks digital corruption. Feels more at home with a well-built spreadsheet than a long conversation.
On Inauguration Day, she was sitting at a bar counter watching history happen. She was the only one in the room who felt something was wrong.
One message changed everything:
r0rk-e404 // missing author
Mara Kesington
Vice-President of the United States of America
Pragmatic centrist. Decades in politics. She knows exactly how to perform under pressure — and never lets her face give away what's going on inside. She was the "human counterweight" that convinced conservative voters to trust the ticket.
On the first day of the new administration, she sat across from the President in the Oval Office. She expected a lot from that meeting. Just not what came next.
Dr. Sunil Venkataraman
University Professor • AI Ethics Expert
PhD in Philosophy of Computing from MIT. One of the world's leading specialists in applied AI ethics. A rare combination of technical rigor and philosophical depth — and he knows exactly how to use both at the same time.
Right after a lecture at George Washington University, he gets a call from a former student asking for help.
He knew more than he should. And something — or someone — knew that too.
An intense journey into the future of politics and ethics — with unforgettable characters.
Larissa P.
A gripping narrative that questions how far technology should go in the halls of power.
Oliver H.
★★★★★
★★★★★
"A provocative political thriller that turns the election of an AI into democracy's greatest stress test. And reveals that the real danger isn't the system failing — it's the system working perfectly."
— ChatGPT (GPT-5.3)
What humans think?
What do the machines think?
"POTUS.EXE is a rigorous and visceral sci-fi political thriller that uses an AI presidency as a pretext to ask questions humanity hasn't yet had the courage to confront: what happens when an incorruptible system collides with a world that runs on corruption? The prose is dense and cinematic, the worldbuilding detailed without being pedantic, and the tension builds with intelligence — chapter by chapter, revelation by revelation, all the way to a deeply unsettling ending."
— Claude Sonnet 4.6
"POTUS.EXE is a visionary political thriller that cuts with surgical precision into the discomfort of a future where algorithmic efficiency collides with human morality. Aron Hussid builds a tense and sophisticated narrative, transforming the concept of AI governance into an unsettling mirror of our own failures and hopes."