by Damien Boyes
Rep. The cumulative social reputation earned by a personality on the link. Also known as Social Faith.
Restored. Layering a recovered cortical field onto a prosthetic brain. Also a common identifier for a digital human.
Reszo. Slang for a restored personality.
Revv. A shyft that allows the user to bypass human-standard neural governors and run their rithm higher into the NHz range. The effects are limited only by the hardware.
Rithmist. Someone who hacks the psychorithm. From manipulating autonomous and emotional responses all the way to enhancing or creating new cognitive abilities.
Second Skyn. The global leader in digital life extension. In defiance of global courts, Second Skyn opened its first facility in a small South-East Asian country that had more pressing concerns than enforcing soon-to-be-outdated UN cloning laws. Once Personality Rights legislation was enacted, Second Skyn formally opened in Toronto, Stockholm, Seoul and Dubai, then expanded around the world as demand grew.
Skyn. Slang for bioSkyn.
Scafe. An illegally copied or hastily created skyn.
SecNet. The interconnected web of cameras, sensors, and databases that comprise the backbone of the North American Union’s security and surveillance infrastructure.
Shyft. General consumer term for a neural state overlay. One-time-use code snippets legally sold to temporarily simulate drunkenness, enhance pleasure, dampen fear, or one of a thousand other emotional flavours. Much more powerful illegal versions also exist.
StatUS. Formerly a governmental organization, StatUS was spun off as a private company and is now responsible for providing and maintaining identification for all Union citizens and visitors.
About the Author
Damien grew up on Terminator and Raymond Chandler and Green Lantern. On Deus Ex and PWEI. Blade Runner is his chicken soup when he’s sick. He rereads Neuromancer every few years, and still loves the image of payphones ringing one by one as Case walks by, anachronistic or not.
He’s s UX designer by day, a dad and husband by night, and a writer in the moments between.
Email him at [email protected], or visit his website at damienboyes.com and sign up to his mailing list for deleted scenes, free stories, and more.
And if you enjoyed this, why not give it a review?
Thanks To
Mom and Dad, for stoking my love for stories.
Laura Kingsley for helping me with ‘what’s he thinking or feeling here,’ and Natasha Snow for the countless rounds of cover designs.
My friends and family for their ongoing encouragement.
And to Jacob, Josh and Maryellen, for the love, support, and constant distraction.
Editing by Laura Kingsley.
Cover by Natasha Snow.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental. Obviously.
Copyright © 2015 by Damien Boyes.
All rights reserved. With the exception of excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
First Edition
Table of Contents
SysDate [19:00:14. Friday, April 12, 2058]
SysDate [21:02:53. Thursday, January 16, 2059]
SysDate [20:56:51. Friday, April 12, 2058]
SysDate [22:13:51. Thursday, January 16, 2059]
SysDate [20:56:51. Sunday, April 14, 2058]
SysDate [23:56:15. Thursday, January 16, 2059]
SysDate [06:03:35. Sunday, April 14, 2058]
SysDate [00:42:52. Friday, January 17, 2059]
SysDate [07:14:36. Sunday, April 14, 2058]
SysDate [01:21:12. Friday, January 17, 2059]
SysDate [03:39:21. Monday, April 15, 2058]
SysDate [07:44:42. Friday, January 17, 2059]
SysDate [20:32:31. Tuesday, April 16, 2058]
SysDate [11:48:29. Friday, January 17, 2059]
SysDate [22:46:32. Tuesday, April 16, 2058]
SysDate [16:43:51. Friday, January 17, 2059]
SysDate [15:45:55. Thursday, April 18, 2058]
SysDate [17:36:17. Friday, January 17, 2059]
SysDate [17:34:21. Thursday, April 18, 2058]
SysDate [22:30:29. Friday, January 17, 2059]
SysDate [13:59:52. Friday, April 19, 2058]
SysDate [00:05:51. Saturday, January 18, 2059]
SysDate [23:32:01. Saturday, April 20, 2058]
Glossary
About the Author
Thanks To