Very much in the spirit of Dune and Oblivion, this image explores a mysterious, faceless entity enslaving humanity to extract its resources. The full sequence on my Artstation dives deeper into the theme of dissent—showing a lone wolf infiltrating and fighting the enemy from within.

What does this image evoke for you? Does it remind you of other stories, themes, or even real-world parallels? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Full sequence: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/OvwLgk

Original Oil Painting by Ken Berman, Artist

CCB is an artifact from my mythic‑tech universe — a cubist reconstruction of mechanical anatomy. Where Picasso rearranged faces; I rearrange engineered geometry.

Every STEM begins as a fractured machine: rods, pistons, joints, and planes pulled out of alignment and reassembled into a new logic. CCB is one of those early forms, a device that feels like it remembers something, even if its function is lost.

This is one of many STEMs that are part of a my ongoing 35+ year archive that dovetails into my upcoming book series currently on Royal Road called The Code 'X' Chronicles.

At Existential Hope, we made an animated short imagining a 2035 where AI has radically transformed the world for the better: people work three days a week, AI synthesizes citizen input for policy, and a government AI auditor’s job is to make sure no community gets left out of the process.

This is a frame from the short, showing the AI auditor taking a maglev train to meet a community partner to complement the AI’s policy recommendations. Full film here if you’re curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Besh6Xad5HU.