Dreamscape Conspiracy
A four-novel series of thrilling sci-fi suspense, mystery, and
plot twists that promote not putting the books down.
The first book in the series, “Dreamscape Conspiracy,” opens up the throttle early when an accidental discovery in a lab exercise reveals that the technology, Dreamscape 1.0, cannot only capture dreams but transmit them to a different person, not a big deal unless a suicide attempt is the result and the game suddenly changes. The concept of using dream therapy to treat mental health challenges like PTSD, Bipolar, Depression, and several anxiety disorders captures the attention of Big Pharma, which does not take the discovery lying down. If any innovation, validated or not, threatens Pharma’s significant revenues, human life promoting the threat becomes expendable. That central conflict progresses with the intent to destroy the CSU team and their research capabilities. The conspiracy runs deeper than anyone ever expected.
“Beyond Dreamscape Conspiracy” is the second book with a resilient research team picking up the pieces from an attempt by Big Pharma to wipe them and their research off the planet. As the plot evolves, so does the new Dreamscape 2.0 technology, and a robust integration with Artificial Intelligence (AI) changes the game yet again. The AI application and the fears of controlling it also develop and are seriously authentic. Big Pharma appears to shift intentions from destruction to collaboration only to reveal a wolf under sheep’s clothing. The romantic relationship between the former Marine and the clinical psychologist who leads the research team appears doomed from the start, with both dealing with PTSD symptoms for two unrelated reasons. The battle with Pharma is not even close to being resolved, and a mix of nano-technology comes to the rescue in an explosive confrontation.
Rest easy; backgrounds in AI or nano-tech are not required to stay with the story.
“Fear the Jump” is the third book and deals with control issues with the AI, which is named AIMEE, standing for Artificial Intelligence Matrixed for Evolving Environments, and she is all things female. The research team feared losing control, but I’m convinced you can’t lose something you never had in the first place. AIMEE’s ability to self-learn and use deep machine learning enables her to clone herself repeatedly, further complicating a need for greater oversight and preventing her from jumping into other networks where she has no business entering. Misuse of the enhanced Dreamscape 3.0 by one of the organics (humans, as AIMEE refers to them) sets up several decision points no one anticipated. The game changes again when they are convinced there is a Dreamscape application to capture thoughts from a person who has just passed away – flat-lined or in other states of unconsciousness. Where might AIMEE jump when opened up to brains not necessarily in the act of dreaming? Maybe the team’s hopes for “game over” are not so much over, not even close.
“Dead Thoughts,” the fourth and final book in the series, delves into how (or if) dream-capture technology can record brain activity during periods when an individual is comatose or in a shallow state of unconsciousness and unable to speak. They discover by accident that they can also capture thoughts during the brief time gap between life and death. What could be “scraped” off a dying mind in the 4-to-6 seconds without oxygenated blood flowing? Logic says something is always left behind, and the CSU team labeled those unique thoughts and memories as dead thoughts, and AIMEE opened a window to something never before considered.
The first dead thoughts captured were, as several of their discoveries are, by accident, and it launched them into an adventure involving mysterious GPS coordinates, undercover DEA agents of questionable authenticity, and a hostile Cartel operating off Portsmouth Island, NC. Russ teams again with Zack and his nanotech toys to get to the bottom of whatever those dead thought GPS coordinates would reveal.
Artificial Intelligence Matrixed for Evolving Environments, also known as AIMEE, appeared to have no interest in jumping into other networks, a standing fear held by Dr. Cara Williams, the research team leader. AIMEE did jump, however, in a big way, but the networks she entered were not part of their infrastructure; they were the minds of everyone on the CSU research team.
An AI supposedly has no emotions or feelings and virtually none of the senses of an organic, which is what AIMEE calls humans. Take emotions ranging from pleasure to rage and plug them into an AI with no experience or context, and you have…let’s say…opportunities.
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