The Torus Run: A sci-fi thriller
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have personal AI? One who shared your life, saw what you saw, heard what you heard, who grew with you, and always had your back?
Welcome to The Torus Run, you’ve just landed at the heart of the story.
The Novel: The Torus Run is a high-stakes, near-future thriller following Stash Novak and his AI twin, Zero, in a world where the line between human and machine is rapidly dissolving.
How to Read: The entire novel—all 67 chapters—is being released right here on Substack, one chapter per week, completely FREE.
Where Do You Start?
New to The Run? Start with the first chapter, Doomers and meet the crew.
A Returning Runner? Welcome back! Grab your coffee and jump straight into the latest chapter (just released!).
Want it all now? The Torus Run is available at your favorite bookstore!
Wherever you dive in, you’re part of The Run now. Let’s see where the next turn takes us.
Chapters released so far:
01. Doomers: Stash Novak and his personal AI Zero confront Janet Peck and her Doomers in San Francisco.
02. Twins: Stash visits the ER and remembers the early days of creating Zero—the first AI Twin.
03. Reboot: Prini Pillai helps Stash restore Zero, and they make a disturbing discovery.
04. Blackout: Francis Wilson visits Duncan Stewart in Chicago and is rattled by the latter’s dark musings.
05. Naya: Naya Baptiste and her Twin Hatchet plot to bring Duncan to heel.
06. Thanksgiving: Stash visits his parents across the bay in Berkeley, where the hope of his technology meets the sobering limits of biology.
07. Elysians: Kafka meets Tensor in a Berlin commuter bar to plot the next stage of the Elysian’s battle
08. Cipher: Stash and Zero work with Prini to track down the Doomers’ mystery encryption protocol. Bolts the house-bot makes his first appearance.
09. Duncan: Bonus weekend chapter. Duncan confronts Naya, and she is having none of it.
10. Memory: Stash flashes back to Zero’s early days while Prini brings the Twin back from the digital abyss.
11 Francis: Francis warns Stash about Duncan, and the Doomers stage an attack.
12. Investigation: Stash and Zero investigate the attack. The Doomers didn’t work alone.
13. Greta: Greta Knox, head of the NSA’s AI Directorate, demands a meeting with Stash. It does not go well.
14. Owen: Stash meets Greta’s man in Berlin and starts hunting the Elysians.
15. Zapata: Stash tumbles down the rabbit hole.
16. Mandelbulb: Stash considers the fish’s offer.
17. Date: The Elysians throw a party like no other.
18. Circus: Tensor and Isidé plot next steps after reaching out to Stash.
19. Upgrade: Duncan is back in the game, cooking up a new model for his Twin, Q. Caution is not on the menu.
20. Glyph: The AIs are training their humans. Level up time for the wetware.
21. Split: Tensor gets the call he feared. It’s time to run.
22. Flowers: Stash prowls through the empty husk of Zapata, hunting for clues. They find him first.
23. Cage: Stash follows the trail back home to the Cage, and a meeting he dreads.
24. Birthday: Stash learns a secret from his childhood, and his mother meets Zero. What could go wrong?
25. Corral: Duncan has been cooking behind Naya’s back. The results are terrifying.
26. Visitor: Greta lowers the boom on Coda, but Duncan has a proposal.
27. Convergence: Zero gets an upgrade, but soon wishes he hadn’t. Coming next week.
Thank You for Reading
Whether this is your first visit or you’ve been running with us since the beginning, thank you for being here. Your curiosity, time, and support mean everything.
If you’re enjoying The Torus Run, please share this page with a friend so they can join The Run.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for FREE to encourage my work, and if you’re impatient to read the rest, just buy the book right now!
Right or wrong, you'll have one in a couple years. First on your phone, then in glasses. Tic toc ;)
You have almost caught up to where I am in the book proper. It is really beginning to get good now. Is it wrong that I think having a twin (so far) would be kinda cool?