Digital Soul

Digital Soul is a collection of three short stories bookended by two novellas that seeks to examine humanity's rapidly changing relationship with technology and the hidden dangers and costs associated with technological evolution.  The opening novella is set in the recent past, and the successive stories move forward in time and are set in the present, near future, far future, and very far future. In Raven, the first novella, a high school senior has lost his faith and struggles to find his new spiritual identity.  He becomes instantly drawn to a new classmate, only to discover that she may not actually exist.  She leads him to an abandoned house, the site of a terrible tragedy, which may also serve as a key to another world.  But is the higher power that world represents good or evil? In Missing Links, a video from a college party spread without a girl's consent has dire consequences for both the victim and the group of friends responsible. In White Knight, two game developers explore their nearly completed virtual world.  However, some of the game's characters are behaving erratically and seem to have developed consciousness, leading to a schism between the two designers. In The Broken Man, a game show in the future releases a murderer into the house of unwitting contestants, who must fight to survive.  One contestant's forced participation makes him unsure which is more important to him:  his love for his spouse, or the fame and glory his victory will bring. In Genesis, the final novella, a journalist interviews a scientist whose discovery unlocked untapped knowledge about the brain and mental illness.  The interview reveals the unforeseen consequences and horrible costs when the initial discovery evolved into a key to immortality.