CXM Trilogy
What if there was a technology that could make people unknowingly carry out actions against their will?
What if this technology was in the hands of those planning the worst terrorist attack in human history?
What if all of this was part of a century-old plan to fundamentally change the world?
The CXM trilogy
The CXM Trilogy is a gripping tale where nightmares are eerie premonitions of a deeply rooted global conspiracy. At the heart of this dark intrigue stands Rakel, a statistician whose life is turned upside down when she’s drawn into a battle against the terrifying Russian conglomerate CXM Promyshlennost. This hidden empire has secretly implanted microscopic antennas in people’s brains, using them to control individuals and manipulate the world from the shadows.
In her desperate search for answers, Rakel must ally with unexpected characters. Among them is Tyrell Johnson, a computer genius who possesses the powerful and unique Iskra computer, capable of creating and controlling virtual realities and influencing the implanted antennas. They are joined by Irina Lazarenkova, a former CXM executive now on the run, whose insider knowledge proves vital in exposing the organization’s ruthless methods. Their investigation, aided by private intelligence agent Lars-Eric Forss, reveals the true architect behind it all: the long-dead yet ever-present visionary Alexander Verpuchin.
Verpuchin’s chilling vision, known as Project Cherny Ogon (“Black Fire”), is a fanatical plan to bring about global communism by systematically dismantling capitalism and turning humanity into obedient “human machines.” This century-old plan is being executed by the all-powerful AI MOROZ, a quantum supercomputer emulation Verpuchin’s mind.
In a world where human free will is under siege and the line between choice and programmed obedience is blurred, our heroes must confront ruthless enemies like Sokolov, Verpuchin’s “son” and security chief, and the calculating Lenkov, CXM’s current leader. They soon realize they are mere pawns in a deadly chess game orchestrated by MOROZ. Can they uncover the truth, disable the antennas, and save humanity from a totalitarian force striving for complete control—or will mankind become mindless marionettes in a game they never chose to play?
READ DREAM
CXM:1
Rakel is tormented by violent nightmares that return every night. When she begins to investigate, she connects with a woman who is experiencing the same thing. The woman warns Rakel not to dig too deep—the truth behind the dreams is more dangerous than she could have imagined.
But Rakel needs answers. Why does she have bloody dreams about an abandoned zoo? What is the meaning of the letter combination CXM that appears in the dreams? What is the connection to the horrifying experiments carried out in the Soviet Union in the 1920s?
A deadly car chase ends in catastrophe. A 16-year-old boy escapes the scene with a suitcase containing a strange computer. Rakel’s name is in the computer, and the boy seeks her out for answers. Together, they discover that the computer is a powerful weapon—one that, in the wrong hands, could lead to something terrible.
Soon, a life-or-death chase begins. A century-old plan to reshape the world starts to unravel—and everything points in one direction: CXM.
Orest Lastow’s Red Dream is the first installment in the CXM trilogy.
It is a thrilling and thought-provoking sci-fi thriller about what happens when dangerous technology falls into the wrong hands.
Published in September 2025
Only available in Swedish
Preliminary cover
Planned release in
September 2026
Only available in Swedish
WHITE PAIN
CXM:2
White Pain is a dark, intricately woven science fiction thriller that spans nearly a century—from Stalin-era brain experiments to near-future Europe, where technology and biology converge in a chilling vision of control.
When Irina awakens naked and disoriented in a CXM corporate office, she knows one thing: she must escape. Torture awaits at the hands of Sokolov, the ruthless head of security whose reach extends across borders. Fleeing to Sweden, she seeks out Rakel—a woman who unknowingly holds the key to Irina’s survival and possibly the fate of the world. Both women have been implanted with antennas—experimental neural devices designed to hijack thought and will. To sever the link and survive, they are forced to work together and retrieve a mysterious device called Iskra.
Unfolding in parallel is the story of Dr. Nadja Popova, a brilliant neurologist imprisoned in 1930s Georgia and forced into grotesque experiments on primates. Her tormentor, the enigmatic Verpuchin, is building more than a military weapon—his obsession with control gives birth to a secret lineage of genetically engineered children. The emergence of MOROZ, a cold, calculating quantum AI trained to think like its creator and designed to outlive him, is enabling him to implement the groundwork for Cherny Ogon—a secret plan to change the world forever.
White Pain explores the long shadow of Soviet techno-utopianism, the terrifying consequences of unbridled ambition, and the terrifying possibility of thought control becoming a reality. With the narrative pace of a political thriller and the psychological depth of speculative fiction, it explores the price of control—over societies, over information, and over the human mind.
White Pain will appeal to readers of Jeff VanderMeer, Margaret Atwood, and Cixin Liu. It is a gripping fusion of history, science, and psychological horror with echoes of Frankenstein, 1984, and Black Mirror. It is a pulse-pounding saga of power, betrayal, and the terrifying legacy of science without limits.
BLACK FIRE
CXM:3
Cherny Ogon is coming—and with it, the end of the world as we know it.
Rakel Johannesson, haunted by traumatic memories, escapes a brutal Soviet-era mental institution and plunges into a covert war of satellites, implanted technology, and weaponized AI. As she and Irina, a formidable ex-KGB agent, uncover the terrifying agenda of the global shadowy tech conglomerate CXM, they realize the world’s descent into chaos is no accident. It’s the execution of a carefully orchestrated operation like a deadly game of chess. At the heart of it all is the enigmatic artificial intelligence, MOROZ, a cryogenically preserved consciousness of the late Dr. Alexander Verpuchin. It is executing Cherny Ogon—Black Fire—a revolutionary plan to dismantle capitalism and rebirth humanity under a new order.
While innocent victims are compelled to covertly place bombs across the United States and then commit suicide, FBI agents chase fragments of truth across deserts, data, and bodies. CXM initiates devastating server farm explosions and widespread bombings of commercial buildings crippling the economy. All remotely triggered via stealthy satellites and the CatchCatch app, which secretly controls its unsuspecting users.
Rakel and Irina race against time to uncover the truth behind MOROZ. They must destroy MOROZ and halt the Cherny Ogon before it plunges the world into Verpuchin's warped vision of utopia. Their desperate mission culminates in a confrontation with the psychopathic Sokolov at CXM's hidden stronghold in Dubno.
From Tallinn to Malta, from secret bunkers in Suchumi to a final showdown in a castle crypt, Black Fire is a cinematic, globe-spanning sci-fi thriller of global systemic collapse, mind control, and the human will to resist. At the center of the story, two unlikely heroines fight for the very future of humanity.
With chilling resonance to our own hyper-connected world, Black Fire explores the dark edge where advanced technology meets ideology and ruthless ambition—and the cost of setting fire to a dying system.
