Following Sleeping in Cyberspace #1: All the Stuff You Already Know from “Following Oracular #1” & Other New Stuff

So you know what’s unfair?  What’s unfair is everybody talking about Oracular when Morgan is, in fact, writing Sleeping in Cyberspace.  We’re rectifying that, however, and…now you get a dual blog post series, one about Oracular and one about Cyberspace, depending on which one was more apparent in Morgan’s brain that week.

(You’ll probably see more of us in the immediate future, as Morgan scrambles to finish draft one by the end of the year, hopefully.)

Anyhow, I’m Kivessa, and I’m going to tell you all about my story!

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The Concept:

Science fiction set ~120 years in the future + elements of a Sleeping Beauty retelling + artificial intelligence that already rules the world + a really crazy heist + three siblings with complex relationships + running jokes about fedoras = Sleeping in Cyberspace

Ceveth laughs a little bit.  “That doesn’t even touch on any of the emotions of the story.”

Well, that’s true.  There’s also a lot of emotions.  One of us has really bad anxiety.  Another of us is a control-freak.

“And the last one of us?” Dazant asks.

Oh, well, yeah, and then there’s me.  I…am slightly underdeveloped.

The Concept in an Official-Ish-Sounding Blurb Form Instead of a Math Equation:

Fifteen year old Ceveth lives in a world where the artificial intelligence already has control of the world, having turned the United Council into a figurehead.  One of its most famous actions was to nearly purge the world of criminals, by creating a near-perfect police force.

This means that former thief Ceveth and his two older siblings have no chance of redeeming themselves.  The best they can do is evade arrest and struggle to survive, and even that, at times, is near impossible.

Then one day, the siblings are contacted by someone who promises them freedom.  A clean slate; a brand new start to their lives.  And all it asks in return is that they commit one more theft and steal an item from the most hi-tech bank in the city.

Or, basically, the world is ruled by an AI, which really wants to throw us in prison, but we really don’t want to go to prison.  Then Ceveth starts hearing this weird voice identifying itself as Izi in his bionic ear.  Izi doesn’t tell us anything about herself, and doesn’t even let us meet her, choosing instead to only contact us through messages on our tablets, but she tells us that if we don’t break into the bank and steal some item that she won’t actually identify for us, she’ll have us thrown into prison anyway.

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The Characters:

Ceveth:

Um. Hi.  Uh… I’m Cev.  I am really good with computers (well, tablets are what we use nowadays), and I love music.  I have anxiety and panic attacks and nightmares and…yeah.  I really love music, though.  All kinds.

Dazant:

Of the three of us, I’m the oldest, so I have to keep us together and safe.  I…can sometimes be over-protective, but it’s for their own good.

Kivessa:

Dazant makes everything happen; I make it all go smoothly. I help the boys hold themselves together.  Which often means arguing with Dazant, but

Izi:

I am not interested in talking about myself here.

Dazant sputters annoyedly.  “Of course not.  Here’s what you need to know about Izi.  She—if it is a she, since there’s been no confirmation from her—doesn’t answer any of your questions unless it specifically interests her, and even then, she’ll probably say something useless.”

Izi does not protest to this statement.

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So, there’s us.  What do ya’ll think?

Ceveth looks like he’s about to laugh.  “Ki, did you just say ‘ya’ll’?”

Yeah, I guess I did.