Cyberside: Resonating Realities

Today, I wanted to talk about how writing can sometimes find the proper resonance with the real world, become more than fiction, and swing into a futuristic mirror of everyday events. I initially had mixed feelings about Level Zero and Cyberside in this regard, but somehow, they did precisely that through the process of writing with little of my desire to it.

While the general motive of books has always been about the absence of accountability, complacency and sacrificing other people's interests for bold visions without second thoughts in tech, it becomes more than actual today, with what is happening worldwide. 

I mean, a prominent entertainment company becomes a data-driven tech monster, and by getting into a coup with the US government and shadowy forces behind it, it changes the world in an apocalyptic way? Does that sound familiar all of a sudden?

A part of me nods, and I cannot possibly comprehend why the significant part of the American tech sector has completely lost its mind and is desperately trying to help me sell as many copies of the book as possible. On the other hand, as any reasonable being on the planet, I would prefer we could do without this. As an author, I would happily settle for a modest result, with reality being more reasonable! 

We also face a big question now, and this question is, with all the power of capital behind it, convenience proposition, crazy adoption potential, data about all and each of us… Can we afford a reckless attitude toward global tech and innovative solutions? Can we also afford it, knowing that most modern tech belongs to specific companies that are primarily not regulated and who can alter the deal with us, consumers, at any moment? For higher price, voting power, or cost of personal independence if we can't pay?  

What stops a hypothetical owner of a thinking process-enhancing application from training their clients, us, to use it constantly, outsource our intellectual capabilities to it, and then hike the price to 10.000 USD a month? Or introduce the model; you can use it for free but should vote for a political candidate suggested by this app? Will you get yourself to a position of social disadvantage to drop it and retrain your mind? Could you do that if traditional education becomes less and less available in the world?

What if your online presence is so essential that it dictates your general well-being and everyday income? What if being de-platformed will mean for you a life of poverty and potential death by starving because you haven’t developed any other professional skills but being a streamer? And what if this platform is a monopoly? 

What if you agree to use invasive interfaces and have an operation with an implant being inserted into your brain, and at some moment, you are told you have to pay a monthly subscription fee? And what if you can’t? Are you mandatory to watch advertisements that play directly into your mind, or do you work online for the company that provides that service? By that, I mean, do anything that they say?

Did we become so careless that we don’t think about possible negative consequences any more and are ready to blindly trust and be led forward by visions of someone who can lose their mind any given moment and turn tech into the tools of modern slavery? 

Partially, Cyberside Level Zero is about those questions. It tells a story similar to what is unwrapping in front of your eyes in the world.

Cyberside: Level Zero. Cyberpunk Book

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