Noriko can’t feel anything. Her mind is in full sensory deprivation, having been downloaded from her brain into the Core. She can’t see or hear anything except her thoughts. “Is anyone out there? Hello? Anybody!?” There is only silence. Not[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Noriko is walking alone, stroking her hands on her bare arms to warm herself. It’s too cold to wear a prom dress, and it looks like it will start to rain soon. Her feet are killing her; she could call[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
For most of her life, Noriko has heard people her age whispering behind her back. Did you hear that the Japanese girl is the janitor’s daughter? The white guy. I hear he gets a different woman home every night. Poor[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
With only 50 floors, Null Tower isn’t the tallest skyscraper in New York. The only thing that makes it stand out is the big steel structure on top of it, shaped like the symbol Ø…Null’s signature. Todd Slate reaches the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The two girls seem unremarkable: just two friends out shopping. The fact that the twenty-something white girl has purple hair might draw a few looks, but this is New York: she’s hardly alone. Her younger Japanese-American friend might seem more[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
In one of the many labs of Null Tower, Noriko is working on the Heart of the Universe again. In full cooperation with the Washington Protocol, her every move is recorded in fine detail. <There appears to be some sort[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Noriko Null is widely considered the luckiest girl in the world. She only turned nineteen a few days ago and she’s already the smartest and richest person on Earth. She ended the world’s quest for clean, renewable energy. She cured[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
There’s a seemingly empty room in the Tower, with only a chair in the middle connected to hundreds of fluorescent optic cables. The way Noriko Null sits on it, crossing her legs and placing her arms on the armrests, it[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
4 A.M. The smartest girl in the world wakes up, her silver eyes shining in the darkness. After a long yawn, she stretches her arms and legs while she orders: <Lights on. Status report.> Neon lights illuminate the bedroom, which[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The White House, Washigton D.C. This might just be the President’s worst day. First a new organization calling itself the Empire of Shadows launched the largest and most ambitious terrorist attack in history, then hostile forces invaded Project Silver, then[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
