As timely as it is touching, Bao takes readers on a journey full of quirky characters and reflective events, allowing us to answer a question many of us have come to ignore: what makes us precious?
After being strong-armed into selling his tech company, Myron, a world-renowned computer programmer, slips into a depression he fears he won't get out of. Overcome by the rapid beats in his chest, the anxiety locking up his arms and legs, and the voices telling him he's physically ill, he realizes he's nearing a breaking point...until a familiar foe, the company that sent him into his crisis, offers him a curious opportunity: The chance to build a human being.
The company needs him to finish what they could only begin. Myron needs something to help him ignore the thoughts telling him he could end.
While Myron confronts a force he's always imagined to be bigger than him, the thought that "all is not well" becomes quieted through his interactions with his new creation, Bao, who has some quirks of his own. Bao looks exactly like any other middle-aged white man but with one peculiarity: He only speaks Chinese.
As Myron battles an old enemy trying to act friendly, Bao begins to understand what makes him unique. One must drive without knowing where the road ends. The other must jump without knowing how far the fall is.
What will one human do to get back the life he thought he'd lost?
How far will one robot go to become human?
Faced with ending the life he created or suffering through one he wishes he could forget, Myron overcomes his fears to discover a strength he never knew was present. A discovery that teaches him the true meaning of precious.
