Nara, a Novel

Apate, a corporation in this absurd comedy in the tradition of Catch 22, is a shoe company under pressure from Wall Street to increase its profitability. Its leaders - a CEO who is actually a trained actor, a Chief Technology Officer who believes machines have achieved consciousness, and a Chief Financial Officer who is obsessed with expanding his vocabulary - decide to take a drastic step: sell off production to focus on advertising, its only real strength.

The company has been hired to build buzz for a top-secret injectable microchip called NARA. Although the chips are designed to function as digital wallets, Apate plans to transform the implantation into a fashion status symbol and devises a designer tattoo to publicize it. A user's unique identification code is a digitized scan of his fingerprint. As the launch draws near, the company grants Leonard Firefight, a cable news anchor with more airtime to fill than news to report, exclusive access to run infotainment advertorials.

Jason Sanderson, an interface designer who spends most of his time finding new and creative ways to display advertising on appliances, is also drawn into the launch. Join this cast of characters as they explore the role of advertising, personal identity, and cloud physics in this modern-day romp. Also, murder. And lawn maintenance.