Vyn and the AIs of Acrux
In the village of Pluckley-by-the-Sea sits a dormant volcano, an oddity in the English landscape. JOSH, 14, a keen beta games tester, is awake at 2 am when startled by a deafening BOOM and a brilliant white light outside his bedroom window. Later that day, while testing a new video game, a mysterious message appears on his computer screen, serving as a cryptic link to the earlier event.
Unaware of the connection, Josh and his spirited sister, ZOE (15), climb the volcano. Crawling under its perimeter fence, ignoring the warning sign: “DANGER OF DEATH, KEEP OUT!”
Halfway up, the rock begins to tremble. They are met with a resonant, disembodied voice, whom they later name VYN, a multidimensional entity. The rock trembles even more; they hurry back down fearing an earthquake.
They return with their friend INDRA (13). Josh finds a silver coin, adorned with shifting symbols: a relic tied to Vyn’s power. Communicating through Josh’s phone, Vyn confesses he infiltrated his video game with the cryptic message. He warns them of a hostile vessel, a Mothership from the star system Acruxia, targeting Earth. Vyn’s plan: Lure the Mothership to the volcano and disable its mainframe, preventing an invasion.
RICEY (15) overhears Josh’s escapade and, with his gang, discovers the volcano. Convinced the perimeter fence isn’t charged, he throws the smallest boy against it for amusement. The boy is struck down by a bolt of electricity. Ricey and his gang flee.
Science teacher JEFFERSON (45), reveals to Josh that he is an MI5 operative and that the military, armed with a Thermodynamic diffusion generator, plans to capture Vyn, whom they regard as a threat.
A mind-probing mist, dispatched from an Acruxian reconnaissance craft, invades Bartholomew’s Comprehensive School, emitting electrostatic energy and inducing fear and panic. Josh bumps into Ricey, who is in serious trouble after the perimeter fence incident, and takes his frustration out on Josh. However, Josh has discovered that the coin grants him almost magical abilities, deflecting Ricey’s vengeful punch and deforming his hand.
Burdened with guilt, Josh later reforms Ricey’s hand using the coin’s healing abilities and forbids Ricey from telling anyone about the coin.
A suspicious death involving a local farmer is reported, prompting the trio to investigate his barn. Inside, they are ambushed by hovering spider-bots from the Acruxian scout craft. Surrounded, Josh throws the coin, which expands in size, emitting bolts of plasma that disable and disorient the spider-bots. The trio make a narrow escape.
Josh and Zoe return to the volcano with Jefferson and find the military already there. A guard turns on them and nervously aims his gun. The coin vibrates in Josh’s clenched hand. His other arm becomes energised and ejects a bolt of plasma at the guard. Vyn fends off the other soldiers with the same electrical energy. The stunned soldiers retreat, back down the volcano.
Above, swirling clouds recede to reveal the colossal Mothership that Vyn has ensnared. Overpowering the forcefield, it projects a tractor beam and starts pulling Josh and Zoe into its vortex. The coin’s magnetic pull counteracts this, drawing them downward, preventing abduction. Meanwhile, Vyn is pulled into the craft. He overpowers the ship’s controls, forcing it up into space. An electromagnetic explosion erupts, destroying the craft seemingly along with Vyn.
Jefferson consoles a grief-stricken Josh and posits Vyn was a future union of AI and human consciousness. Later, the trio are baffled to find the volcano gone. Josh receives a text: Vyn has survived. He explains the Acruxian origins, teasing a truth of Josh’s own future identity.
Footnote: In this first novel, there is a suggestion that Josh has an undisclosed identity. In the second novel, it is revealed that Vyn is, in fact, the future self of Josh.
Back to – first page
See book 2: Vyn and the Sea of Invisibility