Editorial Review: No CTRL by Max Sor

A fast-paced cyberpunk thriller that explores the promise and peril of virtual reality, ‘No CTRL’ blends cutting-edge technology with high-stakes human drama.Stanislav has created something that could change the world - quite literally, he discovers when the virtual reality system he built starts to leak into the real world and people’s lives are at risk.A mind blowing virtual reality system created initially by Stas to revolutionize the world for people like him who have limited mobility in the physical world. More than just letting the user control an avatar, his invention uses a myriad of sensors to send signals to the body's nerves and actually trick the mind into actually perceiving the movement of the user through the virtual space - even if they were a paralyzed wheelchair user in the physical world.  When Stas realized that the Motion Simulation Device had too much potential impact if it fell into the hands of those who would abuse it for their own gain. To keep it out of the hands of mega corporations and the morally bankrupt, he withdraws it  - but not everyone is as comfortable with the decision to keep the technology to themselves or Stas's proprietary attitude over his invention. Becoming friends with Bon and Vitya, working on the Motion Simulation Device project together seemed to go well for a while - but tensions are rising and Stas is worried that people are going to get hurt.It all starts with static that shouldn't be there, glitches that shouldn’t exist, and a car crash that shouldn’t have been possible. Stas knows that 'system malfunction' doesn't explain why the car crashed, but his attention is soon drawn away from the incident by a much more deadly one - a passenger airline colliding with a private jet. What follows is a tense race of choices to make and problems to solve and Stas can't do it alone. Figuring out who to trust is no simple thing when lives are at stake but Stas needs Dana, a brilliant hacker in her own right, along with Bon and Julia if he is going to have a chance to fix any of it.'No CTRL' hits a number of Hard Sci-Fi tenets - the premise feels distinctly plausible and the tech seems to follow a logical pathway from where we are now - without requiring a deep seated understanding of computer science itself. Nor does 'No CTRL' present the reader with an overwhelming wall of techspeak or technical knowledge prerequisites, Max Sor manages to balance providing the information needed to understand the concepts without talking down to those less computer savvy. While 'No CTRL' absolutely sits in the Hard Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk subgenres it also follows in the footsteps of classic Sci-Fi's ability to highlight the humanity in among the technology and give readers a chance to reflect on both their current society as well as the potential future of it.  An energetic and fast paced story with surprising depth that feels both dystopian and hopeful at the same time, a reminder to readers of the terrible potential of the power-hungry when given control.