A story about a drug that lets you relive memories is, at its foundation, a story about why people cling to the past.
Below is an inside look at the ideas, creative decisions, narrative foundations, and thematic construction that shaped the book.
The first spark came from one question:
“What if the most addictive drug in the galaxy wasn’t pleasure… but memory?”
A drug that lets people re-experience the moments they miss most,
the people they lost, the life they wish they still had,
is more dangerous than any narcotic.
From there, the world built itself:
addiction becomes emotional rather than chemical
crime networks revolve around nostalgia
law enforcement becomes psychological instead of tactical
families collapse not from euphoria, but longing
The universe of Hethydect is built around the idea that people will destroy themselves chasing what they miss.
The drug needed to be:
visually distinct
alien
instantly recognizable
easy to imagine on skin
The green glow symbolizes false life.
The black streaks represent corruption threading into memory.
Touch activates it, because memory is tactile, intimate, involuntary.
The drug was intentionally designed to feel biological, almost alive, because addiction often feels like something inside you that will not let go.
Trevor was built around duality:
commander and husband
protector and man under pressure
officer and witness to suffering
rational mind and stressed heart
He isn’t a “hero” stereotype.
He is a tired, flawed, deeply human officer who keeps going because stopping would mean admitting defeat.
His motivations were shaped by:
the collapse of people he loves
the emotional wreckage drugs leave behind
the weight of responsibility to citizens
the guilt of not catching Sage sooner
Trevor functions as the emotional lens of the story, a man who cannot detach himself from the damage he sees.
Paula wasn’t written as a side character.
She is a stabilizer, someone whose steadiness keeps Trevor from splintering.
Her presence brings:
emotional honesty
loyalty rooted in action
clarity under stress
empathy without fragility
Her relationship with Trevor is built on trust earned through shared danger, not romance tropes.
Sage is the opposite of chaotic villainy.
He is cold because the system rewards coldness.
He was designed to reflect:
the economics of addiction
the emotional starvation of an entire galaxy
a philosophy built around exploiting longing
the detachment required to run a criminal empire
He doesn’t want destruction, he wants control.
And Hethydect gives it to him.
The world building started with isolation.
Space stations are:
cramped
lonely
decaying
full of hidden dangers
emotionally claustrophobic
The T-3 craft was built as a functional, tactical environment, not sleek sci-fi perfection.
It reflects:
Trevor’s lifestyle
the crew’s exhaustion
the brutal practicality of their work
Every station and ship is an emotional mirror for the scene it supports.
Memories define people more than the present.
Drug addiction often comes from wanting to feel something that’s gone.
In Hethydect, memory is:
weapon
escape
emotional wound
temporary resurrection
temptation
The drug creates a galaxy addicted not to ecstasy, but to the past.
That theme dictated character arcs, environment design, and story pacing.
Trevor’s job isn’t to win.
It’s to try.
The universe of Hethydect is intentionally built without:
clear victories
perfect systems
easy solutions
Because the truth of drug epidemics, fiction or real, is that the “wars” are unwinnable.
Only people can be saved, and not all of them.
Trevor embodies the emotional cost of that reality.
The tone is:
procedural, but not cold
emotional, but not melodramatic
dark, but not nihilistic
fast-moving, but character-heavy
It blends sci-fi hardware with human heartbreak.
The pacing was designed to echo withdrawal rhythms:
tension
crash
calm
tension again
The book is structured emotionally, not just narratively.
At its core, the book asks:
“What would you give to feel something you miss?”
Every character answers that question differently.
Some survive.
Some don’t.
None escape unchanged.
