Century Rain

In 2267, Verity Auger is a disgraced archaeologist living in an ice-bound, futuristic Paris after a nanotech disaster destroyed Earth. She is blackmailed by a political faction to travel through a wormhole into a parallel version of 1959. This version of Earth, known as the Slash, never experienced World War II and remains stuck in a mid-century technological loop. On the ground, Wendell Floyd, an American private investigator in Paris, investigates the mysterious death of a socialite, unaware his reality is an artificial simulation monitored by advanced humans. The two protagonists occupy different timelines that collide as they uncover a conspiracy involving hidden portals and a weapon capable of altering the trajectory of both civilizations.

This book serves readers who value hard science fiction mixed with the aesthetics of classic noir. It appeals to those interested in the Fermi Paradox, alternative history, and the physics of traversable wormholes. Readers walk away with a detailed understanding of how cultural stagnation can be enforced by external technology. The narrative provides a contrast between the grim survivors of a high-tech collapse and the naive inhabitants of a protected past, challenging the idea that progress is inevitable or linear.