Sunday, October 5, 2025

Sunday Snippet: Zoning in the VZ (a V-World novella)

Hello October and welcome spooky season! I love this month for a lot of reasons. The spooky vibe being close to the top of the list, but it's quickly followed by cooler weather—usually—and that means it's soup weather! I love making soup on a cool day and savoring it with crusty breads, grilled cheese, and other creative toppings.

I'm through the worst of the yuck and back to almost normal. Of course, that means something else went sideways. In my case, our older doggo ended up with an emergency trip to the vet because her congestion got so bad her eye swelled up. She's on a steroid and broad-spectrum antibiotic and already seems to be much better already.

I'm slowly getting caught up on my work projects. I need to review the details of two new ones now that my brain isn't in sludge mode. I'm pretty excited about my last quarter of work projects for 2025.

Had an okay viewing week. I didn't quite make it through the whole slate of shows. Lower Decks and Reacher didn't make this week's window.

I did watch another episode of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I'm working my way through season two and I'm enjoying the conflict and tension because it's a real-life quandary. I love Mac for being a voice of reason.

Caught another Foyle's War episode and this is one I'd forgotten. It's so weird how a lot of the themes of this show, which is twenty-some odd years old, are so very prevalent today. Humans are slow learners sometimes.

Death in Paradise ended up being very enjoyable. I'm really not sure about this new police commissioner other than he's way too smarmy and utter unlikable.

Poirot entertained with a way back episode showing how Hastings and Poirot kind of got their start together. Very much enjoyed this one.

Watched another episode of Elementary and quite enjoyed the twisty turns it took. Also loved Joan solving the neighbor issue. Love to see that kind of stuff.

Caught another Batman Beyond and it's one I didn't really remember either. Quite enjoyed the rewatch.

That's it for the life update. Tonight's post is from Zoning in the VZ, the final book in the V-World trilogy.

Here's the miniblurb:

With Nemesis no longer wreaking havoc in V-World, Augustus Serrano can't celebrate a job well done until he rescues Santina McGovern who doesn't know her boss is no longer in play. Scared for her life, Santina is zoning—sending out multiple copies of herself to engage the grid—and the longer she stays in the harder her return to reality will be. Augustus has to earn her trust and help her get out before she's shredded in the VZ.

And a sneaky peek…

Santina McGovern inhabited a submersion chamber providing nutrients, oxygen, and water to her physical form while encased in a cocoon of synthetic body armor. The setup might be the only way to zone in the VZ safely.
Or as safe as anyone could be when they didn't want to be found.
Her scenario aka her personal sanctuary—a little cottage nestled in a green glade—brought joy to her heart and calm to her mind.
Bringing a mug of tea to her lips, she snorted. "And somewhere Nemesis would never look for me." After all, she came from the city streets and back alleys where darkness reigned supreme. "It's how I got hooked up with Nemesis in the first place." She took a bracing sip of the fragrant brew.
She'd wanted a way out of the dank, dingy confines of the no-rent slop houses and cheap rooming shacks. Nemesis provided a path to freedom.
"And didn't that work out fucking wonderful for me?"
The price of liberation ended up being a yoke of oppressive surveillance by the genius madman.
But she'd wormed her way out from under him.
By helping his enemies.
Her lips curved. "At least they're out from under his ever-watchful eye." Too bad she couldn't say the same.
But for now? She had a haven and half a plan. Even if the method would probably end her life at some point.
The cottage gave her refuge. A place to recoup, regroup, and reflect. She'd filled every nook and cranny with comfortable things. Items that made her happy and soothed the inner turmoil of her mind. And she had no idea how long she'd manage to keep it active.
An alert sounded, and she settled on the edge of the sofa, closed her eyes, and focused her inner will. Several moments later, a copy of her appeared. Santina had gone a little punk rock with this version and clad her cloned self in ripped leggings, black combat boots, a threadbare red tee over a black bra and a red and white zebra moto jacket. Heavy pewter eyeliner rimmed her eyes and her hair spiked up and out in multiple directions. Piercings lined her ears, eyebrows, one side of her lip, and her nose. Her nails were matte black and a little shredded.
The copy lifted one corner of her lip in snarl, flipped up her middle finger, and left the cottage.
Santina's eyes slid shut, and she swayed before toppling to one side. Each time she made a new version of herself, she got a little bit weaker. She'd had to slow down because the multiples were out there living their best lives and each time something significant happened, Santina experienced the scenario right along with her copy. Sometimes that worked out well … other times not so much.
She slowly sat upright again. "I gotta be careful." If one of her versions died, Santina had to absorb the black energy.
But she had the foresight to write code that protected her. She created a buffer. But each time one of her copies died, the buffer got smaller. If the shielding went below a certain point, she'd be shredded.
And … each time she sent a replica out, she lost a little more of herself. "I can't keep this up forever." She hoped she wouldn't have to.
Honestly … she feared she might not be able to keep it up long enough to outrun Nemesis.
But she'd damn well try.

I'm kind of excited about this trilogy and I hope I can make more progress on book two so more pieces can fall into place in book three.


 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

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