Northerner

To be Forever 21, having H&M sex in the hungry Gap. Yet another addition to Shawn’s repertoire. The teenagers are going at it like their life depends on it, and who can blame them?

The odds are now stacked against the Carters, the submarine and dear old Blighty. As tension is high, Andrew is forced on a Merlin bound for sea. The things you do for king and country… meanwhile, things are being sabotaged left right and center. Time start chewing some nails.

Oooh, our boy Shawn rekindled an old friendship he didn’t remember. Still, a good lay is a good lay, and he got awarded points even. I’d take it too, were I in his shoes. Job done, let’s see what lies in wait as he ventures out in this strange new world. Everything is giving a slightly off, eerie vibe so something is definitely afoot.

The secret layers are peeled back, just like you’d do an onion. Will is distressed that his family is brought into the limelight; good thing he’s got competent and trusted aides who can put him back on an even keel. Andrew is off playing a high stakes sleuthing game. We are teased that Aegis is aware of the data theft - the question is how far they’ve been able to ascertain who did it? Data exfiltration at a defense contractor is serious business.

Shouldn’t more of our protagonist’s existence be gamified? Picked up hints of dissent +3P? Still, our boy is fast growing into the world. If the shoe fits - wear it.

Marc and Adam taking over smooth operator style. This time they made the people ask for it. Let’s see how far their plans take them as events unfold.

Imagine that - the Darien gang turns into a band of sleuths and Excalibur handles the duties of the Mystery Machine. I think I need to make sure my remains will go to science fiction once the gig is up. Still. The quest for Peligia is a worthwhile one, plus we get reacquainted with some old friends along the way. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Husband’s home and sprog on the mend. I wish any and all ill on the paparazzi. An interesting growth arc maybe for Ezra, he might know more on the inner workings of Sinclair and his cohorts than we know, will this help somebody, and if so - whom? Or, maybe Ezra and Enrico are set for a Thelma & Louise story? Meanwhile, we have to worry about our stealth infiltrator at sea. Things are in motion, let’s see how they stick the landing.

Age is what you feel like. Being past 50 I’m certainly no twink-chasing spring chicken, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had. That said, the community is very ageist. Ain’t no silver back either, but as they say - sashay away. Don’t let others define the parameters of your pleasure. Anyway, I like that Wolf is trying to have both a little bit of Justin and Alarik on the DL. It’s a very interesting dynamic, I’d like to see how it all resolves, it’s not quite relationships, not quite friendships either.

Enrico you badass. Oh how would like to be a fly on the wall during the no doubt somewhat difficult conversation with Ezra that will follow. Also, what will happen with the wider Sinclair network? Sooner or later Marcus and Silas will be missed, and security needs to be tightened unless Sinclair et consortes are totally inept. Exciting times lie ahead!

An abject lesson in how confusing it can be if all the everyday tech was unfamiliar and very advanced by our standards. gAI has to do some serious lifting for things to stay on the rails.

What a daring escape! Let’s see how far the gang can push their luck. Lex is a very potent threat.

And they flew off into the sunset! Imagine that. Can’t wait for part two to see what the boys are up to.

Wow, this was a very intense chapter. UK tabloids are amongst the most poisonous things there are, right after plutonium and botulinum. I’m not sure on their internal order either. That was flying by the edge of the seat, I need a drink now after all this excitement. Something something Daiquiri while waiting to see how things develop.

I got a distinct feeling that this only bought temporary reprieve. Still, our band should take it.

Poor Jacob! I hope it’s only appendicitis, but it might be something worse. Fingers crossed he gets checked out and patched up. It feels like our heroes don’t need anything distracting, but trouble usually start small on the home front.

I like that they found some solace staying on a floating island. I wonder what lies in store for Edward and Darien next? It’s a bit of a Studio Ghibli moment of wonder in all of this. Then some shards of old Peligia. Things are afoot and it’s looking likely to become complicated. The fast clip the chapters are posted in makes for a very concentrated and gripping reading. Kudos!

Cue the fireworks! I was in the mood for some drama, and boy did I get it. While not reconciling with Isidore, at least Claire is now good. Jeremy has come a long way, but he’s still not ready to walk the distance. True Thanksgiving drama this. Then the boys talk! You could adopt the prude stance that it’s unbelievably crass to discuss such things right after a family dinner, but it seems to have eased the mood. Stef has been in the background during this - I wonder what our tycoon is doing, moving in the shadows? Who’s going to pick up the pieces? Guess we’ll know next time we tune in, even though I’d like to binge watch.

Again, don’t worry about a reasonable level of exposition. You gotta set the scene too. It’s cool to read what Shawn’s day to day is like, how the home works and everyday tech like his computer is like. Looking at my own desk, the computer is augmented, or perfected, by the addition of a really good thocky keyboard, jog/shuttle controller for X-acto knife sharp scrolling, or media scrubbing, MIDI controllers and a whiz bang OLED. It’s obvious that there’s so much we can (and should!) do to improve the basic keyboard, mouse, monitor setup we’re accustomed to. It sure ain’t the final form of computing! Maybe I should try eye tracking next? It’s going to be interesting to follow Shawn as he’s stepping out into the world at large to see what this is all about. Looking forward to it!

The game’s afoot now with the wolves circling the prey. Interesting that poor Ezra has a tail, and the beginnings of plan to break out of his funk. Don’t call my name - Cruzcampo. The siren call of any holiday in Spain. Dear old Enrico will have some explaining to do, usurping bits of lady Gaga. On a more serious note though: don’t choke on your ambition Mr Carter. It’s one thing to upgrade from stuffy old London to Toronto, but missing out on Oxford for Gatineau? There’s more than one solution to that equation.

Aww, the formidable Miss Yeoh as an archetype. That’s something I’d integrate in my psychological model of the world any day. Not necessarily thinking of her, but also not sone dainty Suzy Wong stereotype of old. I was picturing Zhang Ziyi as she played Kristin Spitz in Horsemen, but YMMV.

The struggle is real - Scrivener, Word, AI writing tools. Good thing I’m only frustrated by my iPad’s on screen keyboard and picking the right layout, plus autocorrect playing tricks. So, Sinclair is the schemer behind what’s going on. I wonder how some of the conservatives in North America are celebrating their 51st state successes these days? It’s not really going as ”planned”, eh? Covfefe sounds like a plan!

It’s so full of twisted metal, all action packed. I fully expect the gang to move out of the frying pan into the fire next. And – I can’t wait 😜

I got it right that Wolf was aware of Alarik. Of course it probably was Justin who clued him in on the last pieces, but still. No matter how circumspect you try to be, there are always telltale signs. Especially if you fall into routine. It’s a trick our conscious self plays on us, we are quite see-trough in our daily lives. It’s a very interesting tale of everyday musings, I’d like to see some happiness for Alarik too, but he seems to live very much in his own head and seems content with matters. Thank you for the chapter, this story certainly grows so I’m hungry for what’s next.

Your threat vector and mechanism is sound! However, the transmission part needs to be done in a very sporadic manner to seemingly innocuous hosts, masking as normal traffic. Usually machines like these are bolted down as to never communicate with whole swathes of IP adress ranges, but for the purposes of this book you’ve done well. Lax fortune seekers would certainly be soft and permissible targets, especially where some good old social engineering comes into play. A key logger is low bandwidth, it could get you the odd password or two, but luckily we are moving away from those.