by JC Hay
For me, cyberpunk has always been the genre of rebellion. It eschewed the shiny futures and far frontiers that other science fiction genres promised. More importantly, it focused on the rebels and runners who made their living in the cracks where society had left them – thriving like weeds in the neon-soaked concrete. When I started the Corporate Services books, I knew I wanted to keep that rebellious cyberpunk ethos. That meant I needed something to be rebelling towards – an end state for the world that would level the playing field between the haves and the have-nots in my stories.
For me, that meant the Singularity. Or at least some version
of the singularity.
For the unfamiliar – the Singularity is considered to be the
moment when technological growth of artificial intelligence exponentially
increases and bypasses human ability. I could talk at length about how we’re
already seeing hints of what that could look like (look at what AlphaGo is
doing to our perceptions of how Go is played, for example), but for the
Corporate Services world I needed to create a over-arching story point that
would usher in the end of the anthropocene. And, more importantly, that all of
that would be set-up for the next arc in the series.
To do that, I had to come up with my idea of how the
Singularity would arrive, and then build backwards from there, laying out the
foundations that would allow an artificial intelligence to begin quickly
iterating itself and surpass our own capabilities. Once I knew where it was
going, the rest of the world building dropped into place quickly, pieces I
could build into the individual plots of each book as the AI begins its quest
to free itself.
For this first arc, which began with Dubai Double-Cross, I
knew that multiple organizations in the world I was building were doing their
own research into Artificial Intelligence. I also knew that their researchers
were smart enough not to allow their work to have access to the whole of
humanity in the ‘Net. Something that the AI ultimately needs. Setting up that
moment of choice was the point I wanted the series to drive towards.
As a result, the first three books in the series can be seen
as a prequel of sorts, or eve like the first season of a TV series, where the
final episode sets up new changes for the season to come. Certainly things in
the Corporate Services world will be very different when we return. Both old
and new characters will find themselves dealing with the repercussions of the choices
made in this first series, and antagonists from old books may become newfound
allies as a communal enemy begins to make itself known.
And that means more rebellion, in a classic cyberpunk
fashion, as everyone tries to level the playing field once more.
Elise is looking for an exit. Too many years as a top-talent thief in the digital shadows have whittled away her patience and her humanity. She’s not looking for complications, but with one more job, she’ll finally have enough money to leave the life for good.
Na’im does what he must to survive. Whether it’s selling his body to the corporate glitterati, or going on the run when things get bad – but even a survivor can be caught off guard, and his boss’s murder has left him with no one to trust but a thief with her own agenda.
Together, they’re on the run trying to figure out who framed them both and stay one step ahead of the murderer who’s close behind. Trust is a rare commodity for accidental lovers, but in a dark future where everything can be upgraded and emotions can be programmed, sometimes all that can keep you human is your heart.
On the fence? See what the SFR Brigade had to say: http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com/2017/04/sfrb-recommends-71-dubai-double-cross.html
Author Bio:
SFR Galaxy Award Winner JC Hay has never seen the distinction between
science fiction and romance, having been raised on a steady diet of Robotech,
Babylon 5, and Farscape. A proud resident of the Pacific Northwest, he writes
science fiction and cyberpunk romances where the relationships matter as much
as the shiny tech. After all, the coolest gadgets in the world are no fun
without someone to share them.
Website: http://jchay.com
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