Networked Lives
By M.T. Stachera

In a world wired tighter than ever, one spark is all it takes to light a global fire.

When a catastrophic cyberattack fractures the digital infrastructure of multiple nations, three strangers find their lives entangled in ways they never could have imagined.

Peter Sterling, heir to a billion-dollar tech empire, has spent his life balancing on the blade of innovation and exploitation. Groomed to lead Sterling Tech, he's inherited more than a company—he's inherited a moral crisis. As the world blames his family's technology for the unraveling of global systems, Peter must choose between protecting his legacy and reshaping it entirely.

Andrew Blackwood, an elite cybersecurity expert, is thrust into the eye of the digital storm. Tasked with decoding the attack, Andrew discovers secrets buried so deep they could destabilize entire governments. But the deeper he digs, the more tangled his own conscience becomes—caught between truth, loyalty, and a growing awareness that he may be part of the very system he's trying to stop.

Natalie Russo, an underground artist turned activist, translates chaos into color. Her visceral, raw artwork becomes a form of resistance and reflection, giving voice to the victims of digital displacement and algorithmic control. As her influence grows, so does the scrutiny. And when her path crosses with Peter and Andrew's, art, technology, and revolution collide in a way that threatens the status quo—and their lives.

Told through intersecting narratives, Networked Lives is a powerful meditation on power, identity, and the human cost of connection. It is a story of unseen alliances, buried trauma, and the fragile beauty of resistance in a world dominated by data and control.

With lyrical prose and razor-sharp insight, M.T. Stachera delivers a timely, multi-layered techno-drama that explores the intersection of ethics, art, capitalism, and the increasingly blurred line between digital identity and real humanity.