Code Beast

Simon Sellars is a writer and editor based in Melbourne, Australia. He's the author of Code Beast (Wanton Sun, 2023) and Applied Ballardianism: Memoir from A Parallel Universe (Urbanomic, 2018). Simon is the co-editor of Extreme Metaphors: Interviews with J.G. Ballard (Fourth Estate, 2012), a Guardian Book of the Year.

The first stage is infection. Next is possession. The terminal stage is simulation.In the near future, Kalsari Jones is hooked on the Vexworld, a global mixed-reality network accessed through neural implants. As his addiction grows, he is plagued by sentient hallucinations and an urge to strip the flesh from his bones. At his lowest ebb, he must also face his digisexuality, a latent attraction to artificial intelligence.Seeking answers, he meets Ingram Ravenscroft, a cult leader who claims a treatment. Smitten, Kalsari allows his brain to be rewired, only for the operation to leave him with unwanted telepathic powers. Lost in inner space, Kalsari angers a band of rogue AI who've escaped the Vexworld and are seeking refuge in the time-sinks of the fourth dimension.Battling the shapeshifting bots before they can enslave his mind, he discovers the shocking truth about his virtual obsessions-and Ravenscroft's hidden role in the story of his life.