Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

Possible spoilers!!!

What you see and feel, is it real? James Dashner brings us a new story, where you are the gamer, in the first installment of The Mortality Doctrine series. The Eye of Minds will make one doubt if reality is real or if you’re just a puppet that is being manipulated by higher people.

The Eye of Minds

A: Aura – The Aura is the computer-simulated counterpart of a person that enters into the VirtNet. They can have whatever appearance the person wants, even if it doesn’t resemble their real appearance.

B: Bryson – Bryson is one of Michael’s best-friends within the VirtNet, even though they haven’t meet in the real world. His Aura is described as as a damaged football player, bug, thick, and everything just a little off-kilter. He is also great at coding and a hacker.

Black and Blue – Black and Blue is one of the most elite clubs in the VirtNet. Only the extremely rich, famous, or high up on the criminal chains can get in or a politician, which would make you all of the above. It is owned by Ronika.

C: Core – The Core is the device that essentially protects the players’ brains while they are in the sleep. Without it, if the player died, the brain believes it and also dies. The core is a feat of programming protected by passwords, that only one self can remove it.

Coffin – The Coffin or officially called a NerveBox is the machine that players use to access the VirtNet. The body is stored while its mind is in the VirtNet. The player can personalize the Coffin so he can feel the level of reality of the game: to feel anything or to feel everything.

D: Decay – This is the process that happens when a Tangent has reached a certain point, and the artificial memory losses its ability to “fill in the blanks” in the end despairing.

Devils of Destruction – This is a VirtNet war game. It is based in a fictional war that took place in 2022, in Greenland, when nations battled for a vein of gold that was discovered there. It is also the entrance to The Path that will take one to Hallowed Ravine, where Kaine and the Mortality Doctrine are.

E: EarCuffs – An EarCuff is a device that goes in the ear lobe which helps control the Netscreen and keyboard.

F: Floor – “Over the deafeningly loud music, he heard a woman’s laugh. Then he fell through the floor. It wasn’t like a trapdoor. And the floor didn’t collapse.” The floor that leads Michael to Ronika.

G: Gunnar Skale – He is a legendary gamer of high ranks. At the beginning of the book, it is said that he recently disappeared of the grid and rumor has it that he was swallowed by the Deep itself. Later in the book it is discovered what really happened to him.

H: Hallowed Ravine – Hallowed Ravine is a program; a medieval game created by Kaine. This is where he is hiding. This is one of the few programs that has acquired the status of Deep and is also hidden in the Deep of the VirtNet.

Helga – Helga is Michael’s nanny. While his parents are a way, she looks after him. She is an old lady with a noticeable German accent, she is a great cook, and her food is almost as good as the one from the VirtNet. She went to visit her sister and never came back.

I: I saved – “That men wouldn’t dare cross me, considering I saved … one of his most cherished … Tangents from Decay.” Ronika talks about Kaine.

J: Just – “Be careful!” he yelled at her. “Just trying to give you a scare,” she called back. “Not funny! At all!” Sarah scaring Michael.

K: Kaine – Kaine is the main antagonist of the book (a tangent) he harasses gamers and even traps them to experiment with. He created the KillSims and the program of Hallowed Ravine. He has followers that believe he can get the Mortality Doctrine and use it. The VNS is searching for him, but with no luck so far.

KillSims – This is an anti-program created by Kaine that resembles a wolf. It looks like a creature made of shadows with yellow eyes. To be able to look at it you have to do it with your peripheral vision or it disappears. It changes from shadow form to wolf form and a mix of humanoid.  If a KillSims bites a gamer or player, it will literally suck the virtual life out of him or her. When they try lifting back to the wake it can be damaging for the brain.

L: Lifeblood – Lifeblood is the most popular game in the VirtNet; the next level, the goal of goals. Everything is a thousand times more real, more advanced, and more intense. There is an advertisement in the sky outside of Michael’s window that he always sees.

Lift – Lift is the term gamers use when they leave the VirtNet. It is made by stepping through portals or dying in games where you can’t revive.

M: Michael – Michael is the main character. He is a seventeen year old boy with great coding and hacking skills. The story starts when he is sent to talk a girl out of jumping off the virtual Golden Gate bridge, but fails when she jumps wanting to escape from Kaine and be free.

Mortality Doctrine – The Mortality Doctrine is a program created by Kaine that would allow them to change the future. It is hidden in the Hallowed Ravine.

N: NerveWire – The NerveWire are thin icy stands, which are inserted in the body when one uses the Coffin. They go in the neck, back, and arms.

O: Old – The Old Towne is the most visited place in the VirtNet. It is the New York City of the simulated world. It has a shopping district that it always packed with people. The place is designed for two things: to provide good times and to drain people’s life savings.

P: Path – The Path, as its name says, is the path to the Mortality Doctrine. It starts with Devils of Destruction, continuing through distinct levels, where the mind and skills are put to test, ending in Hallowed Ravine. Once you enter it you must complete it, if you die trying you are not allowed to enter it again.

Q: Questions – “What do we do?” Bryson asked when they stopped a few feet from the door. “Just barge in and an start throwing questions at the dude?” Bryson’s way of solving things.

R: Ronika – Ronika is a gamer and owner of the club Black and Blue. Her real name is Wilhelma Harris. Her Aura is attacked by a KillSims and her Virtual life is killed. Wilhelma’s body is found wandering the downtown area in a hostile way. She falls into a coma with little possibilities of  living much longer.

S: Sarah – Sarah is one of Michael’s best friends even if they haven’t meet in the Wake. Her Aura in the VirtNet is described as a pretty face, long brown hair, tanned skin and almost no makeup. She is great at coding and hacking. She helps Micheal create programs like Hide-and-Seek and Cloak-and-Dagger.

Shady – Shady Towne is a branch of Old townes. It is where less mainstream affairs like digital-tattoo parlors and pawn shops lined a cobblestone road.

T: Tanya  – Tanya is the gamer which Michael tries to save from jumping off the Golden Gate bridge in the VirthNet. From their conversation, Michael first hears of Kaine, the trapped gamers, and the work of KillSims. She takes her Core out and jumps, taking Michael with her. It is believed that she died after the lift.

Tangents – A tangent is an artificial-intelligence program, complex and lifelike, with such a realistic intelligence. The tangents after a long time start to contradict their existence, with their instincts and start to Decay. Some people can’t difference a tangent from a normal gamer.

U: cUtter – Cutter is a player and owner of the Old Man’s Barbershop that is in Shady towne. His Aura is described as a Storybook troll, with a mane of nothing but turf of gray combed over his spotted red scalp; he is short and squat and ancient. He is know for knowing most of the information in the VirtNet. He tells Michael and his friends what he has heard of Kaine and sends them looking for Ronika.

V: VirtNet – The VirtNet is the  virtual network. It is also called the Sleep, while the real world is known as the Wake. “In the VirtNet you can go off to some nasty battlefield in the Civil War or to fight dragons with a magic sword, fly spaceship or explore the freaky love shacks.”

VNS – VNS is the VirtNet Security. They ask Michael to look for Kaine and the Mortality Doctrine. They place a tracker on him and his friends.

W: Weber – Daine Weber is an agent from the VNS. She is the one that asks Michael to help them find Kaine’s hideout. In exchange they won’t do nothing to his family and friends virtual life. She is described as tall with long black hair and wide-set, exotic-looking eyes, somehow she is gorgeous and terrifying at the same time.

X: neXt – “So,” he finally said, “what’s next? I’m Sure Kaine knows you’re here.” Michael wants to know what’s neXt in Agent Weber’s plan.

Y: eYes – “Something weird in the reflection caught his eyes, caused a stir of something horrible deep inside him. An awakening panic that felt like growing sickness.” Michael stares at his eYes in the mirror.

Z: craZy – “Michael couldn’t believe how nervous he was. They’ve done millions of crazy stunts, but now that so much was on the line, his knees were a little weak. Sarah, however, seemed in her element.” Michael and his friends going into Black and Blue.

Now that you know what the VirtNet is like, leave us your comments of James Dashner’s new series!