Frequently Asked Questions
What is this book about?
I could answer in many ways. This is a book about time and space, color and music, gangsters, cities, dreams, and drugs. You'll have to read to see!
Where can I read it?
This site contains some chapters of Colorshock. Go here!
Is it going to be published?
Yes–– hopefully by the end of September/October I will be done with test prints and it will be ready for consumption!
How can I support Colorshock?
You will soon be able to buy a published copy for yourself! Go here. You can also support by recommending it to people you know who would like this sort of thing.
Is there a sequel?
There is not only a sequel, there may be a sequel to the sequel. There will be at least one more book, which focuses more heavily on the Resonance and the City of All Cities.
How many chapters are there?
There are three "chapters"–– Summer, Fall, Winter–– though each contain many shorter sections.
What is synesthesia and why do I care?
Synesthesia is a phenomenon that is estimated to occur in 1 out of every 23 people. Even so, it is often misunderstood. Synesthesia is the crossing of two or more senses. It is not a disease or a mental disability, but is a different way of thinking. Some people with synesthesia taste words (lexical-gustatory), associate letters with colors (grapheme-color), etc. Most prevalently, I have music-color synesthesia, and sound-tactile synesthesia. If it were not for my synesthesia, this book would not have been written!
Why is the City of All Cities Black and White?
Spoilers.
Do you travel through time in the City of All Cities?
No. If you walk to a place in the "past" of the City, you cannot change the events of the future. Time is static. Different physical places have architecture from different times, as well as culture and people.
What is up with December 31st, 1999?
That is the center of the City of All Cities; the furthest date in the future. The district around December has a lot of wonky temporal things going on.
How large is LuxCultum? The City of All Cities?
LuxCultum is over a thousand stories high. No one has measured the City of All Cities, or found its boundaries, so it is assumed to be infinite.
Is LuxCultum part of a country? Are there other cities or towns around there?
No. LuxCultum (the cyberpunk city) is the only populated place. Because of this, the word "city" is synonym to "world". Same goes for the City of All Cities.
What is the government system in the two cities?
In LuxCultum there is a democracy with a mayor and other authority figures. However, people living in the Street Level (the poor) are not eligible to vote.
The City of All Cities appears to have no one government controlling all of the Eras.
What is the level of technology in the two cities?
In the City of All Cities there are radios, television sets, and early computers. Phones exist but do not work. Same with cars for the most part.
In LuxCultum, most of the technology is dependent on bitmites. They are very advanced.
What are bitmites?
Bitmites are teeny tiny nanomachines that you inject into your brain. They can organize your memories, connect to the cybernet (basically the internet), control your senses, heal your body, etc. Basically, you have a direct link to your conscious brain, and a better one with your unconscious. Bitmites are Artificial Intelligence, so they learn and adapt. They are said to be alive.
How are bitmites made?
No one knows! They copy themselves very quickly, so no one has to make more of them.
Will bitmites take over my mind?
Nope! The primary goal of bitmites is to learn what it means to be human. They attempt to reach this goal by living inside brains and observing passively. This is a goal that they will always strive for but never reach. Taking over a mind would get in the way of their function.
However people can "hack" bitmites, and make them mess up other people's brains.
What are credits?
Credits are the currency in LuxCultum. It is entirely digital. Even if you do not have bitmites, you can use your ID for exchanging credits.
Does everyone have an ID?
In LuxCultum, yes. There are no exceptions. Everyone is given one, which contains medial information and a rough profile of their personality and history. It is possible to forge fake IDs.
How much do you actually know about nano technology, AI and the speed of sound?
I know enough so that I can use them as plot devices, and flair for my settings. But I am no expert in the subject.
Can people control other colors besides red, green, and blue?
Yes but it is rare. There was once a small yellow gang, but they were quickly extinguished.
I thought yellow was a primary color.
If you do your homework, you will learn that yellow is a primary color of PIGMENT (as in dies, paint, etc) but the primary colors of light are red, blue, and GREEN. It is science!
How do people eat if there are no farms or obvious food sources?
In LuxCultum there are factories and greenhouses which supply the city with food.
In the City of All Cities, most people get food from scavenging in "time pockets"–– places which are frozen and cannot change. There are also farms and whatnot.
What is colorshock?
Besides the title of the book, colorshock is the drug on the streets of LuxCultum.
Where does colorshock come from?
Colorshock comes from a variety of sources, such as the aurora, or refracted light.
Why does Darc have horns?
Darc has abused colorshock for most of his adolescent years. Junkies tend to mutate, growing things like tails, horns, feathers, etc.
If you inject colorshock into a beast mask...
NO!!!
Are Blackshirts cops?
No. There are Cops in the upper levels of the city. Blackshirts are like cops, but they have resistance to color, only deal with the color gangsters, and don't have as many restrictions as cops do.
Who would win in a battle: a blackshirt or a white light?
Good question! A blackshirt has obvious advantages–– they have outside support, where as a White Light is an outcast. Also a blackshirt might have a real gun. However, if they fought hand to hand, a White Light would probably overpower a blackshirt, overloading them with color.
Why does it say Junmer, Julumner, Augustox in the first chapter?
In LuxCultum, the months are Janwinter, Febrinter, Marox, Apring, Maypring, Junmer, Julumner, Augustox, Septembrox, Octautum, Novembrox, and Decinter.
Don't worry about it.
Why don't I see more guns? I thought this was a book about gangsters!
Guns with bullets are extremely rare and expensive on the black market. However there are guns that shoot your color chi with as much force as a bullet, which can prove to be just as deadly in the right places.
Is everyone who lives in the Street Level a gangster?
Nope! The other people who live there are runaways and the poor. There are legitimate occupations in the Street Level, mostly working at clubs, restaurants, as doctors, and freelance hackers.
Who is Mad Max?
A Mad Max is a term for someone who was involved in the gang scene but has lost his or her color, but stays involved in the gang war. They are either working in the Black Market, or are in the upper levels, as drug dealers, smugglers, or sources of information. They go as Mad Max or Maxine (and use that identity) because they do not want to use their gangster name, in case anyone is still out for them.
What is Darc's sexuality?
Darc is pansexual (gender identity and biological sex doesn't affect your relationships) and probably has less sex than everyone thinks he does.
Who is the D'Capo Family?
They're rich. They live in the Upper District. Yes, it is Family with a capital F...
I don't understand anything that Path or Stori say.
Don't worry about it. Most people don't.
What kind of doctor is Lucifir?
He studied neurology and bitmites. He's not an official medical doctor, but does pretty well for himself (and anyone who is hurt!)
Why are the names so strange?
When people migrate to the Street Level, or join a gang, they often take on a pseudonym. It's a tradition. They are often unconventional names, which have altered spelling.
What is the White Room?
The White Room may be referring to the recording studios of the Resonance, the sanctuary of the White Lights, Opal's house, or something else entirely.