The Cyber Star E-Book

J.S. Parker

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 348

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

When the love of Swedish podcaster Hakon Berg's life is plunged into an otherworldly coma, he returns to his ultra high tech mountain home grieving. Unprepared, a once in a millenia blizzard strikes, burying him in an avalanche of snow. Left to his claustrophobic seclusion, he must battle his many demons...as he delves deep into the realms of cyberspace and psychedelia to connect with her wandering spirit.

Leseprobe

J.S. PARKER

The Cyber Star

Author

Editor

Interrior and Cover Design

Published by

SkaryWerd Media

Copyright 2025

ISBN-879-8-89766-449-8

THE

CYBER STAR

J.S.PARKER

“We are spirits in the material world.”

Sting

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience—We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs and cats are to us, and I'm rooting for machines.”

Claude Shannon

“Ever since the first computers, there have always been ghosts in the machine.”

Isaac Asimov

‘I Robot'

“A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.”

Sebastain Thrun

“Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last...”

“In the future AI could create a will of its own, a will that is in conflict with ours.”

Stephen Hawking

“The purpose of life is to be beautiful, to be bountiful. to be blissful, to be graceful and grateful.”

Yogi Bhajan

“You needn't die happy when your time comes. But you must die satisfied you have lived your life from beginning to end.”

Stephen King

“Death is only the end when you assume the story was about you.”

Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

“End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. Ten you see it.”

J.R.R Tolkien

“Life asked death, why do you love me and hate you? Death responded, because you are a beautiful lie, and I am a painful truth.”

Anonymous

“You may live to see man made horrors beyond your comprehension.”

Nicola Tesla

“The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears..I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.”

Alfred Einstein

“AI is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think of it as something more profound than electricity or fire.”

Sundar Pichai -Google

“The boundaries that separate life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends and the o ther begins.”

Edgar Allen Poe

Chapters List

Prelude - Yan and Askar

1. A Vision of Ice

2. Coma

3. Spindrifts in Hell

4. Venus

5. Portals

6. Sera

7. Ghost Code

8. 2UrBones (369)

9. Helene

10. Drone Drop

11. Drowning, the Sorrow

12. Digital Man

13. Communion

14. Bughouse

15. Ouija Sphere

16. The Electric Lady Lounge

17. DragonFire

18. 3 Keys

19. Jakob’s Halo

20. Doppelganger

21. The Cyber Star

22. Perpetual Ascent

PRELUDE

Yan and Askar

Driven by hunger, six lumbering Woolly Mammoths were traversing a barren wasteland of ice, snow, and rock. As they immersed through a dense snow squall, their mighty feet pounded hard over the loch’s frozen ice sheet.

The eldest matriarch, a behemoth animal bearing heavy curved ivory tusks and a long shaggy brownish-red coat draped across her head and torso, threw her trunk skyward trumpeting hard against the bitter snowfelled winter air. Carried on another forceful wind, her blow echoed across the desolate Nordic highland landscape splayed all around her. Her mighty tambred shriek, soon lost to the swirling frigidity of the ferocious whiteout, the herd’s ancient leader led the way, with her clan plodding hard behind. The desolate land they roamed was a place of a virtual half light—one that saw millennia of their species live, roam, and die while trying to procure minimal sustenance against the horrifically brutal elements.

This day, the herd’s leader could trudge no more…and in three final steps, fell sideways to her death. Simply too old and weak to carry on, her massive body collapsed as her trunk fell…her large eyes, once so full of wisdom and pocked with ice, turned to lifeless onyx stones.

Standing high over her, a strong young male, just a foot shorter in size, approached his fallen mother, and in that very moment, became the herd's new leader and protector.

Intelligent above most beasts their size, the giant Mammoths accepted their mother’s fate—and saddened, left her to be consumed by the elements and the stalking predators ready to devour. Without time to pause their forward trek, they trudged away holding their deep collective sadness…deep as the frozen loch beneath them.

It was in the midst of the dim light that a man named Askar, and his wolfdog Yan, set out from their protective cave dwelling in search of food.

Situated among snow and ice covered dwarf evergreens, tangled dead shrubs, and neolithic green lichen outcroppings, their home was a meager one, but served to protect them well.

In protection from the cold, Askar’s head flowed with long amber locks that were tied and braided to keep it from his eyes. Bearing an equally long flowing ginger beard combed down the entirety of his face, upon his muscular frame he wore a long, heavy, mammoth fur coat sewn with a wolf fur hood, and underneath, a fur-lined elk skin suit that insulated his upper body. His trousers, also elkskin, protected his lower half, as did his wolf and seal leather gloves and the sealskin-mountain goat fur-lined boots on his feet.

Gazing from his high vantage point, he and Yan stepped out from the safety of their heim, their noses set straight into the biting, sleet-laced cold. Evidenced by a long trail of gray smoke that traipsed across his evergreen laid rooftop, they’d left a simmering pile of orange-red coals wafting the smell of a warm wood burning fire. And as they left their home’s sheepskin tarpaulin behind, a panoramic frozen hell’s view lay before them.

For days, Askar had watched the movement and migration of his beloved mammoths, right along with the packs of hunting wolves lying in wait. Today, after descending a short rock wall, he and Yan met a tundra landscape coated with permafrost. Here, the ground was laid with mossy rocks frozen in ice, deep snow troughs, and dry grass, twigs among the dead brambles and a snow layer that showed little signs of life.

Far off in the distance, the long haired mammoths appeared as a mass of moving shadows crossing the flat glacial surface. Once closer in proximity, but still far beyond Askar’s furrowed brow, another vision came. About a half-mile behind the beasts lay a huge, dead, brownish-black carcass that jutted a hint of its white ivory tusks. His razor edged spear stuck straight down into the snow beside him, Askar's mind raced with anticipation. For the behemoth animal preserved in ice would feed him for a very long time indeed.

In his old Norse tongue he said, “Komar Yan, lec ossa lioa.”

(“Come Yan let’s go.”)

Bearing a fine bone handled knife and its sharp six inch razor cut obsidian stone, upon his strong shoulder he carried a sack made of a leathered caribou stomach to bring back the meat, a smaller pouch with deer meat jerky, and another with a supply of pure clear spring water.

The half frozen mammoth squarely in his sights, he and Yan began running full sprint over the ice’s scourged layer. For one restful moment, the pair stopped so that Askar could better observe the terrain around him. The wind gusting heavily, he pulled his attire against him, along with his hood, as his furry leather soled boots met the edge of a section of black ice. Circumventing it, he made another scan of the white desolation, as he and Yan pushed forward towards the dead Mammoth that lay so tantalizingly close.

Just a kilometer away, an ink black Nordic wolf and his pack of gray and pure white females were on the hunt. Starving, it had been days without a kill, and amid their winter plight, their superior sense of smell had tripped their keen senses. With the fleeting scent hitting their turned up snouts, it wafted on the stinging gales, revealing the dead beast that lay partially frozen. With a primitive telepathic signal, the beckoning scent caused the pack to run even faster…their large paws leaving imprinted tracks behind them as they rushed toward the leviathan carcass. They were soon closing the distance.

Unbeknownst to Askar, or even his super sensitive wolfdog, the invisible wolf pack was coming hard, still hidden somewhere in the squalls of snow. Soon arriving before the mammoth, through low visibility, they paused again to canvas the flat expanse of the terrain.

Askar plunged his razor-edged knife into the beast’s thick fur and was already cutting away large slabs of meat, when Yan’s senses became highly alerted. His ears pointed, and his nose raised into the air, he began to spin in circles as he whined, snapping his jaws in a decidedly panicked bark. Askar knew his faithful dog well. There was danger—and it was coming in fast. Adrenalized, he shoved a last slab into his pouch, his fear blitzing his adrenaline. He turned from the carcass and began to run. With Yan at his side, he took a second to look back, and there, only ten feet from the butchered animal were the wolves. Ravenous, they were certainly locked onto them now, and as Askar’s boots pounded over the ice, he continued to call his dog’s name to follow, fearing Yan would turn at any moment and confront the pack. Lost in the gusting squall, Yan had vanished. Barking his name into the cyclones of snow, Askar turned back, commanding his dog to obey. From it, Yan appeared and was running hard until he met Askar’s side. Now a short distance from the wolves tearing at the carcass, he peered through the dense swirling snow. There, three of the females were ripping pieces away, but being there were six, the other three, the pack’s black alpha, and two of his gray females were right behind in chase, their paws digging in hard.

Running faster still, Yan was out ahead, as Askar took a precious half second to look back. The wolves were closing, just twenty feet back. Their heads down, their eyes could be seen blazing through the blizzard, as dead ahead, something Askar knew well lay in wait. The section of black ice. Somehow, in the chaos he’d lost his bearings. With no time to circumvent it, he made the instantaneous decision to enter it against the will of the starving wolves. A hundred feet in diameter, the dark mirrored ice was right under them now. He and Yan ran right over it headlong, and after a dozen or so steps, the heavier Askar fell straight through and into the blackness of the frigid water. Yan’s four legged weight, more proportional, was not enough to break through, and his paws skittered to a stop about five beyond the broken patch. Instantly, with instinctual concern for his master, he pirouetted back to the edge of the hole and began barking into the water, as his paws slow-stepped at the edge. Flailing, as cold biting pinpricks stung his skin, Askar was fully submerged until his head reemerged back up through the surface’s opening. Gasping for air, he reached up through the sub freezing water, and with the weight of his heavy clothing pulling him down, over and over, he sank back down, thrashing. Tiring, for a second more he plunged below, as the wolves stood, their amber eyes fixed. Yan was in a panic as he powerfully barked. Then, as the wolves turned tail, Askar reemerged, treading water towards him. Yan in a full-blown frenzy, snapping his jaws, whining and whimpering as Askar reached out for him. Yan got hold of his coat sleeve. Tugging with angst, he gritted his teeth as he dug his paws into the icy crust. Jaws clenched, with a last ditch tug, Yan began to pull him out.

Teetering on the verge of delirium, for a moment, Askar lay near death upon the frozen slab as he spat up a lot of water from his lungs. His heartbeat slowed to a crawl, he expelled a last blast of ice water and gasped a deep breath. Wallowing in some otherworldly realm, he momentarily blacked out, and in that moment, nearly accepting his fate…it was nothing more than the sight of his beloved Yan that saved him, spurring his will to live. With all he had, amid the howling white zephyrs all around him, Askar barely dragged his cold freezing body to his feet, and soaked and nearly drowned, he put his warm dwelling in his sights.

An hour later, that seemed like a virtual eternity, he awoke violently shaking with spasms, having little recollection of how he got to his straw laid bed. But most certainly, as his unfocused eyes looked about his heim, his shivering, naked body was laid out before a diminished fire. Blurry-eyed, he felt the warmth of Yan’s body curled up beside him. With a parched whisper, he blessed his loyal dog, and wrapped his arms around his silvery fur.

Then…as if from some waning dream, he remembered—the far away place.

1

A

Vision of Ice

3:01 am.

One day in the future.

Hakon Berg awoke as if thrown into the depths of a frigid ocean.

Curled up right beside him was his silver furred wolfdog Jak who sleepily groaned as his offset blue and amber eyes blinked open. On the other side, sleeping like a heavenly angel, was his girlfriend of just three months, Sera.

A common event now, she drowsily rose to his nightmare, sat up beside him, and delicately placed her hand upon his shoulder.

His convoluted dream not yet over, she comforted him.

“It’s okay honey…it’s okay, you’re here.”

Shivering in a cold sweat, it took five more seconds for him to get some of his bearings back as he checked his reality. Seated upright, he thought in the moment he’d certainly frozen to death. Just as the time before, and the time before that.

Dehydrated, in his decidedly Swedish accent he rasped, “Oh my God Sera, it’s becoming more real every time.”

“You’re here now luv, it’s okay,” she offered with affection.

He sighed hard, wiped his swollen teary eyes, and fingered back his longish amber hair stuck to his forehead.

“I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

“You fell through the ice again?”

All he could do was hold his temple and nod.

She asked, “What is this Hakon?”

With slow emphasis he replied, “I—I can still feel the cold water in my lungs. I…can taste…the ice water on my tongue. Just like last time. I was running for my life on a frozen lake in a whiteout. My feeling is that my home was near, just somewhere off in the distance. As before, I entered a dark patch and fell through the broken ice beneath my feet.”

She dropped her sleepy head onto his shoulder and consoled him with a gentle rub of her hand on his back.

His head clearing, he turned to her.

“I love you Sera, especially for not leaving my crazy ass.”

He kissed her head, and tried to brighten. Then he looked over to Jak, who’d lowered his head onto the mattress, his antithetical eyes studying him.

Hakon dug his fingers into his giant dog’s thick silvery fur, and consoled him. “It’s okay Jakky.”

Jak yawned with a slight whine, and bared his mouth full of young white teeth.

Then something arcane seemed to hit Hakon’s muddled head hard. Hard enough to reveal something he’d not said out loud.

She noticed. “What is it luv? Something else?”

In the shifting shadows of the lava lamp-lit room, he turned to her wondering if he should say what he was thinking.

Again, his loyal dog lifted his head as if listening, his keen eyes set on Hakon’s energy as they reflected in a scant shard of filtered light.

“Yes there is,” he huffed aloud, knowing how insane what he was about to say really was. Trusting her implicitly, he came right out with it. “Ready for the really crazy part?”

She nodded, “Just tell me baby.”

“This time, I saw…there were goddamned Woolly Mammoths. I was cutting off a piece of meat off a fallen animal…I can still see the frozen blood on my hands, then a pack of wolves were chasing me.”

“That’s why you were running,” she said. “Yes, I fell through the ice and…”

“And?”

“And…Jeezus I can’t believe I’m saying this.”

He looked straight over to Jak.

“Jak…it was Jak who pulled me out.”

“You think Jak was there?”

“I mean, I don’t know, yes. I know this is crazy…it was Jak, the same wolfdog breed, or maybe an actual wolf. I mean, just as Jak is with us right now, right here with us… it was him…or at least, his soul was.”

“Okay.” She said with understanding, “So, the Mammoths you spoke of ?...haven't they been extinct for like, thousands of years?”

“That is true. But, they were there. I was there, and Jak. I’m not plugging in some conjured remembrance. I was there, the mammoths were there. As were the wolves and—.”

She laid him down with caress and spooned up behind him as she said, “Let’s go back to sleep K? It’ll be alright.”

“All right I’ll try.”

She snuggled up even tighter. “I’d do anything for you Hakon, you know that right?”

“And I for you,” he said.

He looked over to Jak who seemed to be in on the conversation. He gave his fur another stroke.

“Yeah, you too Jakky boy.”

Soon, the three were back to sleep.

2

COMA

Saturday— 7:15 am.

When Hakon stood, he felt like he was standing on the deck of a listing ship. A dull sound of a beep beep beep was coming from the kitchen. With a rub of his red-rimmed eyes, he laid his palms across his ginger whiskers. Heat was radiating from his skin, and he could feel the sting of his new full length, gray-black Yggdrasil Viking tattoo burning across the entirety of his chest. Making a groan, he felt his cold hardwood floor beneath him, and when he went to the bathroom, he looked over his face in the mirror. There, the mirror image reflected his handsome chiseled face, his dark green eyes, and a messy grown out hairstyle, with a few long strands hanging over his strong forehead. Usually tied back from his crown to the back, the sides were cut short, giving him an extreme appearance.

With a voice command, a sliding shower door parted, and as the shower spicket sputtered to life, a billow of steam began to warm the air. Stripped down, he stepped in, grabbed up his go to Axe body wash, and ducked his head into the tepid streams of water. Amid the billowing steam, the fragrant smell of the soap instantly perked him, and stinging a bit, he turned his sunburn tattoo away from the hot water. Toweling off, he fully dressed and went to the kitchen where the soothing intoxication of his favorite java was waiting.

Sera entered from an adjacent room. After sipping her Oolong tea on the outside deck facing the frozen lake, her long curly dirty blonde hair trailed like ivy down her back as she sauntered over to him with a kiss. Then she set some fresh cut flowers into a vase at the sink, as to her right, the gurgling Braun coffee maker was spitting a steamy brown jet into his perennial mug.

On its side read—The DigitalSol Podcast.

With a yawn, he lumbered over to the fridge for his usual yogurt as she pulled two chairs from a small table set next to a large glass paned window facing the side yard. From their high vantage point, the mountain home’s rocky outcroppings were laid with diminutive varieties of snow covered pines, and other native evergreens.

This was his personally designed, ultra modern hi-tech home.

“Uuugh,” he said in the snow’s reflected light.

To banish the hard shine in his eyes, he was just about to pull the drawstring on the window blinds, when he saw Jak running up the backyard hill chasing a fleeing pure white rabbit. As the rabbit ducked into a hole beneath a fallen tree, Jak dug his snout in and began clawing his paws into the hole, shedding a burst of powdery snow between his legs behind him.

Hakon smiled, as Sera sipped on her mug, studying her latest Iphone screen.

She looked up.

“Who you got on the podcast today? Anybody good?”

“Actually yes, he replied. “I've got the foremost expert on AI quantum tech coming in, ah, Dr. Algar Greig. I've been preparing for this interview for weeks in the hope that when I'm across from him, I won’t look like a complete idiot…he's incredibly knowledgeable, and the subject itself is probably still far beyond me.”

She offered, “Well…you are very intelligent, probably more than you give yourself credit for…I'm sure it will be fine.”

“I do appreciate you saying so, as are you my dear.”

She raised her endearing smile as he studied the perfect curve of her sculpted heart shaped face, her ocean blue eyes.

Perhaps feeling a bit melancholy, he choked up a bit. “I know I don’t say this often enough, thank you for being here with me.”

She blushed, laid her fingers on her cheek, and replied, “I love you Hakon. Truth is…even though we’ve only met but a handful of months ago, I feel like I've loved you for lifetimes.”

He knew the way she meant it, and joked, “Well that is- a very long time.”

She laughed back, “No really. There's something about you and me. I've never felt such a deep connection with anybody.”

He set his cup down, and with seriousness washing over his face, a tear grew on the corner of his eye.

Her face turned more serious as she leaned in.

“Something else?”

Emotionally, for a moment he struggled to properly speak. He caught his breath and looked back up into her loving eyes.

“I know my bouts with insomnia and other issues are not what you bargained for. The vision of the ice, I just can’t understand it. It won’t stop. Either way, thanks for being there with me.”

She put her hands on his, and gave him a warm smile.

“You've always been there for me. I am not perfect as you know. Along with being a truly kind and incredibly handsome man, you have a spiritually gifted soul like no other. It's your faults that make you endearing, and human. You have never- ever been a burden.”

He took a sip and smiled.

“So,” she said, changing the subject, “You still coming into town with me? I can drop you off at the studio and pick you up.”

“Sure, yeah. You still going to that hypnosis session?”

“Yeah and to pick up some things before the storm hits.”

“K, let’s get dressed and head out,” he said. “It’s not predicted to start until later, sometime just after dark they say.”

A half hour on, the two were warmly dressed, and he let a snow covered Jak in from outside and fed him.

Moments later, just as Hakon was set to unlock the automatic sliding door, Jak began panting, turning in circles and whimpering.

Sera went to him, crouched down, and said, “What's the matter Jakky, what is it boy?”

Hakon joined them, kneeling next to them.

“That's odd…something's bothering him.”

Trying to console him, they looked at one another as she stood and said, “Strange, he’s been fine all morning.”

Jak wouldn't settle, still whining in deep growls.

She stood and tightened up her fleece collar. The over anxious wolfdog then became even more frantic, and bit down on her pant leg, tugging.

“Hey, hey! Jak, let go!” Hakon ordered, trying to grab him away.

Jak let go, but was still looking up at Sera in an agitated stare, his mouth gaping.

Confused, she checked her pant leg as Hakon asked, “Are you alright? Did he bite you?”

She pulled her leg above her boot, her skin was untouched.

Concerned, she replied, “No I'm okay...but.”

Hakon knelt, and brushed the side of Jak’s large head as his dog subordinately cowered down. Then, just as quickly, Jak got up on all fours and dejectedly walked away.

“Maybe he’s sick or something,” Hakon said. “That isn’t like him to do that at all. Hope he didn’t catch a bite from that rabbit or some other creature he chased down. Maybe I should stay and settle him.”

She said, “I Hope he’s okay.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he returned, not really sure it was true. “Be safe. I know your Audi is a beast in the snow, but get back before it gets bad out there. I’ll walk you out.”

He donned his winter vest from a rack, and she gave him a light smile. It melted him as he said, “Venus, door open please.”

A cold winter day in January, the purple-gray upper atmosphere showed tell tale signs of an impending maelstrom. Already, from a thick gray overcast, a light flurry was stirring, revealing the first of a few snow white pillows spinning haphazardly on clouds of dense fog.

As she got into her car, he stopped short and closed his eyes hard as he held his head.

“Mmm…ouch,” He said. “You okay babe?” She asked.

“Oh.. yeah, I guess so…I think I blinked out there for a second. I’m okay.”

“Okay, you sure?”

“Yeah, let’s have dinner tonight, hunker down by a warm fire with some wine.”

“How could I turn down an offer like that?” She returned. “I should get going. If this storm is anything close to what they say, we could be isolated here for a bit.”

She gave her high end Audi EV a voice command. As it booted up, the car instantly reacted, as all the system lights on the EV’s dash blinked to life. The wipers started in a quick back and forth, swiping away a thin white dusting.

She added, “Driver window down.” Then, “Hope Jakky’s okay.”

“Me too. I’m sorry if he scared you. He is quite a brute, and I could only imagine what he could do if he really wanted to.”

Although he didn’t say it in the moment, he was still running with an illusory feeling as he said, “Better get going, Love you babe.”

“Love you back,” she said, puckering a blown kiss.

Tail lights blinking, the EV Audi silently disappeared down the winding driveway as a nagging “twilight zone” feeling itched at his anxiety. Turning back, his body ran with chills as head continued to thump.

Set with face recognition, the front door slid back open and he went back inside. The security system reset with a chirp chirp.

After tending to Jak, who was oddly curled up but not sleeping, about an hour later, Hakon left him behind as he watched him in the window. Motoring down his half kilometer driveway in his Range Rover HPV, (hydrogen powered vehicle) he turned right onto the mountain pass leading away from his home.

Chawing down on a bagel as he drove, in his cup holder was his second coffee of the day. On the dash, a direct message showed up. Temporarily distracting him, his wipers were rhythmically swiping back and forth as he accelerated up another winding hill.

Soon he entered the crowded vicinity of Drottninggatan Street, one of Stockholm’s premier tourist spots. Today, it was busy with morning locals and tourists catching breakfast, some carrying bags in hand as they stepped out of the many high end shops. He arrived at a covered back lot where he stopped at a laser light checkpoint, spoke his code, and parked. Within a minute’s walk to his upstairs office, he carried with him his usual black satchel containing his Iphone, his ID, debit cards and such, and a dedicated Mac laptop loaded with research notes pertaining to the podcast for that day. A two story climb made, he set his face in front of a scanner that traced a lime green laser from his eyes past his chin. He then entered his studio to the light sound of Bach playing in the house system.

Once inside, he was met by his intern and best mate, producer and tech Jiri Sundstrom.

Tall, blonde, slender built, and long bearded, the young “stoner” Dane was a graduate of twenty-four years old. Heavily into cannabis use, and almost equally, psychedelic drugs, he was hired about two years ago when Hakon’s former techie producer, Bjorn Olig died in the SuperZombie epidemic.

In the short time since Bjorn’s death, Jiri had become a true perennial friend. Since, he and Hakon had traveled the world several times together in search of, or in research of otherworldly psychedelic experiences, along with new topics for the podcast.

Entering with a smile, and his coffee in hand, Hakon set his bag down on a long mahogany table. Artistically decorated with stenciled Chinese characters, it was just one of many of his precious items and treasures that lined the studio’s floor, walls, tables, and shelves. The studio, set with things like trinket souvenirs, colorful potable bottles, cigar humidors and the like, the walls held a few ancient weapons and other vintage pop art. As for the podcast table itself, it was outfitted with three high end Neumann microphones, wireless headphones to match. Enclosing the chill room, upon the walls and ceiling were ribbed and angled acoustic foam pieces, soft- lit by a few downturned lights, giving the well designed room a chill ambient setting.

After a few pertinent loose ended details were reviewed with Jiri, Dr. Algar Greig, a distinguished man of about sixty, walked through the studio door carrying a beat up dossier by his side.

As Jiri continued to collate more data while copying and pasting Google searches onto his Mac laptop, he glanced up to see the doctor coming. Getting up to meet him, with a pleasant gesture he went to greet him with a firm handshake.

At the same moment, Hakon returned from the kitchenette with two cold bottles of spring water. His head still thumping, he’d taken four mild painkillers, as his caffeinated body continued to reel with affected sleep loss. Still feeling some dreadful out of body vibe, he perked up when he entered the studio. Always a professional, he met Greig with a genuine salutation, shaking his hand with a smile. The two then took seats in adjacent chairs. It was five minutes to airtime. The studio’s atomic clock ticking down, Jiri turned the mics to live. In his mixed Norwegian accent he could be heard.

“Three, two, one…and..we-are-live.”

Hakon began.

“A warm good morning to our friends here in Sweden and all over God’s planet. Welcome to the DigitalSol podcast, I am Hakon Berg. Friends, today we have a very esteemed guest. Dr. Algar Greig, good morning sir.”

“Good morning Hakon, it is great to be with you.” Greig said.

“So just a bit of background doctor. Not only are you one of the world’s top preeminent software experts, but also one of history’s forefathers in the world of emerging A.I. and quantum sciences.”

“That is correct. Of course I dabble in other things, but yes.”

“Very well, and you are a professor at Norwegian University of Science and Technology here in Stockholm, while at the same time, a chief consultant at MindZen. You certainly have a notable back story, but tell us more about your proclivity in other areas.”

“Yes well…where to begin,” Grieg replied in his rather thick Oslo accent. “I suppose it all started with my deep interest in physics and astrophysics. That began, to my ongoing disbelief, almost forty years ago when I received my first P.H.D.”

“In neuroscience software.” Hakon chimed back.

“Yes, now I not only lead the R&D department at S.I.T.—our very highly regarded Institute for Technology here in Stockholm, as well, I am a partner among my esteemed colleagues at MindZen with Dr. Helene Lidzt and American Dr. S. Robert Shaw.”

His tone even and light, Hakon said, “I see. And I’ve read you actually graduated top of your class at S. I.T at age what? Fourteen?

Algar chuckled, “Yes, I suppose so.”

“Impressive. I was still kicking ‘round a soccer ball at that age. And your father, also a brilliant mind.”

Why, yes…and a brilliant chess player. A grandmaster.”

“Very well sir. Back to the institute for a moment. What got you started in the tech field?”

“Oh, originally, it was most certainly the advent of the original emerging technology. Back then of course, the advent of the internet, Apple, Microsoft. Early on, I recognized their potential to bring deep knowledge and other practical applications to the world at large.” Hakon continued, “And, also far ahead of everyone.”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Okay. I’d like to give our listeners a brief capsule of your other achievements. From about the early 2020’s on, you were a consultant at Google where you held a prestigious advisory position, primarily on A.I. sciences, at DeepQ you were a software gaming programmer, at Open A.I. you helped develop ChatGPT, and held a high level cyber security position at SIRI. You also hold many military patents.

The aged scholar replied, “I’ve kept busy.”

“You certainly have, amazing. And sir, I must ask you. In light of all your past experiences, what is your current view of virtual alien intellect technologies?”

Greig guffawed, “Well, as you know, all of these cutting edge systems have advanced to the point where now, the experiences have become indistinguishable from base reality. Platforms perfected to where our human minds completely disconnect from all perceived aspects of what’s true or, quote unquote, real. I’d venture to say, many A.I bots, though protected against becoming sentient, are now intellectually equal or superior to even our best biologics.”

Hakon took a breath and became more serious.

“So where and when does all this innovation end?”

“The simple answer. It doesn’t. As humans, our relatively short technological history shows we are driven to innovate. It’s one of the things humans do best.”

“I see.”

“This said,” Greig continued, “There are still many, many things about our emerging tech that will continue to grow and improve our lives. These days, as always I suppose, knowledge is power. Medicine, earth sciences, entertainment, robotics, military, global economics, government, law enforcement, and so many other things continue to improve, symbiotic with advancements in tech.”

“Very well sir. But if I may play devil’s advocate for a moment.

“Of course.”

“What would say to those who make the claim that superior AI advancements continue to push humans aside?”

Greig raised his finger for emphasis.

“I would contend that for a very long time now, we have become more and more aligned. As you will likely agree, most humans on our far more advanced planet are already quasi cyborgs. Is that a good thing? For some, it is a definitive yes. For others left behind, not so much I suppose.”

“And for our audience sir, can you expound on that?”

“Yes. It is an unstoppable force all its own. At this point, good or bad, it’s simply, get on board, or be left behind.”

“Very prophetic I would say.”

“Indeed,” Greig returned. “Just go back to the original Iphones and smartphones. Ever since, they have grown to become absolutely indispensable to our way of life. Mr. Berg, human’s simply love their technology, and it’s never enough. As I’ve said, as a human species, most of us are already hybrids. In other cases, replicants, superbots, hybrids, virtual beings, alien races and more…all in competition.”

“So, you would contend, currently, there is no way back?”

“No. It is an impossibility at this point. So we must embrace it. Continue to integrate with it. And if advances continue to be made, we will do as our primitive ancestors have done. We adapt.”

“Point taken. And for us. Barring an annihilation event, what do you believe is our near and distant future if all this continues? Must we continue to lose our humanity in the process? What happens to faith, love, hate, sex, addiction, artistic creativity and other human intellect?”

“Simple answer? They go forward. Just as they have through millennia. Through near extinction events, war, plagues, famine and floods. We have always humanly endured, and we will now. And then in the future.”

“And what would you say to those proponents of shutting all this down, or certainly putting the proverbial brakes on all of it?”

“Did we put the brakes on Ford’s mass production of cars? They certainly put horse drawn buggies out of business…we wouldn’t have thought to stop that. It’s just human progress.”

“Yes sir, I agree. But just to consider, some would contend that early vehicles, far less technological than today, have now continually evolved into the tech marvels they are today. But still. They—serve us. Not the other way around. You of course recall the Drone Wars and the many A.I. bot uprisings.”

“I do.”

“Yes,” Hakon said with respect. “So there are advances that help, like our EV and HPV vehicles, and others more malign that can wipe us out. It seems the spectrum has widened to the point where we are constantly fighting to have the one up.”

Unoffended, Greig smiled and sipped from his mug.

“Very good. Point taken Mr. Berg.”

In a separate sound proof room across the way, Jiri was readying a sponsor's advert when the studio’s icon lit up on his touchscreen. He took the call, and set it back down bearing a look of alarm. The podcast then went to commercial, and he alerted Hakon in his ear monitor.

“Hey man, I need to speak with you, it’s important.”

Hakon paused his off-air chat with Greig. At first perplexed and even a bit peeved, he excused himself, wondering why in the world Jiri would interrupt his live show that way.

He said, “Hold that thought doctor…it appears I must step out for a moment.”

Greig was amicable, “Very well yes, I’ll be right here.”

A shut of the door behind him, Hakon stepped out into the outside corridor looking puzzled.

He asked, “Jiri, what is it? I was in the middle of…”

Jiri wasted no time. “Hakon, that was an urgent message from Karolinska Hospital, there’s been an accident, they need you there at once.”

Hakon froze. “What? What kind of accident?”

“They tracked you down as a registered contact, I think it’s about Sera.”

“Sera? What do you mean? Did they say what happened?”

“Ah, no...just that you must come at once.”

“Okay. Put out an on air message, that I was called away on an emergency. Thanks.”

For a dizzied second, he looked back through the glass where Greig patiently waited. Then he went back in.

“Dr. Greig sir,” he said, “My sincerest apologies. It seems there’s been some kind of accident involving my partner. I know you have come a long way to speak to me today, I do appreciate that. Under any other circumstances, I would never do this. But I have to go. This minute.”

Greig was more than pleasant, and nodded without any outward abrasiveness. “Okay. We will reschedule and pick up our conversation another time?”

“Yes, thank you, thank you doctor…Jiri will see you out and arrange you a transport.”

With no less than a million listeners and paying subscribers in his audience waiting out the commercial, the on air podcast went deadly silent.

Less than ten minutes later, Hakon was back in his car, headed to Karolinska. Blowing the speed limit, he dodged the slow weekend drivers, beeping on his horn as he hammered down the accelerator. The usual twenty minute drive took him twelve, and as he pulled up to the hospital’s emergency entrance, he haphazardly got out, paid the valet, and ran inside where he checked in at the front desk. His head hurting and in a tailspin, he caught a high speed elevator to the top floor. Even as it raced upward, it somehow felt agonizingly slow as it finally chimed to a full stop. The door then whooshed open. In full panic, he ran to a desk awash in white light where two trauma nurses were seated, monitoring several patients on multiple monitor screens.

When in closer distance, he half shouted, “Please, I’m looking for a patient, I was told it was an emergency.”

Almost too calmly, one checked her screen.

“And what is the patient's name sir?”

“It’s Sera, Sera Kristiansen.”

The nurse got straight up and said, “Yes sir, please wait here. It’s best if you speak with the doctor. I’ll get him straightaway.”

Her stone cold response, like a shot of cold ice water thrown in his face, his adrenaline was so amped up, it caused him the feverish onset of a sweaty panic attack. The wait for the doctor excruciating, he clenched his jaws hard enough to cause his face to contort. In less than thirty long seconds that felt like an eternity in purgatory, the hospital’s attending surgeon emerged from a room at the dark end of the hallway. He wouldn’t even wait for him to arrive, and instead, two-stepped it until he was standing three feet away from the doctor outfitted in a sterile blue hepasafe mask and gown. With a grim-faced nurse right by his side, his look was telling. He pulled his mask down and extended his hand.

“You are Mr. Berg?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

“Mr. Berg, I’m Dr. Janssen.”

“Doctor, please, what has happened? Is she alright?”

The experienced doctor put his arms out in a calming motion. “Better you follow me sir, this way, to trauma.”

Tears were welling in Hakon’s eyes as he raised his voice.

“Trauma?! My God, please what is it?”

His attending nurse intervened, as Hakon looked a second from losing it.

“Please Mr. Berg, try to stay calm. Come this way, we can talk on the way to the I.C.U.”