New grydscaen Short Story in the Works
A new short story in the grydscaen universe is in planning which will feature the homeless teen hacker Rom in the Echelons slums in the Pacific Territories. This story will focus on the threats of pollution on the environment and on people’s health. With the chemical industry and big pharma pumping more chemicals into the air, the threat of coal and oil pollution, the attacks on EPA standards, drug companies, fragrence free workplaces and even chemical toxicity, it came time for grydscaen to comment on what is a threat to humanity and people’s health.
About the Illness Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)
In the recent years after Gulf War Syndrome was recognized, there are other known illnesses that still go unrecognized which are lined to Gulf War Syndrome. In particular Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Fibromyalgia and Electro Magnetic Sensitivty (EMF). Knowing people with these diseases which are not recognized and seeing them suffer, it was imperative that as a writer I lend my voice to their plight ad try to bring visibilty to their suffering.
About the Story
The story “In My Own Skin” will tell the story of one such character in the grydscaen universe who subjected to the pollution in the Echelons and the Zone and the devastation of the nuclear explosion in the Zone will tell his story of hell as he tries to survive and maintain his health as he fights for his life. Through the lens of a science fiction story we will look at the role of the government, health care providers ad the sheer hell that MCS and EMF sufferers feel using the grydscaen rich world as the backdrop of the story.
The Main Character Tetsuo from “In My Own Skin”
The main character from the short story In My Own Skin is Tetsuo. He is friends with Rom the homeless teen and also lives on the streets of the Echelons. Forced to live out in the open like many MCS people are faced with because they cannot live indoors due to chemical exposures they are sensitive to from everyday chemicals like carpet and pain that normal people can withstand, Tetsuo has a nomadic lifesystel trying to find a safe place to sleep and clean air to breathe. The story will go through a day in the life and the experiences and threats Tetsuo has to deal with to try to remain alive and safe in an environment where everything is potentially dangerous.
Dealing with MCS in the Real World
People with MCS are sensitive to chemicals. Things like paint, dryersheets, laundry detergent, pesticides and fragrences like cologne can cause severe reactions for those who suffer. They are constantly being bombared and have severe reactions that can be anywhere from hives, to rashes and breathing problems, to inflammation, anaphalatic shock, unconsciousness, coma and even death depending on the exposure. Those with EMF are allergic to wifi signals and electronics and can have shooting pains from a computer or cell phone just by touching a mouse or interacting with an electronic device. This makes living in the real world difficult and many people with MCS and EMF are forced outside and live a nomadic lifestyle trying to find a safe place with clean air. This makes living in apartments, working a regular job in an office difficult and even stores like the supermarket or pharmacy can be toxic and cause an exposure reaction.
Those with MCS are at threat in the real world but unlike Gulf War Syndrome which has been recognized, many doctors are still not aware of MCS and skeptical of it. Some people with MCS when they go to the doctor are given the somataform diagnosis which causes them to be at risk of being institutionalized as mentally disordered because the medical science does not believe MCS is real and say because they don’t react to normal allergy test that MCS sufferers are making it up. MCS reactions can be very dangerous and even cause stroke, shock or brain damage. Some MCS sufferers are on disability because the illness robs them of their ability to work and life like a normal person.
About the Writing
Currently in planning, “In My Own Skin” is in the worldbuilding and plotting stages. The Echelons will bet he backdrop of the story and will feature Tetsuo and Rom as the main characters. We will delve into the role of the SenseNet and the Corporation as the government and corporate bodies pushing chemicals that are toxic and we saw some foreshadowing of the story in the web series grydscaen: darkness.
We will be publishing work in progress updates for the story as it is being developed and hope to have more for you on it as we go making commentary about the role of the government, big business, chemical companies and those who suffer from MCS to bring awareness of the dangers of chemical exposures and the threats to people’s health.