Descartes' Demon: A Cyber Satire
by Ross HightowerPublish: Feb 07, 2026Series: A Nik and Alix AdventureLiterary Fiction Humor Science Fiction Book Overview
Nik thought creating a deepfake AI version of his favorite person was harmless fun. But things get complicated. And then they get dangerous.
Just as his life partner Alix convinces him to shut the project down, all hell breaks loose.
His cyber-security company is hacked by a black hat cracker styling himself "The Technician".
Shadowy cyberpunk icon "The Vulture" sends cryptic messages to his best programmer.
A shady oligarch schemes with his partners to wrest control of the company he started.
And big thugs with Russian accents keep showing up like bad pennies.
When one of his contractors turns up dead and intern Kate goes missing, the stakes turn deadly.
Can they find Kate before The Technician finishes her off? And can Nik put the cybernetic genie back in the virtual bottle or will she escape into the digital wild?