The great illusion

Cliff Rowley, a newly recruited “percie” with uncanny psychic intuition, lands on Hume—a world whose villages gleam under a pink sunset and whose people tend endless rows of perfectly spaced trees. The planet’s culture feels contrived, as if a theatrical set meant to fool the eyes of the eleven field agents sent by the Galactic Ethnological Survey. Rowley’s commander gives him just a week to uncover what lies beneath the polished façade, pressing the young investigator to use his rare abilities before the deadline.

As Rowley wanders the thatched hamlets and listens to the distant laughter of children, his senses pick up subtle inconsistencies that ordinary observers miss. With his “psychic shovel” in hand, he must decide whether to trust the hunches that guide him or the rational reports that label Hume “just a step above savagery.” The clock ticks, the forest of geometrically spaced trees watches, and the puzzle of Hume’s true nature begins to take shape.