Protophonic

• Website: http://www.protophonic.net/

Protophonic produces the Brad Lansky series of science fiction audio dramas. The series has been produced since 2002 and is billed as suitable for all ages.

Each episode is fully acted, with electronic music and sound effects, with all elements mixed to create the soundscape. Mixing is done primarily with headphone listeners in mind, though good playback on speaker systems is also ensured.

The science fiction theme tends toward the “hard” variety, with most of the science rooted in modern physics, an overarching theme of exploration, and an effort is made to educate and expose the audience to the wonders of science. The producer compares the fiction element to the mythical tales of ancient Greece, where human heroes survive using their wits in a world dominated by agents with superior powers.

The series is available as a podcast or for purchase as MP3 files.

Zara, a life form scientist on Earth, is collaborating on a research project with Sandy Larkin in a distant part of the Milky Way. Sandy has discovered a new intelligent life form, but his transmissions suddenly stop without warning. Soon after, Zara is paid a visit by an alien Nomad who claims to have Sandy‘s coordinates, but will only part with them at a price, claiming that a hostile life form at these coordinates destroyed his ship.

Distraught, Zara calls on Brad for help, knowing that he and Sandy were good friends back in flight school. Brad and Alex mount a rescue mission, but how should they best prepare for it? Have the Nomad‘s people kidnapped Sandy, or are they dealing with a hostile new life form? And how should they prepare for an encounter with a powerful life form they know almost nothing about?

After their return from Planet X, Brad and Alex have a tough time trying to get their ship to pass its maintenance review. The alien‘s viral onslaughts have left the Full Advantage riddled with software mutations and there are suspicions of even more invasive alterations. Dieter, whom they‘d rescued from the moon-swamp at Planet X, is alive but struggling to shake off his infection. Even though their mission had been highly successful by many standards, no sentient press agents on Earth have shown the slightest interest at their return. Surely their findings were newsworthy?!

Things take a turn for the worse when Dieter‘s condition deteriorates. Just then one of the most powerful A.I.‘s in the world requests their immediate presence and offers compelling arguments for a risky mission to an unchartered system twenty thousand light years away. Could this A.I.‘s theory about the origin of the alien they found at Planet X be right? If so, can they trust a fragment of this A.I. aboard the Full Advantage to have their well-being at heart, and for that matter, can they still rely on their own ship to bring them back safely?

And as if this mission didn‘t have enough unknowns, Brad couldn‘t deny the wishes of a dying man and has allowed Dieter to come along!

Brad and Alex spent two years exploring the Cygnus Arm of the Milky Way when they received a classified message from the Sol Ambassador to the Trilux System. Fifty Earth-years have elapsed since they parted ways with Giri Null in Trilux, and much has happened in that short time; Giri Null somehow managed to win over most of the Grefim and execute his plans for a new culture with alarming speed. Those who opted not to follow their new Lord promptly invaded planet Lithom, destabilizing all of Trilux.

His latest intent - to equip the formidable Grefim with A.I. minds - was interpreted as a hostile act toward Sol by hawkish elements within G.A.I.A. Subsequent events only served to spiral the star systems into a technical state of war.

Not knowing whom to trust, Giri Null insisted his old friends and the Full Advantage form the Sol ambassador‘s entourage in a last-ditch effort to negotiate a peace accord.

Brad and Alex feel duty-bound to act as agents for peace but are well aware that they are merely pawns in a deadly chess game between at least three mighty A.I. groups, and possibly two Grefim factions.

Alex is quick to point out that a pawn’s odds are never good, even with only two players. But if they can make it to the other side and survive until the end game, they might just be able to tip the scales for peace. Worth a try, and besides, they have the Advantage!

These are troubled times. MARA, the mighty blue supergiant of the Torvus Iubar system is dying, as are the other thirteen ambistars that make up the Ambistar Collective. Billions of lives are in peril. What conceivable force could cause the simultaneous death of fourteen ambistars thousands of light-years apart?

Since the peace accord between Giri Null and G.A.I.A. three years ago, Torvus has prospered and been relatively stable, save for the remaining rogue Grefim who still plague commercial shipping lanes. Recent weeks in particular have seen a number of GAIA freighters simply disappearing in Torvus. More warships have been dispatched to the area, but the rogue Grefim remain elusive and their prey vanished without a trace.

A warship notifies Brad and Alex of a call for help from an imprisoned teslalite on a planet near MARA. Drawn in by their debt of gratitude to these most mysterious life forms, they decide to assist. From that moment on they‘re hurtled into a hectic series of events and discoveries that even challenge the imagination of their new passenger - GAIA‘s most expensive A.I. .

They discover a dangerous new world - one thought to be impossible. Stranger still, they find it to be inextricably connected to the Ambistar Collective. Is there a way to avert the impending crisis? An abandoned alien artefact may hold some desperately-needed answers.

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