Preparation 162: Giving You Back The Time You Never Had...

By Jason Werbeloff

Preparation 162 is the third episode in The Solace Pill trilogy.
-----
Three years after The Fall, the world is crumbling, ruled by the ruthless Body Integrals. Those who took Anders’ batch of Solace Pills are now Runners, lost in the depths of Solace.

Ceres and George work to find a cure; a way to wake the Runners and prevent themselves from drifting into Solace. Hunted by the Body Integrals, avoiding the Runners, and forced to reset their memories weekly, Ceres and George must develop Preparation 162 before all is lost.
-----
The Solace Pill series includes:
* Solace Inc
* Solace End
* Preparation 162
* The Solace Pill (Omnibus Edition)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jason Werbeloff
• Release date: Oct 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311731302

Jason Werbeloff

Jason Werbeloff is a novelist and philosopher. He loves chocolate and his Labrador, Sunny. He's interested in the nature of social groups, personal identity, freedom, and the nature of the mind. His passion is translating philosophical debate around these topics into works of science fiction, while gorging himself on chocolate. **Amazon author page - http://amazon.com/author/jasonwerbeloff **Newsletter - subscribe to get 'The Solace Pill' free, as well as VIP access to Werbeloff's latest fiction: http://smarturl.it/werbeloff **Facebook and Twitter - follow Werbeloff for release date information on upcoming novels: http://www.facebook.com/solaceseries @JasonWerbeloff **Website - want to read about the philosophy behind the fiction? Take a look at: http://www.jasonwerbeloff.com **Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7340789

Book preview

PREPARATION 162

Episode 3 of THE SOLACE PILL

Jason Werbeloff

Preparation 162

Copyright: Jason Keith Werbeloff

Smashwords Edition

Published: 24 October 2014

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Books in The Solace Pill trilogy

Solace Inc

Solace End

Preparation 162

Omnibus edition: The Solace Pill

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Other work by the same author

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

Socrates

Prologue

27 May 2254

The guards let us bury him under the big tree two blocks from the prison. It was strange – burying someone, not pulping them. But Ceres said it was the right thing to do. The tree would be a little greener for Caleb.

He wasn’t heavy to carry. There was almost nothing left of him at the end. He was like a bird. Hollow bones, ready to fly.

Kore, I miss you.

George

Chapter 17

2256

Ceres knew they were watching him. Those empty windows, empty faces. They milled about him, shouting nothing into his eyes.

They know, he thought, they must know.

But there was nobody behind the broken glass. The vagrants in the square continued their daily business, oblivious of him. A woman squatted in the corner beneath a windowsill, urinating comfortably.

Do you know, Ceres wondered, that I once stood there? His hands were cuffed back then, but they were free now. Almost.

An old man walked by, brushing Ceres’ shoulder. The man’s arms were strong and thin, welt-dotted. The woman stood, and lumbered back to what looked like her home, a blanket and a box.

How different this all looked back then. The windows gleamed with a totalitarian shine. Shattered now.

The old man leaned over to the woman. A hand on the soft of her back, he whispered something gentle in her ear. The woman looked up into the old man’s face, her chapped lips searching for his kiss.

Ceres bent to open the brown-leather box at his feet. The rusted latches snapped open. The vial of blue liquid trembled between his greasy fingers. The liquid flickered mercurially behind the glass, as he held it up to the cloudy day.

Sorry it took so long, Ceres said, as he unplugged the top of the vial.

*

12 Sep 2253

I don’t know whether you get my letters, Kore. I don’t know whether you’re alive, or how you are. But I have to keep writing. It’s been over six months since I saw you. Each day is long.

I’ve managed to befriend one of the guards, Pedro. He says that he gives the letters I write, to the warden at the woman’s prison to give to you. But why don’t you write back? I miss you. I miss you.

Ceres convinced Pedro to give us a basketball. I know it sounds silly, but we had such fun. We put a hoop up on one of the buildings in the square, and ran around like Aimee and Jeremy used to when Caleb read them nursery rhymes. Some of the guards joined in, and for a time, it was … peaceful like.

Do you remember those days, Kore? They seem so long ago now. Another lifetime, after yet another lifetime. When everything was different.

I have to go now. Ceres is calling me for another game – nobody can ignore the deafening sound of Ceres bouncing the ball in his cell. I’ve learned to take joy where I can find it, so