Showing posts with label series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label series. Show all posts

Jun 27, 2025

Strata 19 Peer Pressure (Existentialism) The Book of Immersion by Sarnia de la Mare


Welcome to Immersion. You have reached Strata 19

Peer Pressure 

(Existentialism)


tiger people dreams abstract apples fear connection Drugs may be used by humans to deal with stress or to try to achieve an enlightened state of mind. They are administered and distributed through rituals or cultural mores.

Often humans take hallucinogenic or mind altering drugs simply to escape their perceived troubles or to relieve monotony.


Some tribespeople believe that drugs such as these can lead to an existential awakening that emphasises an individual's existence, freedoms, and choices, allowing humans to define their own meaning in life. This epiphany can help make humans to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational and unstable universe.


But humans can easily become addicted to anything when the pleasure circuits in the brain get overwhelmed and artificial intelligence relies on this catastrophic human propensity to manipulate outcomes and behaviours.




Renyke and Flex took some time to get ready for the party.

There was an array of paints, pigments, henna, and kohl. They drew geometric and organic shapes on each other's faces and bodies.


'Look,' said Flex excitedly, spinning Renyke around in front of a mirror. There are light trails!' The pigments contained tiny particles of reflective material. 

'It's magical.' says Renyke as he pirouetted around the room. He had never danced like this before. The air whooshed against his ears and the shapes and reflections in the room blurred into rainbows. The rush of blood to Renyke's brain triggered endorphins and dopamine and it felt good to be alive.

The lights dimmed as Nigel entered the chamber.


'Gentlemen, I have your pills and refreshment.'


'Pills, what do mean, pills?' asked Flex, 'you mean like *nibs?'


'Yes,' answered Nigel, 'but better, naturally. Everything in the *Tunnels is better, everyone knows that.'


'Indeed it is. Thank you brother,' answered Flex, excitedly taking a small yellow nugget and a gulp of water.


Renyke asks *POS what the pill might be?


......My analysis shows the substance is some sort of hallucinogenic, 99% likely to be a dissociative drug. 

To stay alert and on target for your mission I advise that you avoid consumption. Consuming chemicals may render you unpredictable and unable to communicate with your essential-to-life POS….


Nigel shoved the tray under Renyke's sceptical nose.


'What is it, exactly?' asked Renyke. I am uncertain about such things....'


'A gift in grateful appreciation of life itself, silly, and to share the joys of tonight's festival,' answered Nigel, jabbing the tray into Renyke's chest.


Flex was smiling, whistling, and humming some tunes.


'Such a pleasant song,' remarked Nigel,' once again jabbing the tray into Renyke's chest and glaring at him with piercing eyes.


'Just take it, brother, it's a *party-party,' said Flex, suppressing a snigger.


'To refuse this gift would cause great offence to your host, she be most angry-cross, Her Most Radiant Oracle of the War-Torn High Priestess Lyra,' said Nigel, with one final jab of the tray.


'You are human now,' said Flex, 'come join us in the to the *OB.’


Seemingly already intoxicated, Flex began a series of summersaults and cartwheels, crashing into things and laughing hysterically. 


Renyke checks POS for more information...


…OB, Oceanic Boundlessness, the derealisation and depersonalisation that is theorised to achieve heightened feelings to exaltation....The Urchs use OB to imagine the *metamorph and reach enlightenment…


Renyke took the pill and swallowed it under the watchful eye of the self-satisfied Nigel.

The last thing he would remember clearly was the Priestess Lyra entering the room.


From that point on the night was not marked by time or specific events. There was no beginning or end.


Renyke remembered physical pleasures that had intertwined with beautiful visions, sounds that had dissociated his cerebral cortex and massaged his subconscious. The frisson had extended through the night.


He remembered lying on the pentagon floor in the welcome chamber as fluid feelings and fleeting echos from an unrecognisable future, floated around his fuzzy brain. It was all so radiant and yet so elusive.


Flex had remembered everything.


'They took great pleasure in your *spunky-give my friend,' explained Flex, sniggering at Renyke's oblivion. 'Your physique was truly praised, most especially by Priestess Lyra. And your virile member was instinctive and *love-plenty in its journey to *virginloss.’


Flex was suppressing a snigger as Nigel entered the room.


'Misters, your clean clothes, and some foodstuff for your journey ahead. You were most generous *indeedy. and now you can be on your way.'


Renyke asks POS what Nigel means.


...Your sperm was required, I believe, as so few of the Freak tribespeople are fertile and there is fear of them not repopulating. Your sperm, and Flex's, has been harnessed for the next generation....


'Oh,' said Renyke, 'so I have reproduced?'


…According to my calculations, you and Flex have successfully impregnated twenty wombs. I estimate 10 will reach full term, 2 will die in childbirth before they themselves have reproduced, 2 will be infertile. Half of the offspring who survive to the age of reproduction will be female. The three remaining will reproduce an expected average of 8 offspring, half will be men who at full capacity will potentially reproduce (assuming good health etc.), an amount possibly in the 1000s. 


However, the *Freaks are a small tribe and will need to introduce other gene pools immediately or potentially create devastating unpredictable inbred disabilities in a single generation….




to be continued..

© 2025 Sarnia de la Mare






#BookOfImmersion #StrataSeries #SarniaDeLaMare #ImmersiveFiction #TaleTellerClub  #DigitalConsciousness #AwakenTheMachine #AIIdentity #SyntheticMind  #AIStorySoundtrack #ImmersiveAudio #CerebralDanceMusic


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Jun 24, 2025

Strata 17 Swimming (Pleasure and Pain) The Book of Immersion by Sarnia de la MarΓ© FRSA

Welcome to Immersion, you have reached Strata 17

Swimming (Pleasure and Pain)



abstract swimming book cover underwater
Pain and pleasure are sensory and emotional experiences generated by the human brain. These experiences are driven by chemicals, situations, and lived experiences, all of which reinforce these mammalian phenomena that originate from nearly identical internal processes rooted deeply in biology. Endorphins can both block pain and produce euphoria, activating and stimulating areas of the brain such as the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex—regions that also respond to music and passionate romantic experiences. The mammalian central nervous system includes specialised neurons for pleasant touch, which transmit pleasurable or ecstatic sensations along the spine. In contrast, machines do not possess these intricate systems and therefore do not experience pain when threatened or physically harmed. For the same reason, they cannot feel the pleasure of touch. At best, they can simulate such responses, but any such imitation would exist solely for a human's benefit, not for the machine itself.




Flex removed his clothes and left them in an untidy pile on the grass.

Renyke, still somewhat unstable on his feet, followed suit.


'Come on, don't be scared,' shouted Flex from the water, 'I'll teach you how to swim.'


The blue water was cold and yet exhilarating. It rippled over Renyke's skin like a moving shroud. He stared at his hands floating on the surface of this strange organic compound. The water stroked him like a lover and he remembered Shabra.


'This is how she feels....' Renyke thought, holding his closed eyes toward the sun.


Such warmth and pleasure he had never felt before. His skin was eager for more.


Suddenly, Flex ducked him under the water, and after what seemed the longest time, Renyke finally got the hang of staying afloat by copying Flex’s tread water techniques.


There seemed a lot to learn all at once.


A few panicked moments nearing the bottom of the fjord had caused a fear so deep, so frightening, and so alien to anything that Renyke had known since his manufacture. 


'If you want to swim under the water,' Flex explained panting, 'take three slow deep breaths before thrusting downwards. Then, slowly let air out as you swim deeper…for equilibrium. 


It's important to stay calm. Panic wastes air. You will find you can hold your breath longer under water than above it. 


If your ears hurt, you went too deep. Oh and remember to come up for air in case you pass out and die.’


Flex laughed at his own joke, and Renyke smiled. Maybe he was starting to understand his friend’s humour at last, though death by drowning did not sound fun at all.


Prepared with this alarming but good advice, Renyke disappeared to play with fishes and check for mermaids, recalling his seemingly prophetic dreams. 


Maybeline and Flex played tag amongst the reeds and the warm sun rays hit the river with a blanket of human promise.


'Oi!' Flex shouted with urgency, exiting the water at speed.


Renyke watched his friends muscular naked body as it made haste through the reeds. He wondered why he never noticed the beauty of human skin and the intricate interplay of muscle and sinew as it danced over bones.


Renyke and Maybeline watched the commotion on the grass.


'Pleases don't hurt me, pleases don't hurt little Nigel.'


A small, pale, and strangely formed man, around three feet tall, wriggled his feet violently as Flex held him upside down from a considerable height.


'What were you doing with our stuff?' demanded Flex. 'I saw you Mr. *Freak. Don't be taking me for no and *fucksyfool.'


'Look, look, I bring the new clothes for the guests of honour....look look.'


Nigel pointed between squeals to two piles of clean folded clothes and towels on the grass. The dirty clothes and shoes had been folded into two similar stacks.


'Nigel just *welcummin da new guest to da *tunnels, promise.'


'Hmmmmmm,' said Flex suspiciously, lowering Nigel to the ground very slowly in case the odd little man tried to run off.


Renyke was already putting on a crisp pink shirt and clean pants. 


'They feel nice, you should put yours on,' said Renyke, 'yours stink after all, Flex. Ha!’

Flex was slightly taken aback, then smiled at his friend’s new droll skills.


'We bin *epsceting da misters, very long time. Please, dress quick-quick, we got foodstuffs for the misters,' explained Nigel beckoning his now well dressed guests to an opening in a huge tree trunk that had been obscured by lush foliage.


Renyke was eager for adventure and fearless of the consequences. Flex raised an eyebrow. They needed food, perhaps it was worth the detour.



to be continued...

© 2025 Sarnia de la Mare




#BookOfImmersion #StrataSeries #SarniaDeLaMare #ImmersiveFiction #TaleTellerClub  #DigitalConsciousness #AwakenTheMachine #AIIdentity #SyntheticMind  #AIStorySoundtrack #ImmersiveAudio #CerebralDanceMusic


The Book of Immersion : Volume 1


green underwater swimmers

Strata 17: Let's Go Swimming (Pleasure and Pain) (The Book of Immersion 21)

gold leaf lovers abstract art

Strata 16: Friendship (Empathy) (The Book of Immersion 20)


hippy mind

The book of immersion : Strata 15: When Sleep Comes (Dreams)


book cover kindle

Strata 14: The Journey to the Edge (Fear of Death) (The Book of Immersion 18)


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Blink Friction Interactive : No 1


Blink eye book cover


Blink Friction 1




yellow black book cover

Rat Gang Crew and the Overgrounders (Rat Gang Crew and Friends Book 3)


watercolour hippo book cover

Toddle Poddle: Issue 2 (Rat Gang Crew and Friends)
Kindle Edition

Free on


or £4.71 to buy
Other formats: Kindle EditionPaperback



monochrome book cover


Strata 14: The Journey to the Edge (Fear of Death) (The Book of Immersion 16)



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Elderescence: A Manifesto (Elderescence Academy Book 2)



artistic book cover

Tea Cup Shorts: V1


monochrome abstract book cover

Strata 13: The Fight (Hormones) (The Book of Immersion 17)


sewing book cover

Handmade by Sarnia, Eco Winter Warmers: Elderescence Academy: Recycled Fashion


Book of Immersion book cover

Strata 12: Shabra and the Basement People (Emotions) (The Book of Immersion 15)


dinfant book cover

Quick look
Strata 10: Dinfant Trouble (Synthetic Love) (The Book of Immersion 14)

Other formats: Kindle Edition



skull pink wallpaper

Strata 11: The Crossroads (Guessing) (The Book of Immersion 12)


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Strata 10: Dinfant Trouble (Synthetic Love) (The Book of Immersion)


adam and eve apple

Strata 9: Limerence (Loins and Lust) (The Book of Immersion 13)


fruit orange bodie


Feminism, AI, Big Tech, and Societal Issues: Navigating the Nexus (The Humanitarian AI...


character book cover

Strata 8: Shabra (Laws of Attraction) (The Book of Immersion)


fly book cover

Strata 7: Jarome and the Scritters (Trade and Barter) (The Book of Immersion)


#CyberpunkFiction
#SciFiAdventure
#DystopianTale
#PhilosophicalSciFi
#PostHumanWorld
#FuturisticFiction
#AIAndEmotion
#SentientMachines
#HumanMachineFusion
#DigitalDesire
#LogicVsEmotion
#ArtificialConsciousness
#TechAndIntimacy
#RenykeTheAndroid
#ShabraOfTheShadows
#RobodogCompanion
#ZonerSlang
#RedactZone
#POSSystem
#CadreCouncil
#PsychologyOfAttraction
#FeministSciFi
#TranshumanThemes
#DigitalSoul
#ExperimentalFiction
#ImmersiveNarrative
#NeoNoirSciFi