Showing results by author "Jay Toney" in All Categories

Trapped aboard a luxury starliner destined to vanish, Ariel, Jenna, and Iris must uncover a deadly conspiracy before it's too late. A honeymoon cruise turns into a death sentence for newlyweds Leanna and Teddy—heirs to rival tech dynasties whose parents would rather see them dead than united. With no lifeboats, no escape pods, and an AI in command that doesn't take orders, the Mary Celeste drifts toward oblivion. But not all hope is lost. Ariel and her companions carry ghosts from the past—ancient military-grade AI constructs with one mission: survive the impossible. As the ship veers ...

Net Zero: Project Phoenix Three avatars. One paradox. A mission that rewrites history. Awakened aboard a crippled sleeper ship bound for a new world, Ariel, Jenna, and Iris are thrust into a cosmic mystery: a ripple in the multiverse, a disaster that never should’ve happened, and a past that no longer leads to the future. With only damaged tech, fading memories, and the favor of a forgotten goddess, they must uncover the truth behind a catastrophe that threatens to erase humanity before it ever begins. From the depths of cryogenic silence to the halls of ancient gods, Project Phoenix is a...

Net Zero is a near-future cyberpunk tale where reality bleeds into the machine. Ariel, a streetwise edgerunner, accepts a beta invite from her fixer—an offer too good to refuse. Nexus Advanced Systems Technology, Inc. (NASTI) promises full-immersion simulations where everything you earn, you keep. Every sensation feels real. Every risk seems virtual. It’s only a game. Right? What Ariel doesn’t know is that NASTI’s funding comes from DARPA and a secretive eugenics foundation. The simulations are more than entertainment—they’re a battleground for next-gen warfare. A proving ground...

Nerds being what they are, highly intelligent computer geeks, have not changed the least bit in the last century. The nerds—software engineers, game designers, and coders, working for Nexus Advanced Systems Technology, Inc. (NASTI) make a discovery in the archives—The Lost Treasures of Infocom. One game catches their attention more than the others, Starcross. They manage to get it working on an antique DOS computer, and play through it solving its many puzzles after much trial and error. After partying with copious use of weed, Molly, and LSD, they get the idea to recreate Starcross, ...

When death in the simulation is death for real... loyalty is the only thing that keeps you alive. Ariel convinces her best friend Jenna to join NASTI—Nexus Advanced Systems Technology Inc.—for the final round of beta testing before their immersive combat simulations go public. It's easy cred, full perks, no strings… except one. Zeroed in cyberspace is zeroed for real! As Ariel’s kill count climbs and her rank surges, she begins to realize the truth: she’s responsible for most of the replacement testers cycling through the system. The ripperdoc warns her: “You’ve made a name ...

Ariel and Jenna are given an upgrade courtesy of NASTI’s new financial benefactor, Hell’s Bells, Inc. They are going wireless, no more need for a physical connection. But there’s a catch. No more physical connections mean no more control. The lines between reality and simulation blur. They can’t choose when they log in—or when they’re released. Their first field test seems simple enough: a joyride with Iris aboard the Isabella, her lovingly maintained steam-dirigible. A girls' day out above the clouds, skimming the sky, engines humming with arcane energy. But the skies turn ...

They were condemned to die. But death refused them. Ariel, Jenna, and Iris were never meant to survive the crash of Flight TE901. It was a sentence—engineered by Persephone herself—meant to break them in body and spirit. Instead, they awoke beneath the Antarctic ice, wounded but alive. Dragged into the shadowed depths of Ganzir-Kur, a forgotten underworld ruled by Ereshkigal, the trio is offered a choice: servitude… or annihilation. Six months as avatars in a cosmic game played across fractured realities—each one a brutal test of will, identity, and loyalty. But old gods rarely ...

"They were never meant to live. Now the multiverse bleeds because they do." Ariel, Jenna, and Iris were supposed to die on Flight TE901—claimed by the Underworld, broken in body and soul, returned to Persephone's cold embrace. But they defied death… and she never forgets her debtors. Now trapped in a cosmic game overseen by the death goddess Ereshkigal, the trio is cast into alternate realities where survival is not guaranteed—and success is never simple. In one such world, a crippled scout ship crashes on a hostile planet overrun by monstrous blood drinkers. With its crew on the edge...

Defiance has earned Ariel, Jenna, and Iris the wrath of Persephone. Stripped of power and armed with nothing but the clothing on their backs, they are cast into the hands of the vampiric Countess Elizabeth Báthory. There, they must endure days of bloodletting, torment, and psychological manipulation. As Ariel teeters on the brink of becoming a monster herself, only the intervention of her AI companion, Ghost, prevents her from turning on the ones she loves. Escaping through the sewers of Čachtice Castle, the trio finds not freedom, but Hades’ courtroom—where divine judgment awaits. ...

In a war-torn future where gods command from the shadows, human avatars Ariel and Jenna are sent to secure weapons powerful enough to defeat the Kaigan—a biomechanical threat consuming worlds. But their mission becomes a brutal trial as a merciless AI weapons dealer subjects them to escalating tests: drone swarms, chemical warfare, orbital bombardment, and the looming threat of planetary annihilation. Joined by Ares, the reluctant God of War, they survive apocalypse after apocalypse—only to be punished by their divine patroness, Persephone, for sins of defiance and desire. As battle ...

Ariel and Jenna’s escape from the Mysterious Island is only the beginning. The simulation, once thought to be controlled, has evolved—rewriting its own code, bending its world to new rules. Now, they're being sent back in… but not to the island. The island is gone, swallowed by the sea after a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. They barely survived, rescued by Captain Nemo aboard the Nautilus, now bound for the legendary lost city of Atlantis, deep beneath the Aegean Sea. They’re not alone. Iris joins them—wings folded, eyes watching. Their mission: face a new enemy. The Kaigan. ...

Ariel and Jenna were once thrill-seekers in the digital sprawl of 2055, diving into Nexus Advanced Systems Technology's full-immersion simulations for the rush. But since going wireless, they’ve lost the line between simulation and reality—if there even is a line. After facing off against soul-sucking Kaigan in an Atlantean war, dying, resurrecting, and surviving god-forged battlefields, the two are tasked by the goddess Persephone with their most dangerous mission yet: tracking and defeating George Pickingill, a necromancer who escaped from the Underworld and is rebuilding his coven in...

War on Nibiru has caused environmental damage resulting in climate disaster. The cities on the surface have moved underground, and a search for the means to restore the climate is beginning. Two brothers have entirely different ideas of how to rule the planet and save the people. Only one of them can be right. Anu wants to use the planet’s resources to further develop the infrastructure of the underground cities, whereas Alalu wants to search for the legendary planet, Tiamat. The legends tell of it having deep veins of gold. If he can find it, the gold can be used to create an atmospheric...

The choice of simulations is out of Ariel’s and Jenna’s hands. Since taking over as NASTI’s financial benefactor, Persephone and Hades have been thrusting them into simulations with increasing peril. In this simulation, they find themselves on Moonbase Alpha. Something is amiss with the nuclear storge facility. Eagle pilots are returning with what looks like radiation burns, but no radioactivity is detected. No alarms have sounded, radiation sensors at the waste facility, five silos dug deep into lunar basalt, show safe levels of radiation. Ariel and Jenna are sent to investigate in ...

This is a comedy, thriller, space opera, and Christmas story all rolled into one exciting story for adults. It is Nathaniel’s second Christmas and Doc Roberts’ last chance to get the Spirit of Christmas. He will be revisited by the Kringles, and see the dreaded space freighter, Santa’s Little Helper, again. Good news! He has moved down a few notches on the naughty list, but not far enough to satisfy his wife, Elaunae. She wants her husband on the good list. Yah, don’t count on it happening. After all, he is a pirate. It isn’t in his nature, but she has to try. Doc will be visited ...

For mature audiences only. A Space Pirate Christmas, is a mashup sci-fi thriller with space pirate action blended with a Christmas story. Elaunae, learns of the Earth custom, and wants to celebrate it with Nathaniel. She wants his first Christmas to be special. Doc Roberts, her husband, agrees. He loves her, and will do anything for her, even celebrating a foolish holiday. For it to be a success, he needs a tree, a fireplace with a chimney for Santa to climb down, presents, and a Christmas miracle. He has always wanted a toy Marauder that flies, shoots missiles, and fires lasers. Christmas ...

Ghost shares exciting news with Ariel and Jenna—an advanced new VR simulation has just launched. It’s a high-stakes hostage rescue mission: Infiltrate Tartarus and save Princess Persephone from the clutches of the malevolent wizard, Hades. Intrigued, they hesitate only briefly before Ghost seals the deal with an irresistible temptation. But there’s a catch. To enter Tartarus, they must first die. And in this simulation, dead in cyberspace means dead in reality. What they don’t know is that the game is a death trap. Under pressure from Lidia Gates, the VR simulation was rushed into ...

Doc Roberts is a privateer working for the Alliance military to destabilize shipping, trade, and the planetary governments of the Coalition of Free Worlds, to sway them to accept Alliance protection. He does this by raiding colonized worlds, and hijacking freighters loaded with trade goods. With the Alliance, failure is not acceptable. Those who fail are sent to reeducation camps to have their minds wiped and reprogrammed with a submissive personality, then they are placed in a control collar, and sold at auction to the highest bidder. Leaders who fail are publicly executed by hanging. Doc ...

Bartholomew Roberts is retiring, leaving his son in command of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. It is his first command, and it may be his last. The Alliance will do everything in their power to ensure that he fails. Failure in the Alliance is not tolerated. If Doc Roberts is lucky, they will hang him. If not, he will be sent to a reeducation center, mind-wiped, and a control collar will be placed around his neck, then he will be paraded in the streets of Avalon’s capital city, as an example of what happens to people who fail in their missions. He can’t afford to fail!

It’s launch day for Nexus Advanced Systems Technology, Inc. — better known as NASTI. Millions of VR gamers are lined up, eager to get chipped and jack in. Ariel and Jenna, elite beta testers, are assigned a simple task: escort a group of noobs through a training simulation. Just a friendly round of Capture the Flag. But nothing in NASTI’s games ever goes according to plan. The tutorial turns deadly. The rules change. And Ariel and Jenna soon realize they’ve been set up. In NASTI’s world, dying in cyberspace means dying for real. Now the only way out is through. They'll need more ...