Erin Razor uses her coffee to get through the day, her motorcycle to get around Meridian City, and her constant research to survive what she - and most of the world - is pretty certain is a computer-generated reality.
Had she known a career in programming would put her in an office with Tyson, one of the Outsiders joyriding in her world, Erin might have sought isolation on a rural commune.
The mind-dominating system that controls the world now seems determined to force Erin to make friends with Tyson and his cohort of Outsiders. Erin quickly realizes she’s in a fight for her own mind as she tries to contain the havoc wrought by their ‘fun’, which starts with events as a seemingly low stakes date and morphs over their friendship into spectacles like Erin’s own live- streamed kidnapping.
Either she must resolve to absolve herself of the guilt of enabling these Outsiders and their deadly superheroic games, or else Erin will need to stand up to the system that has kept everyone, including the Outsiders, ignorant of the scope of its conquest to make any difference.
Erin is SO alive that the rest could be Puppets and we wouldn't notice. The scenes are made with love and attention to the mood.
All to please our Plot Overlord.
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I've read a lot of stuff here on scribblehub but almost nothing has ever been quite as suspenseful and intriguing at its peak. It's a true shame that even with all the buildup, the fascinating lore, the unanswered questions, the story was effectively ended just as the second act was building into the third. As much as I wish I could love this story, looking back a year later it's still one of the biggest dissapointments on the platform
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I absolutely love the idea of viewing a world of larger than life stories where the main character is actually not wanting any part in any of it. Constantly being roped into situations and conflict by otherworldly forces is just so very interesting of a perspective and I loved every part of it.
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What if there were entities that considered your world, your life, your very existence as nothing but a game?
Free Agent is a chilling superhero thriller, not told from the point of view of the heroes, but from a person affected by their madness. The setup reminds of classic tropes, but turns them on their head and injects real and terrifying stakes.
The writing is amongst the best on this site. Spelling and grammar are solid. The narrative is interesting, tight, and with a distinct sense of purpose. It reads like a published work, favoring long-term narrative over the usual shallow instant gratification prevalent in webnovels. The only major negative here is that the chapters sometimes feel like they're the result of larger chapters needlessly being cut into pieces to match a release schedule.
The characterization is decent. While none of it is outstanding, it is still a significant step up from the average. In the end though, this is not a strong, character-driven novel. The action, mystery, and plot take precedence over great character moments. The meat of the story is the mystery thriller aspect, with a completely average protagonist being overwhelmed by the events hurling her way, and struggling to deal with them while her entire life unravels around her. It is early still to form a final opinion on the story as a whole. This kind of plot tends to stand or fall with its resolution. For now, however, it is an edge-of-your-seat experience.
Hidden underneath the narrative, are some darker, more thought-provoking psychological-horror aspects. While these are gently touched upon, the writing rarely digs into them. This creates a nice mix of digestible and disturbing. Readers that want a more lighthearted experience can enjoy the writing as is. Meanwhile, if you want to be thoroughly disturbed, you can extrapolate on the written words in your own mind, and feel absolutely horrified at the harrowing conclusions you can draw.
In conclusion, this is some of the smartest writing on this site, and an absolute breath of fresh air in the otherwise stale superhero genre. You might enjoy this story if you:
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