The Immersion Universe: A Sci-Fi Series Expanding Across Strata, Media, and Artefacts
A System Gaining New Depth
The Immersion Universe is entering a new phase.
Not because it paused, stalled, or reset—but because it has grown new layers. New spaces. New ways of being experienced. What began as a written science-fiction series has expanded into a wider narrative environment, where text, sound, image, and physical artefact now work together to create deeper immersion for readers and listeners.
This page exists to establish Immersion as it is now:
a multi-layered sci-fi universe, told in Strata, experienced across formats, and designed to be entered from many points rather than followed in a single line.
Whether you are discovering Immersion for the first time or returning to explore it more fully, this is the central access point to the system.
What Is the Immersion Universe?
The Immersion Universe is a serialised science-fiction project by Sarnia de la Maré, structured as an evolving narrative system rather than a conventional novel series.
It unfolds through:
written narrative chapters called Strata
philosophical and conceptual prefaces
audio transmissions and spoken-word pieces
short-form video fragments
and physical artefacts marked with sigils
At its core, Immersion explores human emotion, artificial intelligence, memory, power, love, and inheritance. It examines how systems are built, how they fail, and how meaning emerges when control and care collide.
Immersion is not a closed text. It is designed to be inhabited.
The Strata System: How Immersion Works
Each narrative unit in the Immersion Universe is called a Strata.
A Strata functions as both a chapter and a layer. It usually contains:
a short philosophical or conceptual reflection
a narrative sequence following the characters
alignment with a wider thematic arc
Strata are numbered rather than traditionally titled. This reflects the way Immersion operates: as a layered system rather than a linear storyline. The numbering signals position within the universe, not priority or hierarchy.
This structure allows Immersion to:
expand without breaking continuity
introduce new entry points without confusion
support long-term narrative growth
Readers are not required to begin at the beginning. Immersion supports non-linear discovery, where meaning accumulates through movement across layers rather than strict order.
Volumes and Narrative Arc (High-Level Overview)
The Immersion Universe is organised into volumes, each containing multiple Strata. These volumes form broader arcs rather than self-contained books.
Across the early volumes, Immersion establishes a near-future world shaped by advanced AI systems, experimental human-machine integration, and layered governance structures.
Central figures include:
Renyke, an android navigating human society under observation
POS, an internal system whose role extends far beyond technical function
additional groups and entities that explore power, belonging, and control from different angles
Rather than focusing on spectacle, Immersion prioritises interiority: emotional cognition, ethical friction, and the slow destabilisation of certainty.
Later volumes deepen these themes, moving into questions of origin, inheritance, attachment, and what it means for an artificial being to experience loss, connection, and agency.
Expansion, Not Continuation: What’s New in the Immersion Universe
The current phase of Immersion is defined by expansion of form.
Alongside new Strata, the universe now includes:
A Dedicated Immersion Website
A central, focused space where the Immersion Universe exists independently as its own entity. This site functions as the canonical archive, narrative hub, and access point for all layers of the project.
Integrated Audio and Music
Original audio transmissions, spoken-word pieces, and music compositions now operate as parallel narrative layers. These are not adaptations of the text but co-existing expressions of the same universe.
Visual and Short-Form Media
Short videos and visual fragments offer atmosphere, tone, and conceptual signals—allowing immersion through rhythm, image, and suggestion rather than explanation.
Physical Artefacts and Sigils
Immersion extends beyond the screen through tactile artefacts created on reclaimed and found materials. These objects carry sigils that function as a visual language within the universe.
Together, these elements allow Immersion to be experienced not just as a story, but as an environment.
Sigils and Artefacts: A Physical Language
Sigils play a central role in the Immersion Universe.
Within the narrative world, sigils function as markers of identity, affiliation, memory, and resistance. Outside the narrative, they exist as physical artefacts—painted, layered, buckled, worn, and imperfect.
These works are created on reclaimed materials and often retain traces of their previous lives: texture, scent, patina, and irregularity. Some buckle as acrylic shrinks paper. Some smell faintly of old bookshops or archives. None aim for pristine perfection.
This is deliberate.
Immersion is concerned with systems under pressure, not seamless futurism. The artefacts embody that philosophy. They are narrative residues—objects that feel as though they have passed through the world they describe.
Audio, Voice, and Transmission
Voice is a key access point to the Immersion Universe.
Audio transmissions, spoken essays, and sound-based pieces allow the narrative to unfold through tone, cadence, and intimacy. These formats support immersion in ways text alone cannot, particularly for audiences drawn to atmosphere and rhythm.
Some transmissions align directly with Strata. Others exist as conceptual side-channels—thoughts, observations, or fragments that deepen the universe without advancing the plot.
Immersion does not privilege one medium over another. Each layer adds dimensionality.
How to Enter the Immersion Universe
There is no required starting point. Entry depends on curiosity.
You might begin by:
reading the earliest Strata to establish narrative grounding
entering through a later Strata to experience the universe in motion
listening to an audio transmission
encountering a sigil or artefact and following its trail back to the text
All paths remain valid. Meaning in Immersion accumulates through encounter, not completion.
The Strata grid below provides direct access to each narrative layer and will continue to grow as the universe expands.
A Living, Expanding Project
The Immersion Universe is not moving toward closure. It is moving toward depth.
As new sites, new formats, and new creative layers come online, Immersion becomes increasingly inhabitable—less a book to finish, more a world to return to.
You are not expected to keep up.
You are invited to enter.
All episodes are below