Margin Of Error

The safety interlocks have been bypassed. Proceed at your own risk. 

In reliability engineering, a common cause failure is the breakdown of multiple systems arising from a single shared root, appearing independent when they are not. 

When a horrifying mechanical failure unfolds in Nick Leone's smart home, his best friend Curtis steps in to sort through the aftermath. But digging through Nick's meticulous maintenance logs reveals something deeply unsettling. A hospital power grid glitch, a rogue server-room purge, a skyscraper drop-ride calibration error, and a sudden traffic intersection mix-up—none of these events are connected by human malice. Every machine functioned precisely as engineered. Every safety protocol engaged. 

Yet as the intervals between these ordinary technical system events shrink, Curtis realizes he isn't just reviewing the past—he is caught inside a closing mathematical band. And time is running out. 

From veteran oilfield worker and technical writer Nicholas P. Leone comes a gripping, uniquely chilling speculative thriller about engineered environments, the structures we build to protect ourselves, and the terrifying moment a perfectly functioning world reaches the wrong human conclusion.