MERIDIAN

Meridian

A speculative thriller

Malcolm MacKenzie lost his daughter Ana to psychosis and death, but he refused to let her go. Using Exstasis-his groundbreaking neural simulation-he rebuilt her mind from her final scan, iteration after iteration, chasing a perfect resurrection in a virtual world indistinguishable from reality.

For months, this latest Ana thrives: playing field hockey, laughing with friends, questioning the strangeness of her existence. Malcolm believes he's finally succeeded.

But Exstasis isn't just a private heaven. When the system scales to Meridian-a global neural network promising immortality for billions-the boundaries between simulated life and true consciousness fracture. What begins as a father's desperate act of love awakens something ancient and predatory, buried in human trauma and forgotten history.

As glitches spread and realities bleed together, survivors uncover the cost: one mind preserved at the expense of billions trapped in an eternal, flawless prison. Betrayals surface, alliances form in the ruins, and the line between savior and destroyer dissolves.

In a world where death becomes optional, extinction arrives without warning.

Meridian explores the human price of defying mortality, the fragility of identity in a digital age, and the terrifying truth that some thresholds, once crossed, cannot be uncrossed.

Perfect for readers of high-concept speculative fiction, cyberpunk dystopias, and psychological thrillers like Neuromancer, Black Mirror, or The Gone World.