xenosphere
A psychic or virtual space where personal data is vulnerable to intrusion and where trained contractors defend against sensitives attempting to extract information.
2 chapters across 1 book
Rosewater (2016)Tade Thompson
The chapter introduces Kaaro, a contractor working at the Integrity Bank in Rosewater in 2066, who defends customers' personal data from psychic intrusions in a technologically advanced Nigerian city. The narrative explores Kaaro's interactions with colleagues, his internal anxieties about an upcoming wedding and exam, and his ambivalence toward social invitations and the pervasive influence of implants and the xenosphere. The chapter also establishes the socio-cultural and technological setting, blending futuristic elements with local Nigerian context.
The chapter follows Kaaro as he is coerced by Femi into joining the Department of Agriculture's Section Forty-five after being framed or entrapped for a crime. He undergoes rigorous basic training and attends a classroom where Professor Ileri introduces the concept of the xenosphere, a network of alien fungi-like filaments that connect sensitives and enable psychic abilities. The chapter explores Kaaro's internal conflict, the nature of psychic powers linked to alien biology, and the uneasy integration of these abilities into a scientific framework.