“In all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.” ― Carl Sagan, Contact
The Construct grew out of my climate science fiction story, but it is about a separate subject. I felt two of the characters from the climate story, the geneticist Raiden and her A.I. companion Azumi, held significant potential for a longer story. It speculates on what gives us our sense of self and individual identity. It largely uses artificial intelligence to explore these ideas.
Note: this story contains a fictional account of multiple, simultaneous volcanic eruptions and an associated mega-thrust earthquake and tsunami caused by Pacific Coast tectonic fault lines. A half dozen volcanoes erupt at the same time between northwestern BC and California. The fictional account is based on geological and other records although the version in this story is a worst-case scenario.
Again, to help with imagining the characters, I have included my own “casting” using well-known actors. The casting is not based on their respective bodies of work or anything to do with their personal lives, but purely on their physical appearance which I found useful during the writing process but subsequently grew attached to.
Several times I refer back to The Shepherd: A Climate Science Fiction Story regarding characters or events. If you wish to know more about them you’ll want to read the earlier story.
(Download PDF of The Construct)
Paperback and Kindle versions are available for purchase here
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPPTXCYT
— October, 2020
The Construct 