**2022 Foreword Indies GOLD Winner for Science Fiction.
From the award-winning creator of Ékleipsis comes a dystopian narrative of affliction and obsession.**
The world as we know it is forever lost. A deadly virus has scourged the planet and ravaged billions. Under the harsh ruling regime, survivors were "cleansed" and confined to isolated units, perpetually tormented by hunger, desolation, and desperation.
Among them is Geoff, a researcher for the trailblazing Paradiso, an authority-regulated virtual-reality program that allows users to momentarily escape their waking lives via implanted chips. He is devoted to perfecting the systema vessel to preserve future hopes and dreams, where immense worlds prevail, brimming with vast possibilities.
But before long Geoff finds himself thrusted into the darkest recesses of these alternate realities, where he must confront not only his past but persevere against the unknown, fighting for his very existence.
Is all this magnificence just a grandiose illusion? Could there ever be salvation from the living hell into which mankind has plummeted?