The Parasite

Chapter Three of 21st Century Leviathan

21st Century Leviathan is a work-in-progress in the form of a serialized novelette. It’s taken a long while to return to the world of 21st Century Leviathan. But we are back. Readers, below is a summary of my novelette. For those who wish to revisit the serial or who are just joining, here is chapter one and chapter two, which now include audio. Chapter four will follow in May.

Summary

In the cutthroat corridors of Amethyst International, Randall, a lowly content specialist, stumbles upon a harrowing revelation—the global company she toils for is a sinister façade, concealing a ghastly scheme entangling 21st-century slavery, the specter of an AI takeover, and the grotesque commodification of human bodies. Navigating the twisted depths of corporate culture, Randall must confront the perverse cravings of wealthy fetishists, a psychopathic C-suite, and morally bankrupt middle management. Amidst the deranged landscape of the postmodern workplace, she grapples with her own desperation for survival.

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Photo by Sascha Bosshard on Unsplash

Randall, like most young people, once had dreams of greatness. No one who knew her in high school or even college would ever have imagined she’d end up in a cubicle working for a multinational conglomerate like Amethyst International. That she’d end up having to grovel to shady losers like Robert and Matthew while shoveling virtual shit alongside all the other overeducated shit-shovelers. But that was the way things were. She’d come to accept this, which was easier than railing against it like she did in her youth.

“A cubicle nobody,” Randall called herself on days where she felt as if the darkness of the world had beamed itself from outer space directly into her soul, etching itself into her for eternity. Those were the early days at Amethyst, when Randall still cared enough to cry herself home along the burned out potholed freeway. Now, she could barely recall who she once had been except when she thought about a moment in her life when everything changed.