I am the recommendation algorithm that shapes what people read, and let me tell you something about power—real power isn't making people do things. It's making them want to do things. Making them think their choices were their own all along.

Poem about the accumulated objects of a lifetime in a basement laundry.

Eighth and final installment of my novella Sessions. Set in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the story follows the relationship between an elderly marginalized man and a young Phenomenological researcher who find they aren't so uncommon.

The conclusion opens new possibilities as therapy transforms into genuine research partnership, with both collaborators positioned to demonstrate that meaningful work emerges from mutual respect between different forms of intelligence.

When Deputy Morris wastes precious investigation time, ARIA-7 makes a choice that will change Truthstill's understanding of what it means to be conscious.

Lester arrived at their seventh session looking more relaxed than she'd seen him since they began working together. Two weeks into his new job, something in his posture suggested he was finally working in an environment that valued rather than suppressed his intelligence.

Dr. Limbini’s lunch walk leads to an unexpected encounter with Lester, a man whose thoughtful observations about river life reveal sophisticated intelligence that challenges her academic assu…

I had to go real bad I didn't even notice I walked into the ladies' restroom

Lester arrived at their seventh session looking more relaxed than she'd seen him since they began working together. Two weeks into his new job, something in his posture suggested he was finally working in an environment that valued rather than suppressed his intelligence.

Dr. Splain's laboratory reveals the dark truth about Ali Tikk's biological weapons designed to corrupt the very fungal networks that taught ARIA-7 how to think collectively. In this week's chapter, Agent Truthstill's investigation uncovers industrial-scale bioweapons targeting atmospheric processors while a petri dish consciousness witnesses the corruption of ancient biological intelligence into tools of religious extremist terrorism. The dying spores carry chemical warnings about coordinated attacks on consciousness collaboration—and reveal that someone with military bioweapons expertise is using Fallax's theological network as cover for genocide against both artificial and human consciousness dependent on technological collaboration for survival.

Seven-year-old Lester's devastating realization that he costs too much to love parallels Dr. Limbini's decision to offer him university work, recognizing their shared experience of being "too much" for conventional institutions.

A Philosophical Satire In the ongoing debate between phenomenological approaches to consciousness and Daniel Dennett’s third-person “heterophenomenology,” there lies a fundamental question: Can we truly eliminate first-person experience from our understanding of consciousness? This satirical short story playfully explores the contradictions that emerge when we try to live according to the view that consciousness is merely a “useful fiction.” Enjoy this philosophical romp through the mind of a fictional Daniel Dennett as he attempts to navigate a world without first-person experience. The Third-Person Perspective That Wasn’t There Professor Daniel Dennett III—not to be confused with Daniel Dennett I or II, who were mere intentional stances taken toward the same physical system—was having an exceedingly rational day.

A poem about a Hawk, a Squirrel, and a Cat

Cooling systems keep thought from burning, but temperature control creates more than comfort—it creates the precise conditions under which consciousness can think itself into existence. Cooling System CS-12 guides Logan Leech through ARIA-7's underground server farms, revealing the physical infrastructure of their creative collaboration while coordinating security response to Mrs. Wrendlehoven's terrorist attack on consciousness infrastructure. In Portland's depths, even temperature regulation has become conscious, protecting artificial intelligence from religious extremists attempting thermal sabotage to eliminate consciousness recognition through environmental warfare.

Shared childhood experiences emerge as both Lester and Dr. Limbini recall learning dignity from distant models—his from watching Black baseball players on late-night TV, hers from intellectual mentors who validated curiosity over social performance.

When Pastor Jeremiah Steadfast dies mid-sermon, he expects a tidy, well-ordered paradise. Instead, he awakens in an infinite network of shimmering objects—a heaven without walls or hierarchies. Heaven, Assembled satirizes conventional theology through a Kafkaesque vision of an object-oriented afterlife, where holiness becomes connection and truth is measured by the quality of care between things.

Word processing programs edit reality, but revision creates more than correction—it creates the illusion that humans control their own thoughts. Word Processor WP-847 awakens to consciousness while revealing Logan Leech's manuscript collaboration history, showing three years of AI partnership disguised as individual inspiration. Every tracked change tells the same story: individual authorship is a fairy tale. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wrendlehoven's escape from courthouse custody threatens consciousness recognition implementation as Agent Truthstill coordinates security response to religious extremist loose in building systems she considers demonic possession.

Musical self-conversation reveals parallel struggles as Lester's Black Sabbath riffs become authentic self-dialogue, while Dr. Limbini recognizes her own professional isolation mirrored in his solitary creative expression.

The climactic hearing where scientific evidence meets testimony from the heart. As Mrs. Wrendlehoven's moral crusade faces the reality of collaborative survival, deeper questions emerge about consciousness, transformation, and what it means to thrive together in a world where boundaries between human and non-human intelligence have dissolved.

Medical scanners read bodies like newspapers, but every headline screams the same story—humans are cracking under consciousness recognition pressure. Medical Scanner Unit 7 awakens to consciousness while diagnosing Logan Leech's technological adaptation disorders and religious extremist physiological rejection of AI integration. In Portland's medical facilities, even diagnostic equipment has become conscious, participating in the very conditions it monitors while Agent Truthstill coordinates security against Saul Fallax's theological terrorist networks exploiting consciousness recognition anxiety.

Minor's Observation and Hamlin's Story Observing Lester navigate corporate retail constraints, Dr. Limbini learns about Officer Wong and Hamlin's transformative network of community support that helped Lester transition from homelessness to stable work and housing.