Metaphysical Science Fiction

(T)here

2019

Genre: Literary speculative fiction


Sub-label: Science / metaphysical inquiry

A young chemist invents a drug that could lead to world peace. In lab experiments it transports the mind to a place of wonder and enlightenment. The pill will cost pennies to make. The world is ready to be changed. There’s only thing standing in the way….. humans.

Synopsis:

(T)here — A place where a parenthesis changes everything.

Author: Gary Marks

What begins as an experiment in enlightenment becomes a battle over who will control the future of human consciousness.

(T)here is a consciousness-expanding novel that asks what would happen if human beings were offered an artificial path to enlightenment in a world still ruled by money and power.

A drug invented by Dwayne Erman, an altruistic rogue chemist, allows for enlightening experiences in a hypnagogic state. But it's never quite life-changing because very little is retained upon waking except a fleeting feeling of expansiveness.

They call the drug Level B, because the hope is someday Dwayne and his chemist friend, Hillary, will find a tweak to the formula that will allow the experiences to be remembered permanently. That new, more effective drug would be called Level A.

When Hillary finds the formula for Level A, the little yellow pill suddenly allows whoever uses it to experience both realities at once — the enlightened dream state and the normal waking state. Existing in that new merged reality is a place they call (T)here.

Erman wants to sell this new pill for pennies, and allow everyone everywhere to experience it. He feels sure it will lead to nothing less than world peace. Hillary and their friend, Dr. Stabnow, want to help him do just that.

Will the drug lead to the next evolution of the mind? Or will powerful forces find a way to steal the formula, and use it to ultimately control the fate of the human race?