Posthuman: Nanoverse, #3

By Theophilus Monroe

I'm losing myself in the nanoverse...

 

Am I even human anymore?

So many connections... so many people...

But where am I?

The enemy is still out there, somewhere in the nanoverse, trying to absorb humanity into his new, digital, world.

Whole worlds, after the design of any host who has been assimilated into the nanoverse, constructed from the memories of those who have been integrated.

There is an appeal to it all...

Do I even want to destroy it, anymore?

Have I been fighting on the wrong side of this war from the start?

Posthuman is the third book in Theophilus Monroe's Nanoverse, an action packed cyberpunk sci fi thriller series. As a former soldier, suffering from PTSD, Brian Goff is not only a threat to the new system, but his very injury has given him control over the nanobots. Like Neo, in The Matrix, Goff is an unlikely hero whose "technomagic" makes him the the last hope for human liberty, freedom, and justice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Theophilus Monroe
• Release date: Aug 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223280378

Book preview

Posthuman

Theophilus Monroe

Copyright © 2022 by Theophilus Monroe.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Proofreading and Editing by Mel: https://getproofreader.co.uk/

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. 

 For information: 

www.theophilusmonroe.com

Contents

1. Firewall

2. Simulations

3. Gaming

4. Schemes

5. Behind Enemy Lines

6. AWOL Reboot

7. Debriefing

8. Fatherly Counsel

9. Trojan Horse

10. Leviathan Commence

11. Adventureland

12. Replica

13. Neverland

14. Hooked

15. Leviathan Engage

16. Factory Settings

17. Resistance HQ

About Author

Also By Theophilus Monroe

1

Firewall

The cruise ship rocked back and forth as Brian ran across the deck, pushing himself through a crowd of bikini-topped women.

Bitch, one woman said, turning to him, her jaw dropped and feigning offense at his behavior.

Brian shook his head. These weren’t actual women. They were manifestations, programs, memories of real women for sure, but incorporated into a scenario created by whoever was hosting this program.

Brian glanced down, examining the body he inhabited. He had red painted toe-nails. And damn, he had great legs.

Damn it, Seneca, Brian said, reaching out through the communication network that linked him to the resistance back in Kansas City.

What is it? Seneca asked, the computer-nerd’s voice echoing in Brian’s head.

Did you have to put me into a woman?

We had to work within the constraints of the host’s program, Seneca said.

Brian looked across the pool. There’s a dude over there, on one of the lounge chairs. Why couldn’t you put me in him?

He’s the host, Brian.

Brian sighed and looked around. The host was the only dude on the ship. And every woman aboard the cruise vessel was buxom, youthful, and undeniably attractive. This was the existence that the host had chosen for the life he hoped to live in the nanoverse. It was his ideal existence, a particular manifestation of what Archimedes Flat envisioned for all of humankind.

Avoid the host, Seneca said. Look for someone acting out of the ordinary who isn’t behaving in a way that likely aligns with the host’s programming. We know Flat left a firewall there, somewhere.

Brian sighed. That was the mission. Seneca had picked up on Flat’s signature here, in this man’s scenario. Flat couldn’t live in a scenario of his own. If he did, Brian and the rest of the resistance could find him. Instead, he bounced from program to program, creating firewalls, little programs meant to mask the code, the signature that Flat’s presence left behind. Find the firewall. Claim the nanobots that host the firewall, and return the data to the resistance so Seneca and Larson could hack it and try to identify the IP address, the signature, that Flat used to traverse the nanonetwork.

Every person connected to the nanonetwork had an unalterable IP address. It’s how the person’s consciousness remained intact regardless of the programs or experiences that the host created.

Stop gawking at the women! Liza piped up, speaking to Brian through the com channel.

I’m not! Brian lied. It was difficult not to notice the women, with all their bouncing parts gracing the deck of the cruise ship.

Focus on the mission, Liza followed up.

Liza wasn’t the jealous type. She didn’t care if Brian looked, per se. But it was important that Brian behave like any of the women programmed into the host’s experience were expected to act. Only the host had administrative principles in his own programmed experiences. If he thought a woman he’d brought into the scenario was acting unusual, or in any undesirable way, the host could simply erase the woman from his program. He could effectively kick Brian out of his virtual scenario.

Brian approached a tiki bar and ordered a drink. The woman behind the bar handed him a half-coconut, filled with what Brian assumed to be a pina colada, with a cute little umbrella and a straw sticking out of it.

Brian took a sip. Damn, this shit tastes real.

Focus, Liza repeated.

I am! Brian said. I’m trying to blend in here. I can’t be the only one walking around the deck without a drink.

Brian turned to examine the deck again. The host, the man previously reclined on the opposite side of the pool, was gone.

Then Brian felt a pinch on his butt.

Brian turned, the host looked him up and down. Hey baby.

Brian snorted. Hey.

Careful, Brian, Seneca said. Remember, go along with it. It took us weeks to find this firewall. We can’t risk losing this chance.

Nice coconuts, the man said.

Brian cocked his head. I’m only holding one.

The man smirked. "I’m not talking about your drink.

Of course he wasn’t. But what kind of jerk approached a woman with pickup lines like that? Presumably, the same kind of douche bag whose ideal life in the nanoverse was on a cruise ship with nothing but scantily clad women.

How’d you like to grab a bite to eat? the man asked.

Brian smiled, relieved that the man hadn’t invited him to his personal cabin. Brian wasn’t an actor. He wasn’t sure how far he could go playing the part if the man wanted something more. I’d like that.

The woman’s body that Brian inhabited wasn’t real. She was based on an actual person, but only a memory of someone who was integrated into the nanoverse. Her behavior profile could be incredibly complex if, for instance, this woman’s memory was taken from someone who knew her well. Or, it could be shallow and simple, if the memory that defined this woman was little more than derived from a chance encounter, or from someone who’d been an acquaintance of the woman in the real world. Given the details of this host’s scenario, Brian doubted that he’d deeply programmed the woman he was trying to emulate.

What’s your name? Brian asked.

The name’s Jeff. You’d best remember that.

Brian cocked his head. Why do you say that?

Because you’ll be screaming it later.

Brian groaned, then he caught himself, and tried his best to transition it into a giggle. It was hardly an Oscar-worthy performance, but Brian was doing his best.

Do you want to know my name? Brian asked.

Jeff shook his head. I don’t really care.

Brian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This was the future that Archimedes Flat envisioned for the betterment of humanity? Dickheads like Jeff could live out their misogynistic fantasies for all eternity, without consequences? How was this supposed to be better? This was the next level of human evolution? That’s what Flat claimed. Clearly, Flat was full of crap.

Brian followed Jeff through a door that led off the ship’s deck into a hallway and from there, to an all-day buffet.

Crab legs, lobster, plenty of fruit, pretty much anything you could imagine was on the spread.

Why don’t you get me a plate? Jeff asked. I’ll get us a table.

You want me to carry both of our plates? Brian asked.

Don’t get too much. I don’t want you to get fat.

Brian snorted. Clearly, if Jeff thought he could treat the women in this scenario in such a way, the people he’d populated his little world with had little self-respect in their programming.

Brian nodded, and Jeff slapped him on the butt before leaving to find a table.

Brian grabbed a plate. This is my chance.

Be careful, Seneca said. Unless you’ve identified the firewall, you need to keep playing along.

Brian huffed. This Jeff dude has only one idea for where this is going to lead. I need to find the firewall now. I don’t intend to let this play out.

You need to do what you need to do, Liza said. The longer we take to catch Flat, the more people he’ll absorb.

I’m not sleeping with this guy!

Liza giggled. It’s not you, Brian. It’s the program you’re inhabiting.

It feels like me. This feels real, this body, everything. I’m not doing a dude!

Man up, soldier, Keith Bonecrusher Koontz added, clearly entertained by what he was hearing through the comms.

Screw you, Bonecrusher, Brian said.

Look Brian, Liza said. All you have to do is locate the firewall. Then you can ignore him. The host can’t boot you from his program unless he touches you. You’re on a big ship. If you have to, you can avoid him for a while without him finding you. Just be smart about it.

I’m not sure how to even start, Brian said. These people on the ship, they’re like partial consciences, shallow and undefined. How can I find someone acting out of the ordinary when no one here is acting like a real human being should?

Flat’s firewall will consume any programming in any of the other entities on the ship. What you need to find is someone acting completely out of the ordinary, someone not even remotely human.

Other than the host? Brian asked. He’s acting like an animal.