Black & Pink (I Am Mercury series - Book 9)

By Grant Piercy

The stage is set. The protest is planned. Alex Graves will present himself to the city of Chicago and the authorities in Grant Park. How will he and Control Z impact the world? This is the ninth and final novella of the I AM MERCURY series.

I AM MERCURY is a nine-part serial suspense thriller about visions of other worlds, the stories we tell ourselves, and the things we do for love. Each short novella in the series features a different narrator, a different lens through which to view the events of the series. As the story reaches its conclusion, forces converge on Grant Park in downtown Chicago, where a demonstration takes place that just might change the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grant Piercy
• Release date: Dec 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370219513

Grant Piercy

Grant Piercy is the author of THE ERASED SAGA and I AM MERCURY. He lives with his family in Columbus, Ohio.

Book preview

BLACK AND PINK

a novella

I AM MERCURY, BOOK IX

By Grant Piercy

Published by Grant Piercy at Smashwords

Copyright © 2017 Grant Piercy

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work, in whole or in part, in any form.

Cover art by Grant Piercy

Edited by Emily Zapp

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, organizations and products depicted herein are either a product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.

Table of Contents

dramatis personae

epigraph

(segue)

1. riot in the mind’s eye: mind control, mass hallucination, and the awakening of Control Z

2. bullet

3. vessel

4. lost soldier of order

5. waking

(segue)

about the author

Dramatis Personae

- Tom Stockton, a journalist [narrator]

- Hudson Isaacs, a student [narrator]

- Tricia Tierney, a learner [narrator]

- Sara, a seeker [narrator]

- Daz Turner, a radio personality [narrator]

- Alex Graves, a fugitive

- Betsy, a friend

- Chloe, an organizer

- Eva Mayhew, a sympathizer

- Tyrrell Garrett, a journalist

- Mr. Berlin, an agent

- Marion Olander, a patient

- Larunda Vor, a siren

epigraph:

"Never was there a time when I did not exist

nor you nor these lords of men.

Neither will there be a time when we shall not exist;

we all exist from now on."

– Chapter 2, Bhagavad Gita (5th to 2nd Century, BCE)

(segue)

So, how can we market this? Parham asked the room.

He walked in front of the projector, the line graph bisecting his face. The lamp from the projector was the only light source in the room, like a spotlight on a stage. His drab gray suit looked painted by the random infographic design of the slide on display.

A woman said, It’s the next stage of virtual reality. No need to put on a helmet or a visor. Your own personal parallel self!

Someone else spoke up. Safety needs to be a concern. That’s the big roadblock. People are going to think this is dangerous because it was engineered from the same chemical that knocked out... what, how many people?

We don’t want to talk about that. Let’s not even think about that right now, Parham responded. Lisa’s right—there should almost be a video game element to it. Traditionally, feel-good drugs that alter perception are heavily regulated, if not outlawed completely. But this is honestly not that different from picking up a controller and guiding the actions of a player. We’re not even going to link our product to the event in Grant Park.

After a few seconds of silence, a resistant voice said, But we need a safe way to deliver the experience that doesn’t require head trauma and months of...

What did I say? Parham asks. We’re not going to link our product to the event in Grant Park.

The voice of opposition was a man named Esqueda. Before he spoke, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His tie felt tight enough that it might’ve been strangling him. But people are going to know. We have the obligation to inform them of harmful side effects.

Listen to me. There will be no harmful side effects. Our best people are working on new iterations of MDRA-228, to the point where it will no longer be MDRA-228. It will be Redudrine. Or Revumox. Or Clarapril. It will be an experience unprecedented in pharmaceutical history—a clinically safe, mind-altering medication. It could be used for entertainment or it could be used for therapy, to treat depression, to treat insomnia. Can you imagine? But that’s what we’re here to decide.

Esqueda was a step away from outright revolt. Sir, we need guarantees to even be able to safely test any form our product takes. Think about it. In the aftermath of a major event...

A bunch of people went to sleep and dreamed, so what?

That’s not what happened. People died. Esqueda stood up in the darkness. He marched up into the spotlight of the projector, pointing at some plots on the graph. These numbers—in order to even get close to these numbers, we need to be able to safely test the product. Thus far, anyone exposed to this chemical combination is in danger of falling comatose—the only treatment seems to be...

We will take care of that, Parham responded.

How?

1. riot in the mind’s eye: mind control, mass hallucination and the awakening of control z

(by T.H Stockton, Chronicle staff writer)

The first thing you learn as a journalist is that you need to be objective. If there’s one thing the event in Grant Park taught me, it was that such objectivity is impossible. Every point of view is unique, tells a different story. What I know I saw with my own two eyes couldn’t be corroborated by any witnesses interviewed after the fact. Hissing sounds, tear gas canisters, smoke and vapor that smell and sting like ammonia and chlorine. Riot police poised to strike. And just when you thought it would turn into 1968 again, everyone stopped, and a great beating sound filled the world, thrumming like the heartbeat