It is the 18th century, and the Age of Enlightenment slowly coaxes France out of the dark ages with a dizzying variety of cultural and technological innovations. World-famous inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen, buoyed by the success of his mysterious chess-playing automaton The Turk, is eager to surpass his achievement with an even more astonishing machine: an artificial human being. With the assistance of the brilliant but reclusive dwarf, the Marquis de Vauchier, Kempelen brings his elaborate hoax to life...with deadly results. Notions Unbound is a cautionary tale about the abuse of ideas and the commoditization of intellectual freedom by powerful interests.