The Baron Rogue

by Aaron Cook

Dr. Edward "Eddy" J. Malcolm is one of the leading scientists in the Manhattan Project, but greed and jealousy had other plans for his fate when a friend came to visit one day. After sustaining a head injury, Eddy's son Isaac, a neurosurgeon, tried to preserve his father's memory and knowledge by transferring all of it into a memory chip. To do this, he induced Eddy into a dream state that played back his life's memories during the procedure. Along the way, they discover some struggles that have long been hidden, and Eddy must relive his past in order to overcome them or be overcome.
In his comatose state, Eddy is placed into a dream in which he is drafted for the second Great War. Out of fear, Eddy creates a clone of himself that knows only war. But the cascade has only just begun. Because of his clone, named Macht, the world as it is known is broken, cold, and devastated. By the use of Macht's own "Induced Recruitment or Amnesia Grenades," Macht has found a way to capture everyone's memories and use them as a life source. Friend is foe, and foe is who? He and his brother-in-science Okami have slated a new world, and all they need to finish their plans is Eddy's mind. Can Eddy face anxiety incarnate-himself-or will he succumb to his own fears?