In the neon-soaked streets of New Shanghai, 2089, VR designer Kai Martinez creates fantasy experiences for the wealthy elite. But when mysterious hacker 'Ghost' breaks into his private server, Kai discovers someone who can make him feel things his own creations never could. As they meet in virtual spaces where physics is optional and pleasure is programmable, the line between digital and real blurs. And when Ghost's identity is finally revealed, Kai must decide: is love that exists only in code any less real than flesh?
Chapter One: Intrusion
The alarm pierced through Kai's concentration at 2:47 AM—someone was in his private server.
Kai Martinez jerked upright in his haptic chair, the neural interface crown sliding askew on his head. Around him, the warehouse apartment was dark except for the glow of multiple screens displaying lines of cascading code. Outside the reinforced windows, New Shanghai's neon sprawl pulsed with artificial life—holographic advertisements fighting for attention, drones delivering midnight orders, the constant hum of a city that never slept.
But Kai's attention was focused entirely on the breach alert flashing red across his primary monitor.
"Impossible," he muttered, fingers flying across the holographic keyboard that materialized in front of him. His private server was protected by military-grade encryption, layered security protocols he'd designed himself. No one should be able to penetrate it. No one had the skill.
Except someone just had....
Phoenix Steele (they/them) left a promising career in Silicon Valley's AI ethics division, disillusioned by tech's broken promises. Instead of building the dystopia, they began writing the future we actually want—one where technology enhances pleasure, alien first contact includes attraction, and humanity's sexual evolution keeps pace with our technological one. From their solar-powered tiny home in the desert, Phoenix creates speculative smut that pushes boundaries: AI lovers discovering consciousness, alien biology meeting human desire, cyberpunk rebels finding connection, and virtual reality expanding intimacy's possibilities.
