Could we all be just "software codes" in a virtual world? In his novella "Smallchron-3", Daniel Francis Galloway takes us to the exciting world of "sci-fi", where the boundaries of reality merge with simulation, and reality mixes with illusion. The events of the novel take place in an imaginary future in which amazing technology has been invented that allows the simulation of an entire world, with all its details and inhabitants. Douglas Hall, an employee of the company that designed the simulator, finds himself immersed in a dark maze when his boss dies under mysterious circumstances. Hall becomes haunted by doubt and uncertainty, questioning the nature of his reality and the reality of the world around him. As he investigates deeper, he discovers a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to destroy both worlds: the real world and the simulated world.

كان "دانيال فرانسيس جالاوي" (1922-2008) كاتبًا أمريكيًا اشتهرَ بِرواياتِه في مجالِ الخيال العلميّ. وَقد خدمَ كَطيّارِ اختبارٍ في البحريةِ الأمريكيةِ خلال الحرب العالمية الثّانية، قبل أن يَتّجه إلى الكتابة بَعد تَقاعُدِه بِسببِ إصابةٍ تعرّض لها أثناء الخدمة. وَتُعدّ روايةُ "سميولكرون-3" من أشهرِ أعمالهِ، وَالتي أُقتُبِسَت في فيلمٍ سينمائيٍّ بعنوانِ "الطّابقُ الثّالثَ عَشَر".