Periodontal Surgery

No, it has nothing to do with my novel. I'm going for a surgery to treat my periodontitis gum condition tomorrow. Commonly known as gum surgery, the procedure aims to treat gum disease and any damage it may have caused by re-growing damaged bones and tissues to prevent tooth loss.

A few days ago I went to my dentist for a regular descaling work, whereupon she noticed that the gum above my left incisor is swollen and inflamed. She did a check and found deep recesses around that tooth, and advised me to go for the surgical treatment. So I made an appointment with the recommended specialist.

I'll be taking a two-week break from writing, and taking baby food for a few days following the surgery. As a Chinese saying goes:

A rest is a preparatory step for a longer journey ahead

 

Chapter 16: Hard To Say Goodbye

And so I decided to go along with this chapter title after some deliberation. It would be one of the most emotional chapters in the novel. I'd to confess that I got a little teary writing that heartbreaking part, imagining what it would be like not only for David but the team members as well.

A breakdown of the chapter content:

1. Team STRATOS engaged in a dangerous mission to retrieve advanced weapons hi-jacked by a group of mercenaries. Viper was seriously injured in the heat of an intense conflict.

2. The team returned to Omega Base to an awaiting emergency medical team. Viper barely made it and was put on life support in a coma condition following an operation.

3. David kept vigil at Viper's bedside. He used the NSCI device and with HAVAH's help managed to revive her. But she soon succumbed after a brief intimate moment with her sweetheart. STRATOS members who were outside the ICU, were devastated by her passing.

4. A military funeral in honor of Viper was conducted in the Omega Base, attended by the staff and crew, and presided over by the Defense Secretary, ensued.

5. In the evening, Olivia dropped by briefly to pass a precious memento to a grieving David which will prove, in another chapter, to be a deal breaker to HAVAH's emotional advancement.

6. This object is also a crucial link that ties up past events and encounters, and provide a basis for some future ones.

Despite the pain of losing the darling of my story, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing this chapter. I could understand now, at least to some degree, the highs and lows novel writers experienced as they immersed themselves into the stories they're creating.

 

A Military Funeral

Occasionally, scenes of a military funeral would surface in a movie. It was always a tender and touching moment as the nation mourns the loss of a son or daughter in a war or conflict.

For Viper, it would be no different, except that the funeral service would take place in the Omega Base, attended by the crew and staff, and presided over by the Defense Secretary with a stirring speech, no less. The now six-member STRATOS team would do the honor of escorting the casket to its destination at the Arlington National Cemetery, not on a horse-drawn limbers and caissons but the Shadowhawk aircraft in her final journey.

David would be the recipient of the state flag since Viper had no other kin. Olivia would have the honor of folding and handling it (and something else) to him.

 

Operation Thunderbolt

This would be the final mission for Viper, a realization that her premonition had unfortunately come true. How will she die? Through an unintentional selfless act. No spoilers here.

On hindsight, it is an appropriate name, not just for STRATOS' covert operation, but also for David and every team member who will witness Viper's passing. It's hard to say goodbye to an intimate friend and a comrade that had become family through thick and thin, braving risks and dangers together.

As Viper lay in coma from her severe injury, hooked to a life support and hanging for dear life, what goes through David's mind over this sudden development? Is there a sense of regret for not making known his feelings? Will there even be  an opportunity for the lovebirds to bid farewell? What will be the reactions of the team members? What follows next?

These are just some questions that crossed my mind as I contemplate at the grim prospect of taking out a character I have come to love and animate in my first novel. When I told my wife, she was aghast at the idea since I let her read each chapter draft after I finish writing. She loved the dynamics I created between the two lovebirds.

I need a break. I really do.

 

Viper Must Die...

As I entertained this sobering thought about taking the darling character out of my novel, I was reminded of two movies: Romeo Must Die and Juliet Must Die. One is an action-packed film while the other is a mystery murder plot. Mine is neither.

Sometimes the death of a main character is necessary to bring the narrative to the next level for a few reasons:

1. To make way for the story theme to unfold

2. To allow further development for other characters, main and peripheral

3. To facilitate more involved and intriguing conversations

4. To generate anticipation in readers for what will happen next

5. To introduce elements of uncertainty and unpredictability

So a character's death is never wasted if you know how to use it to achieve the above story effects. It can be a painful process for both the author and the readers, but when we look at the bigger picture instead of dwelling on the loss.

 

Chapter 15: Grey Matters

So there you go, the 15th chapter of my novel, and the first chapter of Part 3: VIPER. Consolidating what I have discussed in my previous posts, here's the breakdown of this chapter:

1. David receiving the prototype Neuro-Synaptic Cognitive Interface (NSCI) from Dr. Harper, with a short write-up on its features.

2. A conversation between David and the neuroscientist to ascertain the concept behind the NSCI and how it could be used by EVE to capture and decipher brain signals to be assimilated into HAVAH.

3. David experimenting the NSCI on HAVAH and the effects it had on her.

4. Viper's struggle with her recurring nightmare and David's reassuring support.

5. An intriguing conversation between David and HAVAH on the topic of dreams and its implications.

6. Another discussion between David and Dr. Harper on the NSCI's use to decipher dreams and how it could be used to alleviate post-trauma stress. 

Unfortunately, time isn't on David's side...

 

Electric Dreams

Can an AI dream?

That's an intriguing question.  I'm reminded of the 1984 RomCom "Electric Dreams" which had many viewers wondering if computers could do all those things they saw in the movie, including dreaming (hence the title).

I believe many people do have that perennial question when their interactions with AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing, Bard, and the likes become a common affair. After all, it gives people the illusion that they are talking to an entity that seems to think and feel like they do.

So, leveraging from Viper's nightmare and HAVAH's curiosity after witnessing David calmed Viper of her post-traumatic stress, it would be natural to explore this fascination aspect of artificial intelligence, especially one which had attained a level of sentience.

Maybe I'll even bring in a separate conversation between David and Dr. Harper on this topic from a neuroscientist's perspective. There are possible scenarios that can come out of that one subject of dreams alone. It's just a matter of how to plot and then word it to make a narrative come alive.

 

Premonition

In a previous post, I mentioned about a third part to my novel, which would set the pace for a more intense emotional rollercoaster for the readers. I thought hard and long how to achieve that. Premonition is the result.

What kind of premonition suits best than a recurring nightmare? And that's what I intend to get Viper into from a recent mission that almost got her killed, if not for her personal armor. Better yet, if I can link the incident to the Prologue and at the same time, get David and HAVAH involved as well.

A good story narrative should not only have layers and character interactions, but also a thought flow that readers can link to something they've read earlier. That would give them a Déjà Vu experience to double their reading enjoyment.

 

Unchained Memories

Just for the fun of it, I toyed with the next chapter title using an adaptation from the song "Unchained Melody". But then, after an online search I realized it is a 2003 American documentary film about the stories of former slaves by the same title, so I'd have to drop the idea.

Perhaps Grey Matters would be a more suitable title. We'll see.

I reckoned that HAVAH would have a hard time trying to make sense of the vast brain data collected and deciphered by EVE for her assimilation during the trial sessions. A little humor injected in the process should spice up the narrative as well.

 

Neuro-Synaptic Cognitive Interface

There have been a lot of online buzz about brain-computer interface (BCI) that are geared towards not only medical applications but military and commercial as well. But just how realistic are mind-reading and brain scanning devices in this age of technological advancement?

For a novel which revolves around the idea of a sentient AI, a portable headwear device with integrated electroencephalography (EEG) technology used for scanning and interpreting brain waves into electronic signals and information would seem like a plausible possibility in the near distant future. So yeah, I'm definitely including this topic as part of a conversational discussion in the story.

I named the prototype device engineered by Dr. Harper as a sort of neurosynaptic headwear (she's a neuroscientist after all). David would get his hand on one working sample to experiment on HAVAH, and perhaps later on Viper at a crucial juncture. As a first cut, here is an introduction:

The Neuro-Synaptic Cognitive Interface, or NSCI, as Dr. Harper called it, is a cutting-edge, wearable neuro-reading analyzer designed for neural exploration. Crafted with state-of-the-art neuro-sensing technology, this sleek head-mounted device is a convergence of neuro-quantum engineering and proprietary synaptic scanning methodologies.

Sounds impressive and promising, I must say.

 

Neurosynaptic Chip and Cognitive Computing

The idea of modelling the human brain has captivated and confounded scientists for a long time. The brain, a spongy mass the size of a grapefruit, is a remarkable organ. Consuming just 20 watts of power, it can comprehend complex concepts, explore the world we live in, and produce incredible things——from sophisticated machinery to beautiful music.

The way a human brain functions is more akin to an unstructured jam of signaling between organic matter cells, or nodes, instead of a structured processor core running on precision clocks.  Not surprisingly, imitating the brain has proven to be incredibly difficult. Conventional computers don’t even try. They use linear logic and hard-wired circuitry to calculate, send messages, analyze data and organize knowledge, consuming enormous amounts of power while failing to match the brain’s protean capabilities.

A neurosynaptic chip, also known as a cognitive chip, is a computer processor that functions more like a biological brain than a typical CPU does. Unlike cognitive computing, which is made to emulate the thought and learning of humans through software, neurosynaptic chips are made to function like human brains on the hardware level.

Here’s how IBM describes the chip's architecture:

“IBM’s brain-inspired architecture consists of a network of neuro-synaptic cores. Cores are distributed and operate in parallel. Cores operate—without a clock—in an event-driven fashion. Cores integrate memory, computation, and communication. Individual cores can fail and yet, like the brain, the architecture can still function. Cores on the same chip communicate with one another via an on-chip event-driven network. Chips communicate via an inter-chip interface leading to seamless availability like the cortex, enabling creation of scalable neuromorphic systems.”

Fascinating, isn't it? And that's what inspires and drives me to continue writing as I learn and explore such futuristic possibilities.

Source: IBM, Electronic Design, The Intelligence of Information

 

Whither Part 3?

Up to this point, my novel is progressing well with a two-part division of seven chapters each. An ideal scenario would be to produce a third division comprising another seven chapters. It called to mind the Three Act Structure, also known as the king of story structure, which many successful novels employed.

Two questions naturally comes to mind:

1. What shall I name Part 3?
2. How is it going to lead the story to its intended end?

Since I have the intention of bringing Viper into focus, I thought it would be good to name Part 3: VIPER. The tagline of my narrative being "a love that transcends the metaphysical realm" so I need to gel the idea of David and Viper's love story with HAVAH's sentience to produce a transcendent and dramatic ending. And I really want to take character development for some of the STRATOS members into consideration as well. Of course, that's easier said than done.

In the end, I'm minded to take one chapter at a time and see how it works out along the way. Having a few wild ideas running rampant in my brain can be quite distracting, or counter-productive at best.

 

Chapter 14 (Part 2)

Like I said in the previous post, I wasn't done with this chapter yet. To be realistic, I should not make it easy for David to succeed in getting HAVAH attain invisibility. This will allow for better development in the story too, in this case:

1. Giving HAVAH the opportunity to make a surprise arrangement for David to date Viper, thereby accentuating her sentient personality, while injecting an element of humor at the same time.

2. Showcasing a romantic location of the Omega Base.

3. Using an innocent conversation between the lovebirds to allow David to discover the solution to what he's been struggling with on invisibility.

As I wrapped up PART 2: HAVAH, I'm toying with the possibility of adding a third part to my narrative, to bring Viper into the picture, but with a twist that will probably break the hearts of my readers. 

A good novel should provide readers a rollercoaster experience in their emotions, especially if they become endeared to one or two of the characters in the story. Dark clouds are gathering in the horizon, but I've not much to say at this point.