wayne watters

In the quiet rhythm of a family kitchen and the buzzing corridors of a pediatric hospital, Dr. Andrew Turbin begins to notice something unsettling: a growing number of children presenting with neurological symptoms that defy classification. Their scans don’t match known disorders. Their genetics offer no clear answers. And yet, across backgrounds and regions, the patterns echo.

What begins as a collection of names and EEGs becomes an obsession. As Andrew digs deeper, joined by a brilliant field researcher from India, Dr. Meera Rao, and a trusted colleague in pediatric genetics, Dr. Theo Manning, the team uncovers an uncomfortable possibility: perhaps something vital is no longer being passed down. Not inherited. Not environmental. Just... missing.

Spanning continents and generations, Drift explores what happens when the mechanisms of human inheritance begin to stutter. In a world that sterilizes death and seals the past in boxes of wood and steel, could the very act of burial be disrupting the genetic memory of future generations?

Both intimate and epic in scope, this novel weaves science, family, and quiet mystery into a narrative that challenges our assumptions about what we leave behind, and what we’re no longer receiving.

A drift without a source.

This book follows the journey that began in an Archive, through collaborations, resistance, buried traditions, and a question that stretches across science, culture, and time.

Is it possible that our genetic inheritance is fading?

If so, why?

And what are we willing to do to get it back?