The Dark Side of Dreams is a sequel to my novel Babylon Dreams. Set in 2290, The Dark Side of Dreams continues the first story one hundred years later. Though Mira Patel lives and works in Chicago, much of the action takes place in a VR (via mind-uploading) after-death world. Mira Patel is the granddaughter of Gunter Holden. Creator of Virtual Environments Inc., a legend in the after-death industry. Gunter killed himself in 2121, uploading to Bali Hai, his custom VR paradise. Decades later, unable to prevent a merger, he deleted himself. Bali Hai is now Shemathra’s Realm. An employee of SEINI Mira designs AI’s for after-death programs.an after-death company create by Donovan Hosseini, a shady businessman, now a virtual citizen and the llama god ruling the virtual world, Shemathra’s Realm, a hellscape version of Animal Farm. Mira’s lover and life partner is Henry Yang, a Federal agent who investigates crimes against virtual citizens, those who exist after death by mind-uploading to VR. After-death programs have been a part of society for three hundred years.
Rumors of mass deletion result in Henry’s travels to an unknown Indonesian Island in search of information on SEINI’s research facility. Rather than exist in Shemathra’s Realm, a VR hellscape, Gunter Holden erased himself from existence. Decades later, Mira discovers the missing copy of Gunter Holden’s mind-upload. Convinced her grandfather’s after-death company was stolen, she is determined to get it back. Shemathra citizens, the human ones anyway, must pay tribute to the Goddess Shemathra, risk deletion or worse. Mira uploads the copy of Gunter. If he wants to escape, he must witness and record unspeakable crimes.
Mira adds protective coding to Gunter’s digital file. Masquerading as a tax sim, he visits each of the four communities where those who choose to remain human exist. Each person fears the day when they can no longer pay taxes. Deletion is always a possibility, especially during the stampedes. Followers of the wolf goddess Shemathra and the llama god, Urcuchiilay have renounced their humanity. All followers manifest as herd animals, untaxed and unafraid. As Gunter roams the program, Shemathra’s Realm, which cannibalized the paradise, Bali Hai, he is sickened. Slowly, he embraces his past, including a son he never knew. Mira witnesses her grandfather’s courage in bringing the truth of Shemathra to light. Knowing she can never desert him, Mira finds her own courage and her identity as the granddaughter of Gunter Holden.
