Sunday Snippet: Zoning in the VZ (a V-World novella)

Hello October and welcomespooky season! I love this month for a lot of reasons. The spooky vibe beingclose to the top of the list, but it's quickly followed by cooler weather—usually—andthat means it's soup weather! I love making soup on a cool day and savoring it withcrusty breads, grilled cheese, and other creative toppings.

I'm through theworst of the yuck and back to almost normal. Of course, that means something elsewent sideways. In my case, our older doggo ended up with an emergency trip tothe vet because her congestion got so bad her eye swelled up. She's on a steroidand broad-spectrum antibiotic and already seems to be much better already.

I'm slowly gettingcaught up on my work projects. I need to review the details of two new ones nowthat my brain isn't in sludge mode. I'm pretty excited about my last quarter ofwork projects for 2025.

Had an okay viewingweek. I didn't quite make it through the whole slate of shows. Lower Decksand Reacher didn't make this week's window.

I did watch anotherepisode of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I'm working my way throughseason two and I'm enjoying the conflict and tension because it's a real-lifequandary. I love Mac for being a voice of reason.

Caught another Foyle'sWar episode and this is one I'd forgotten. It's so weird how a lot of thethemes of this show, which is twenty-some odd years old, are so very prevalenttoday. Humans are slow learners sometimes.

Death in Paradise ended up being very enjoyable. I'm reallynot sure about this new police commissioner other than he's way too smarmy andutter unlikable.

Poirot entertained with a way back episode showinghow Hastings and Poirot kind of got their start together. Very much enjoyedthis one.

Watched anotherepisode of Elementary and quite enjoyed the twisty turns it took. Alsoloved Joan solving the neighbor issue. Love to see that kind of stuff.

Caught another BatmanBeyond and it's one I didn't really remember either. Quite enjoyed therewatch.

That's it for thelife update. Tonight's post is from Zoning in the VZ, the final book inthe V-World trilogy.

Here's theminiblurb:

With Nemesis no longer wreaking havoc in V-World,Augustus Serrano can't celebrate a job well done until he rescues SantinaMcGovern who doesn't know her boss is no longer in play. Scared for her life,Santina is zoning—sending out multiple copies of herself to engage the grid—andthe longer she stays in the harder her return to reality will be. Augustus hasto earn her trust and help her get out before she's shredded in the VZ.

And a sneaky peek…

Santina McGovern inhabited a submersionchamber providing nutrients, oxygen, and water to her physical form whileencased in a cocoon of synthetic body armor. The setup might be the only way tozone in the VZ safely.Or as safe as anyone could be whenthey didn't want to be found.Her scenario aka her personalsanctuary—a little cottage nestled in a green glade—brought joy to her heartand calm to her mind.Bringing a mug of tea to her lips,she snorted. "And somewhere Nemesis would never look for me." Afterall, she came from the city streets and back alleys where darkness reignedsupreme. "It's how I got hooked up with Nemesis in the first place."She took a bracing sip of the fragrant brew.She'd wanted a way out of the dank,dingy confines of the no-rent slop houses and cheap rooming shacks. Nemesisprovided a path to freedom."And didn't that work outfucking wonderful for me?"The price of liberation ended upbeing a yoke of oppressive surveillance by the genius madman.But she'd wormed her way out fromunder him.By helping his enemies.Her lips curved. "At leastthey're out from under his ever-watchful eye." Too bad she couldn't saythe same.But for now? She had a haven andhalf a plan. Even if the method would probably end her life at some point.The cottage gave her refuge. Aplace to recoup, regroup, and reflect. She'd filled every nook and cranny withcomfortable things. Items that made her happy and soothed the inner turmoil ofher mind. And she had no idea how long she'd manage to keep it active.An alert sounded, and she settledon the edge of the sofa, closed her eyes, and focused her inner will. Severalmoments later, a copy of her appeared. Santina had gone a little punk rock withthis version and clad her cloned self in ripped leggings, black combat boots, athreadbare red tee over a black bra and a red and white zebra moto jacket.Heavy pewter eyeliner rimmed her eyes and her hair spiked up and out inmultiple directions. Piercings lined her ears, eyebrows, one side of her lip,and her nose. Her nails were matte black and a little shredded.The copy lifted one corner of herlip in snarl, flipped up her middle finger, and left the cottage. Santina's eyes slid shut, and she swayedbefore toppling to one side. Each time she made a new version of herself, shegot a little bit weaker. She'd had to slow down because the multiples were outthere living their best lives and each time something significant happened, Santinaexperienced the scenario right along with her copy. Sometimes that worked outwell … other times not so much.She slowly sat upright again."I gotta be careful." If one of her versions died, Santina had toabsorb the black energy.But she had the foresight to write codethat protected her. She created a buffer. But each time one of her copies died,the buffer got smaller. If the shielding went below a certain point, she'd beshredded.And … each time she sent a replicaout, she lost a little more of herself. "I can't keep this up forever."She hoped she wouldn't have to.Honestly … she feared she might notbe able to keep it up long enough to outrun Nemesis.But she'd damn well try.

I'm kind of excitedabout this trilogy and I hope I can make more progress on book two so more piecescan fall into place in book three.

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye