What Is the Exile Machine?
The Exile Machine is not a device. It is a wager built around collapsing civilizations, ancient machinery, human nature, and the possibility of proving an Old God wrong.
March 2026
Cyberpunk and the Identity Machine
One of the more unsettling things that occurs in cyberpunk fiction is the way dystopian culture begins to complicitly identify itself with systems that were never supposed to hold it. Not just labor. Not just data. Not just memory, surveillance, or consumer behavior. Identity. The self gets fed into something larger. A corporation. A platform. …
Did Liliss Break the Cycle, or Complete It?
The ending of Exile Machine may hinge on more than Liliss choosing Valentino over the world. If Liliss is no longer Liliss, the wager becomes a much stranger question about whether any being can escape its own nature.
Arkhelian Short Fiction Queries Are Open
Arkhelian is reopening short fiction queries on a limited basis. At least for now, this will not be a wide-open submission period. To keep the process focused, selective, and manageable, Arkhelian is accepting query letters only rather than unsolicited full manuscripts. What follows here is a high-level overview. Full details can be found: here. Writers …
Dead Records, Live Targets
(Read the story here first for free.) In ChromaSpyke, where cyberpunk and insurgency bleed into each other, a data heist is never just theft. It’s entry into a war over memory, guilt, leverage, and survival. Niko wouldn’t join a crew and make an orbital drop just to chase credits. Sure, credits are useful, but credits …
Cyberpunk Is Not Futurism
Futuristic, as if the word is automatically synonymous with better. Maybe writing cyberpunk for nineteen years has made me cynical, but “futuristic equals better” sounds less like insight and more like a 1960s slogan. A sales phrase to sell someone on an aerodynamic toaster oven. A shortcut for people who do not want to ask …
ChromaSpyke Preview: Default State
We’ve just launched a new serialized preview from Alexander Mharcei: Default State is now live as part of the ChromaSpyke universe. Told across multiple episodes, this release offers an early transmission from a new layer of mystery, with more to be revealed as the series unfolds. Readers can also expect lore breakdowns, discussion posts, and …
Signal // End of Suspension
As mentioned back in November, Arkhelian Studio was going to go dark for winter. We needed to reset some priorities, reorient toward a more creative direction, and go head-down on key projects. Fast forward to the present, and we’re happy to announce that communication is coming back online, with new work to share. Several projects …
Now Available Worldwide
Every independent studio starts somewhere. Arkhelian started on Amazon and Kindle. It was the right fit at the right time, and it gave us the space to focus on building our universes. Now, with stronger foundations and bigger plans ahead, we’ve expanded the reach of our stories far beyond where we began. Arkhelian titles are …
New Chapter: The Arkhelian Bookstore
We’re excited to announce that Arkhelian is launching a curated bookstore. At launch, it will feature fiction from our core universes: ChromaSpyke, Exile Machine, and The Twelfth Stephaniak. Soon after, we’ll open the door to trusted collaborators and carefully selected contributors. This will not be a free-for-all storefront. Every title carried will be chosen with …