Drive A

by Merritt Graves

In the near-future world of Drive A, people can sell up to 49 percent of themselves in IPOs to cover expenses like tuition, medical insurance and housing payments—all of which have become largely unaffordable for the middle and working classes. Cable Rostenfarm did so when he was twelve to escape a deteriorating, nightmarish public school system, and now works as an analyst for a human capital hedge fund, Navarium, that buys and short sells other people.

His first activist assignment is Traeger Logan, a disillusioned livestreaming star, who went public himself to avoid a medical bankruptcy, and who recently had a high rise jumping suicide attempt thwarted by a proactive group of his fans. Cable and his colleagues are tasked with rehabilitating Traeger, growing his subscriber base and increasing shareholder value.Cable’s high sincerity and trustworthiness scores are initially instrumental in convincing Traeger to go along with the make over. However, when they start falling, and Traeger’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Cable realizes there might be deeper pockets than his own on the other side of the trade.

Audible Audio

Published June 8, 2023

About the author

Merritt Graves lives in Los Angeles, CA where the alternative rock band he co-founded, Trapdoor Social, is based. The band collaborated with him on a soundtrack to his debut novel, Lakes of Mars, that can be heard here https://soundcloud.com/trapdoorsocial... In addition to playing music, Merritt enjoys reading, writing, hiking and gardening.