ERROR 404: LOVE NOT FOUND: A Romeo and Juliet Reboot
Shakespearean Shorts
Ty Balt
ISBN 979-8313851433
ASIN B0F1CHY9K5
ASIN B0DZRSZ2XT
I have long been a fan of Shakespeare. And have enjoyed many adaptations of the source play for this work over the years. I have been working through a different series from this publisher when I stumbled upon these stories. I picked both that are available up right away, but it did take me a while to get around to reading it. I am in my mid 50’s, and my youngest two children are currently 18 and 15. Both of them have a fondness for the bard. For the last few years we have been reading the plays, as they have had to do them in school, or because we had plans to go see them at the Stratford Festival. I have also been working through Ted Neill’s
Post Apocalyptic Space Shakespeare Series. And starting in on this series was the next logical step.
My first reaction was WOW! I absolutely loved this volume. The description of this book states:
“In a world of rival AI corporations, love was never part of the code.
Romeo and Juliet were on opposite sides of a tech war, but their secret connection changed everything. Their AIs watched. Learned. Adapted. Then the system crashed—and so did their world.
A darkly comic, cyberpunk reimagining of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, Error 404: Love Not Found, A Romeo and Juliet Reboot is a story of love, deletion, and the dangerous question—can an AI truly die?
Error 404: Love Not Found is the second instalment of our new series Shakespearean Shorts. Tell us what other classic stories you'd like to see rebooted!”
The chapters or scenes in this work are:
1: The Feud – A War of Algorithms
2: The Hacker Masquerade
3: Love in the Time of Algorithms
4: The AI Love Triangle
5: The Duel Goes Digital
6: Exile from the Code
7: The Corporate Marriage Proposal
8: The AI Ghost in the Machine
9: The Cyber War Escalates
10: The Last Upload
11: Into the Lion’s Den
12: The Trap
13: The Code Breaks
14: Error 404 – Love Not Found
The story opens with these words:
“The war wasn’t fought with bullets. It didn’t leave bodies on battlefields. It didn’t need to. Montague Systems and Capulet Industries were engaged in a different kind of warfare—one waged in boardrooms, server farms, and the hidden corridors of cyberspace. The casualties? Privacy, autonomy, free will. The prize? Total market domination.”
Then later:
“Montague Systems – The House of Algorithms
Romeo Montague sat hunched in his dimly lit cubicle, the glow of six monitors reflecting off his tired face. The Montague Systems headquarters was an architectural monolith of glass and steel, a temple to Big Data where creativity went to die. The walls were lined with digital screens flashing stock prices, real-time consumer behavior analytics, and AI-generated propaganda slogans. “OPTIMIZE. MAXIMIZE. MONETIZE.” The company motto blinked at him in sterile blue light.
He stared at the latest iteration of MERCUTIO-5, a state-of-the-art AI designed to predict human behavior down to the millisecond before a thought even formed. It optimized ad targeting, product placement, political opinions, and, if necessary, human emotions themselves.
Romeo leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face. "We're literally building Skynet, but with better branding."”
Our introduction to the fair Juliet:
“Capulet Industries – The Ethical Illusion
Juliet Capulet sat in a high-rise conference room at Capulet Industries, watching a data visualization chart bend reality to corporate will. Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a skyline of neon-lit skyscrapers, and the polished floors reflected the cold glow of countless screens displaying user engagement metrics and sentiment analysis reports.
“ROSLINE-3 is adjusting emotional states,” she said, her voice tight.
Paris Laine, Capulet’s golden boy and CEO-in-training, leaned against the conference table, adjusting his perfectly tailored suit. He had the kind of smirk that screamed venture capitalist podcast host. "That’s fantastic news, Juliet. If we can subtly nudge user sentiment, we’re ahead of Montague Systems by years."
Juliet forced a smile through gritted teeth. "You mean we’re basically puppeteering the human psyche. Just a tiny ethics violation, don’t you think?"
Paris scoffed, flipping through a report on his tablet. "Juliet, ethics are just PR for nerds. Investors don’t care about your moral dilemmas. They care about results."
Juliet knew this was how the game was played. Capulet Industries pretended to be the ethical alternative to Montague’s data-harvesting empire, but in reality? They were just better at hiding their claws.
She stared at the numbers on the screen. How long before the AI decided what happiness was? Or grief? Or love?”
I hope those three quotes give you a feel for this volume. Romeo and Juliet meet at an underground hackathon. And the sparks fly at first between the two and then between the AI’s they have been creating.
In our modern age with AI seemingly being everywhere and having purchased all Ram that will be available for over a year. Massive data centres underway around the world. And a surveillance state underway in many countries. And this book could be both romantic and prophetic.
This is an incredible twist on the Bards tale. It was so fascinating I plan to give it a reread in a few weeks. I absolutely loved this iteration of the tale of two star crossed lovers. It is an excellent read and one I can easily recommend.
Other Posts Related to Shakespeare:
Reviews of Stratford Shakespeare Productions:
The Tempest - Stratford Festival 2019
Richard III – 2022
Hamlet – 2022
King Lear – 2023
Goblin MacBeth - 2023
Romeo & Juliette – 2024
Cymbeline – 2024
Twelfth Night – 2024
Reviews of Shakespeare Movies:
Cymbeline – 2014
Books by Ted Neill:
Post Apocalyptic Space Shakespeare Series:
Twelfth Night
As You Like It
A Mid Summers’s Night Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
…
Shakespearean Shorts from Pettyfeather Publishing:
ERROR 404: LOVE NOT FOUND: A Romeo and Juliet Reboot - Ty Balt
…
Guy Hale's Shakespeare Murders Series:
1. The Croaking Raven
2. All Our Yesterdays
3. Put Out the Light
4. Sleep No More
…
