Programmers Can Be Superheroes

In The Cendovian, Stanford computer science professor Richard Nelson is on a mission to save humanity from itself. To do so, he must first save his wife Virginia. In this quest, Richard and his neuroscientist friend Pari seek the code to immortality. Leveraging artificial intelligence and virtual reality, they build a new world they call Cendovia, and an organization so secret most do not know they are even in it.

A dramatic first day of college for Richard’s top students, Victor, Marisa, and Connor, sets them on a collision course with this secret organization. For Victor, things start off bad and keep getting worse. He struggles to change his fortune, struggling most of all to uncover the mystery his professor hides. Marisa and Connor team up to help Victor as these three friends strive to become the superheroes Richard has called on programmers to be.

Our Code Transcends Us

While unlocking the capability to transcend into digital form, Richard and Pari grapple with the moral questions that arise. At the risk of losing his grip on reality, Richard reshapes his world to retain the memory of his love as he journeys into an after life of his own creation. Though a looming danger approaches, he remains willing to die for his cause and most of all for Virginia. But how many deaths must he endure?

Richard’s love for programming and his love for his wife come together as he attempts to use his code to save her. The story is sprinkled with programming lessons and scientific and philosophical questions that are quite accessible to non-techies. At its heart, The Cendovian is a series of interwoven love stories set in a sci-fi drama. As the characters explore what it truly means to be human, many of the fundamental assumptions of our societies come into question. Are we living the right algorithm? Can we code a better one?

My Inspirations

As the author of The Cendovian, I had many inspirations. Perhaps the first one was the missing portrayals of programmers as heroes in ficiton. There are plenty of dramas about lawyers, doctors, politicians, athletes, soldiers, etc. as the heroes. But so often programmers are portrayed as uber-nerdy, socially-awkward side characters who are either hackers, comic relief, or glory-obssessed millionaire wannabes.

I’ve had the good fortune to work with my great programmers and programming teams over my career, and while The Cendovian is clearly fiction, the amazing things I’ve seen my collegues accomplish inspired me to write a story with programmers front and center. As a leader, I’ve always tried to give speeches that inspire my teams. I’ve worked some of these into The Cendovian, with my favorite being the programmers as superheroes speech. Even if coding is not your thing, you can appreciate a good story of a team coming together. I think you’ll find my characters quite relatable and I’m sure you’ll find a favorite. I have a few myself.