A near-future real-life society transitions to a post-capitalist, post-climate change reality. The Department Of What It (Really) Means To Be Human is a thoughtful, optimistic scifi novel set in a near-future Aotearoa New Zealand where an investigator navigates a newly post-capitalist world in their search for a missing artist. When the world changed, Emerald Hutson closed the door on their old life. Now theyre a freelance investigator for the Grants and Stipends Office, augmenting basic income with cases that are both simple and easily resolved. Until theyre assigned to track down Gen Ecks, a notable installation artist whos fallen off the map. When Em finds Gen, shes under the influence of Moneta, a drug designed to let users experience memories as if they were real. Ems inclined to declare their case closed and leave Gen to it. Most drug use has been decriminalized, and while Gens art might be suffering, theres no reason to intervene if Gen wants to use Moneta. But the drug isnt working as expected. Gens not just going down memory lane, shes completely lost, unable to tell past from present. And she may not be the only one. To help Gen and expose Monetas dangers, Em cracks open old doors, beginning with an old colleague whos been keeping an unsettlingly close eye on them. And in the process Em learns that while they may have been happy to take advantage of the worlds shift to start anew, neither they nor the world can be truly changed until they face the past head on.
