Appears in The Compact Reader
“Headspace” tells the story of Rafe Polarno, a brilliant cybernetics post-grad who unwittingly repeats Steven Turing’s mistake—successfully uploading his consciousness into a virtual environment, but without the influence of drugs. Driven by ambition and love, Rafe draws humanities student Serene Hermia into his secret project, unaware that she’s part of a deeper Cybercommand operation.
As Rafe and Serene explore the possibilities of full sensory cyberspace—including body-swapping, identity morphing, and physical transformation—Rafe’s system breaches ethical limits humanity swore off after the AI War. In the end, Cybercommand fakes Rafe’s death during a staged burglary, preserving his consciousness inside a portable data device for their own hidden purposes. Rafe, unknowingly, becomes the latest human victim of the singularity humanity once feared—and achieved.