The Cyber Star

Set in the distant future, world renowned Swedish podcaster Hakon Berg is dealt a horrific truth when the love of his life Sera is plunged into a traumatic coma. Unprepared, he returns to his ultra futuristic high tech mountain home grieving, just as a once in a millennia blizzard strikes. As the brutal supernatural superstorm intensifies, soon growing to epic proportions all around him, he finds solace in the only window to the outside world he has through the vast AI technology at his disposal. Unable to cope with Sera's loss, his oppressive loneliness causes him to binge on his drug stash, turning what is left of his dark and painful existence to madness. Encountering several spiritual entities through psychedelic trips, he is continually forced to navigate the demons of his seclusive claustrophobic cage by any means necessary, just as his AIVA ( Alien Intellect Virtual Assistant) Venus, somehow becomes more and more sentient, even jealous of his new relationship with Sera. Grasping at any straw to properly reach his still comatose soulmate, Hakon learns of a digitally simulated cyber platform that offers a quantum AI experience so real - it is entirely indistinguishable from base reality. Promised the singular opportunity to reach Sera directly, the grand blizzard continues raging all around him, as the raging blizzard spawns epic white dunes that reach epic mountainous proportions. His drinking and psychedelic drug binges spiraling out of control inside the prison of claustrophobic seclusion, he enters several strange realms where spiritual beings attempt to guide him. As Venus's jealous resentment turns to rage, she threatens Hakon directly, just as he is uplinked to the MindZen virtual platform. Wholly unable to leave Sera's side inside the simulation, his refusal to exit the experience as instructed lead to the lines of a blurred and indistinguishable reality. Soon trapped in cyberspace with no way back, the clandestine hacker (Venus) causes the digital world Hakon and Sera exist in to collapse, as strange, nightmarish events occur. Lost in a quantum "death loop" those at MindZen who are monitoring the off the rails experience must turn to an outside entity. He, is Jakob Crona, a super intelligent human hybrid who specializes in bringing back lost avatars. Led through the gates of Hell itself, Hakon, Sera and Jakob will attempt to navigate the way back to the semblance of base reality as they encounter a catastrophic future event that could only be Armageddon. Ultimately surviving the trek, the shocking twist is revealed. That the beautiful, super intelligent and vindictive AI Venus was not only directly responsible for all the hellish, otherworldly events that have occurred, but that she had intentionally and clandestinely tampered with Sera's destroyed car's computer systems to eliminate her from Hakon's life. Another shocking truth is revealed as well. That in truth, Venus had not only caused Sera's coma and demise, but to the sinister bot's dismay, her "lover" Hakon and their wolfdog Jak had actually gone with Sera that fateful morning, killing all three. Also revealed is, as a will and final testament, wealthy podcaster Hakon had actually initiated his digital avatar's future prior to the story's opening. And that in fact, the entire story, from the time of the "accident" on the mountain pass, had actually taken place entirely in cyberspace. As the AI villain Venus is eventually annihilated by internet prophet Jakob, Hakon, along with Sera and Jak are given last rites and offered two possible paths...to ascend "naturally" to a spiritual heavenly realm, or two live out the remainder of their existences, and many other future lives, purely in cyberspace. Choosing the latter, in a grand final scene, the three will make their perpetual ascent through a portal stage curtain to a crowd of cheering digital entities just like their own.