1. Prologue by DX Machina [Reviews - 2] (1749 words)
When I was writing Lost Change, for the first time I began to get into head of the character of D.X. Machina.

D.X. had shown up in "Malled" first, as a salesman the main character comes across. I meant it merely as an obvious pun on Deus ex Machina, and didn't really intend for him to become a recurring character. Then, while writing Lost in L.A., I found I had a need for a little Deus ex Machina to help the story along; D.X. seemed the person to turn to.

By the time I started writing Lost Change, I realized that D.X. might just be an integral figure in the little universe I was creating. But that begged the question—who was D.X., anyhow? What had turned him into a roving GTS distributor? Who did he work for—and why?

As I was writing Lost Change, I began to answer some of those questions for myself, if not for the reader. The Battle of Madison is alluded to multiple times in Lost Change, as is the sense of loss that pervaded D.X.'s existence.

Lost Change was not the story in which to delve into the events of D.X.'s life, however. That was a story primarily about Scott and Sarah. Instead, I filed the backstory away, unsure I'd ever get into it.

However, as time passed, I began to consider writing a story about the logical next phase in the lives of Scott, Sarah, D.X., and Teri—the GTS society phase of their lives. I had written a few stories like The Honeymoon that Wasn't and Voyeuristic Tendencies that featured them as peripheral characters, but I wanted to talk about their actual lives.

I realized quickly that I couldn't tell that story without telling the story of how Jake Thiessen came to be D.X. Machina. And so I began to flesh out the sketch of a backstory I'd written.

Madison is, in some ways, my most mature work and the one I'm most proud of. It is, of course, a macrophile story. But I like to think that the "action" is part of the story, not the raison d'etre. One can criticize the story if they want; it may or may not work on those terms—I'm willing to admit there are some hackneyed parts—but it was the work in which I was trying hardest to tell a story.

The story ends with a couple bombshells; one I intended from the start, one I realized halfway through the story was simply the way things had to be. I will leave it to the reader to decide which is which. At any rate, I have left the future open. I think there are more stories to tell about this universe. Hopefully, they are stories you enjoy reading. And if not…well, you didn't pay anything for this. Who are you to complain?

2. Chapter 1 by DX Machina [Reviews - 1] (2198 words)

3. Chapter 2 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2071 words)

4. Chapter 3 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2412 words)

5. Chapter 4 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2235 words)

6. Chapter 5 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2503 words)

7. Chapter 6 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (1791 words)

8. Chapter 7 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2864 words)

9. Chapter 8 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (3018 words)

10. Chapter 9 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2763 words)

11. Chapter 10 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (3313 words)

12. Chapter 11 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2449 words)

13. Chapter 12 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (4098 words)

14. Interlude by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (1057 words)

15. Chapter 13 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (1721 words)

16. Chapter 14 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2561 words)

17. Chapter 15 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2622 words)

18. Chapter 16 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2719 words)

19. Chapter 17 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (1613 words)

20. Chapter 18 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2204 words)

21. Chapter 19 by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (2432 words)

22. Epilogue by DX Machina [Reviews - 0] (965 words)