You just completed "Ascension", which was the shortest book in the series. "Deception" has nearly twice the content, and will open you up to more of the world of Conquest and how the character stories overlap.
[https://authormulder.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_4697-4.jpg]
Blurb:
Brittany Parker is a Police Officer for a precinct that has adopted CyberBolt’s implant technology to enhance abilities, which also grants her a unique gaming experience. But after getting wrapped up in matters of National Security, she is ordered to undergo a dangerous procedure rumored to cause memory loss and dementia. After the excruciatingly painful experience, she awakens inside Conquest to face a terrifying threat unlike anything she has ever encountered before. A rapture-like apocalyptic event has transported players through a portal to an alien planet inhabited by the Leviathan, a loathsome creature whose insatiable hunger until now has been fed by that world's few remaining souls.
"Deception" is the parallel story of Officer Brittany Parker, who had a brief scene in "Ascension" when Allan was in jail and she came to visit him unexpectedly. This is when he learns about Lily's note that was left for him about why she has to leave him, and then Brittany divulges that she found this note while investigating an incident that happened in his home. She explains to him that she found it ransacked, there was a deadly encounter, and Allan's girlfriend Lily was missing but they found a pool of her blood at the scene. This information causes Allan's anxiety to peak, in turn activating an inner power that causes an explosion to the extent that a hole is created on the exterior wall of the jail and Allan escapes.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Brittany is then confronted by her Chief of Police about the incident, and ultimately puts her on probation because her investigation has breached National Security and she is ordered to undergo a procedure in the precinct's infamous "Decommissioning Chamber", rumored to have caused memory loss, dementia, and a slew of other health problems. After an excruciatingly painful experience, Brittany gets trapped in the game Conquest.
----------------------------------------
Brittany Parker is a Police Officer for a precinct that has adopted CyberBolt's implant technology to enhance abilities, which also grants her a unique gaming experience. But after getting wrapped up in matters of National Security, she is ordered to undergo a dangerous procedure rumored to cause memory loss and dementia. After the excruciatingly painful experience, she awakens inside the Augmented Reality MMORPG game CONQUEST to face a terrifying threat unlike anything she has ever encountered before.
A rapture-like apocalyptic event transports players through a portal to an alien planet inhabited by the Leviathan, a loathsome creature whose insatiable hunger until now has been fed by that world's few remaining souls. The terrain of CONQUEST is the same, however the game parameters have changed drastically.
Now in a First-Person-Shooter (FPS) setting, Brittany comes head to head with many foes in battles of wits and survival with her limited ammunition. Little does she know however, that the more she levels up in the game, the more she carries out the sinister work of the Leviathan.
Will Brittany see the error of her ways before she pays the ultimate price?