What does technological development have in store for us? Our nature is grounded in the basest of human feelings. Still, until recently I had no idea just how big the problem actually was. I’d spent twenty years of my life writing books about war, space exploration and artificial intelligence, firmly believing that humanity kept progressing morally as well as technologically.Still, my experience writing LitRPG has forced me to change my mind. In order for my books to be believable, I spent a lot of time playing online – and the truth lurking behind some of the players’ avatars horrified me. The anonymity of the Internet tends to reveal what’s usually concealed by the veneer of civilization. As I worked on the Phantom Server and Neuro trilogies, I still harbored some faith in humanity. But as I approached the task of writing Edge of Abyss, I did so in the firm belief that each human heart conceals a slew of vices which can break loose the moment a person tries on a virtual mask and acquires a taste for anonymity and impunity within game worlds. We might actually invent full-immersion virtual pods quite soon, allowing us to experience whole new worlds first hand. The sheer thought makes my blood run cold. There’s a high danger of us losing what’s human about us, ultimately degenerating and eventually becoming extinct. And when we do realize the danger, it might be too late to do anything about it. This is basically what my Respawn Trials series is about. Andrei Livadny