Vortex

Abstract

Vortex is the third novel in the Spin Trilogy, preceded by Spin and Axis. In the novel Spin, the Earth is mysteriously enveloped by a black membrane which slows time, and it is then discovered that the membrane was created by intelligent self-replicating and alien machines named “Hypotheticals”. The membrane was part of a plan to enclose planets which were being destroyed by their inhabitants, and the slowing of the time ensured the slowing down of their advancement, until some kind of method should be found to save those worlds. At the end of the novel, a portal to another planet emerges in the middle of the Indian Ocean, allowing humankind to escape a dying Earth. The second novel, Axis, takes place in this new planet, named Equatoria, which the Hypotheticals engineered to suit human needs. Humans also exploit this planet’s resources just as they did on Earth. Furthermore, they have access to nanotechnology after their colonisation of Mars (which happens during the first novel), which is used to create genetically enhanced humans who are expected to have the ability to communicate with the Hypotheticals (such as one of the novel’s characters, Isaac). The end of the novel sees a new portal found in a desert in Equatoria, much similar to the one that transported people from the Earth to the new planet. Vortex presents a glimpse into the trilogy’s universe, where humans now exist in several interconnected planets – the Ring of Worlds –, which are joined by Hypothetical portals. Time travel becomes possible through Hypotheticals’ temporal arches. Turk and Isaac, both returning characters, are transported thousands of years into the future by travelling through one of these arches. They land on Vox, a futuristic city of human descendants. Here, the inhabitants come to think that Turk and Isaac are divine beings, as they have been communicating with the Hypotheticals (and Isaac was actually genetically engineered to do so). The duo’s arrival is actually expected, and a fanatical collective from Vox seems to be waiting for the arrival of others like them, i.e., those who have had some kind of contact with the alien machines, as they themselves wish to do so. Ultimately, believing that returning to Earth might ensure the fulfilment of a prophecy which would enable human and Hypothetical contact, the Vox collective passes through a portal to humankind’s home world, only to discover that it is utterly destroyed and barren, with a toxic atmosphere, unable to sustain human life.