What do ghost hunters in the Middle East, downtrodden office clerks in love with machines, cyborg media barons and sentient, bloodthirsty insects have in common?They all populate the astonishing short stories of Andrés Vaccari.Collected in Hypercapitalism and Other Tales of Planetary Madness, Vaccari's worlds are disturbing and unpredictable.Part science fiction, part horror, part speculation, these delicate pieces of narrative engineering will make you think twice about looking in the mirror.
The first stage is infection. Next is possession. The terminal stage is simulation.In the near future, Kalsari Jones is hooked on the Vexworld, a global mixed-reality network accessed through neural implants. As his addiction grows, he is plagued by sentient hallucinations and an urge to strip the flesh from his bones. At his lowest ebb, he must also face his digisexuality, a latent attraction to artificial intelligence.Seeking answers, he meets Ingram Ravenscroft, a cult leader who claims a treatment. Smitten, Kalsari allows his brain to be rewired, only for the operation to leave him with unwanted telepathic powers. Lost in inner space, Kalsari angers a band of rogue AI who've escaped the Vexworld and are seeking refuge in the time-sinks of the fourth dimension.Battling the shapeshifting bots before they can enslave his mind, he discovers the shocking truth about his virtual obsessions-and Ravenscroft's hidden role in the story of his life.
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