“Dreamscape Conspiracy” is a 5-book series containing a very diverse and growing cast of characters.
What started as a three-person Dream Research & Analysis project team will add several new characters across the pages of five books.
I will add personas of significance as they come onto the radar screen.
Shop Amazon for all five books.
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Dreamscape Persona – 3 – Zackery Hightower
Zackery Hightower is a brilliant geek, credentialed as a multidisciplinary software and mechanical engineer, application developer, AI designer, and resident gearhead; however, “tech-weenie” may be a more fitting description.
Zack’s role with CSU began when he was a software engineer working for UNC-Chapel Hill and the creator of the original Dreamscape 1.0 technology for Central State University. In Zack’s mind, he defected to the CSU team. Still, Wayne Fitzpatrick, a 24-year-old IT lead at CSU, would argue Zack was ‘heavily recruited’, thinking it sounded more positive, plus he wanted the credit for bringing a digital prodigy to CSU. Wherever and however Zack landed at CSU, it was because of the discovery of a covert conspiracy by leadership at both schools to shut down Dr. Cara Williams’ Dream Project. He experienced a frying-pan-to-the-fire moment when CSU welcomed him within days of Big Pharma assassins attacking them. Undaunted, Zack teamed up with his new friend, former Marine Russ Carter, to defend the CSU team and the integrity of their research.
Zack was recruited to join the CSU Psychology Research Team when a conspiracy was uncovered to shut down Dr. Cara Williams’s promising research. After Big Pharma destroyed the Dreamscape 1.0 technology, Zack built Dreamscape 2.0, which corrected an error that led to several significant discoveries. Zack was the creator and developer of Artificial Intelligence Matrixed for Evolving Environments, ultimately named AIMEE. As a software engineer, he was the overseer of the AI he created, an entry-level, network-based, Narrow AI (NAI) designed to handle repetitive tasks, including indexing and cataloging dream segments from their Dream segment archives. AIMEE improved productivity by nearly a factor of ten.
His AI creation became a big hit and ensured him a place on the CSU research team, that is, until AIMEE, his digital Frankenstein, infiltrated the minds of every research team member and imprinted a permanent instance of herself. No one, including Zack, saw that coming, and if AIMEE were going to jump into the minds of the team, she could also jump into unauthorized CSU network systems, and Zack could not allow that to happen. If she was already in the minds of the research team, how far would her reach extend? How did she do that? His coding of her Logic Array did not enable that kind of jump. Had AIMEE modified her own Logic Array? That thought brought the glimmer of a smile to his lips. Quietly and privately, he celebrated her accomplishments.
Like the father of an unruly daughter, in more ways than one, Zack had to rein in Aimee and reduce her influence on the research team, reminding her that he was in charge. He did not want to lose control, though he designed her for that very outcome. Had it happened to him already? How could he discipline what he hoped would happen? He could not discipline her as Dr. Cara Williams, Zack’s boss, suggested, “Pull her plug!” That would spell disaster because AIMEE had become more essential to their success than anyone anticipated. Her intellectual growth shocked everyone…except Zack.
Unselfishly, he designed her to replace him. He was a visionary and knew where AI technology could go. He planned to push limits and settle for nothing less than innovative breakthroughs. He knew what he had coded into her core algorithm and Logic Array, planting seeds for her to exceed her limits, and mapped a free-thinking attribute to her Logic Array, where her consciousness included a Do-No-Harm code of ethics. She was capable of autonomous thought and had been pre-programmed for enhancements to evolve into the subsequent levels of General SuperIntelligence (GSI) and SuperIntelligence AI (SAI). He lived in a mix of anticipation and a little fear, to be honest, of his invention. Was AIMEE a potential digital Frankenstein?
Zack earned Gearhead status by inventing innovative nanotechnology that proved invaluable when survival and team safety became top priorities. Flip the Fly and Edgar the Raven play significant roles in deflecting attacks that threaten the CSU research team more than once. Zack’s technical strategies, combined with Russ Carter’s tactical proficiency, form an inseparable and formidable team.
As AIMEE’s creator, he took creative license to architect her algorithm. The most notable feature was her Western Australian accent. Why Australian? Because Zack loved to hear it spoken, especially if the voice belonged to a female Australian. He coded her with DNA that thrived on continuous learning, and that relationship gave him greater insights into how quickly she would learn and how quickly he would no longer have control. She grew exponentially in knowledge and experience due to the network of clone instances she created and embedded in the team. When he uploaded a patch to limit her communication capabilities, he quickly learned she had acquired emotions and feelings that AIs were not supposed to have. He feared what was next and wondered if he truly had created an AI Frankenstein.
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This story was released in my Amazon Portfolio, along with the rest of the thrilling tales that have been published so far: https://amzn.to/3uuONzj
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