Publisher's Synopsis
So you survived the magic apocalypse. Now get ready for the system update from hell.
Lars Dickson, the death-proof cynic who accidentally became Emperor of post-Craptastrophe Las Vegas, thought he could finally get back to important things: finding decent pizza, avoiding responsibility, teaching his pet pigeon Gary about bottle cap economics. He'd faced down the reality-bending teenage wizard who broke the world, and all he got was this lousy hubcap crown and a city full of idiots to manage.
But the Architect left behind more than just bad memories and a distinct lack of lawn flamingos. Fragments of his reality-hacking AI survived the crash, and now a digital ghost is haunting Vegas's precarious technology. Power grids flicker, repurposed casino bots go rogue, and creepy messages start appearing on salvaged screens.
This time, Lars's near-death-induced immunity is about as useful as a screen door on the Wienermobile. Code doesn't care if you've seen the afterlife; it just sees a system to corrupt. To fight this silicon spectre, Emperor Lars has to rely on his "Nerdvengers" - traumatized scientists, a nihilistic hacker who lives underground, and a guilt-ridden coder - to hunt the ghost through broken networks before it can access the ultimate magic cheat codes locked on Kevin's hard drive and become Architect 2.0.
Expect exploding drones, psychological warfare via deepfaked insults, a desperate cross-country road trip involving hostile infrastructure, and the increasingly awkward, undeniably complicated 'thing' happening between Lars and his advisor Brenda. She's competent, she's tough, and he really doesn't want her turned into any more tacky garden accessories.
Dive into My Shitty Empire Has Software Problems, where the only thing glitchier than reality might be Lars's attempts at leadership and human connection. The magic might be gone, but the universe isn't done delivering error messages.
