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Lies turn deadly in this satirical graphic novel by author Tim Disney.The A.R.C. begins at the Concordia Center in the heart of the Amazon, where a who’s who of global elites from business, finance, fashion, entertainment, technology, and online activism have gathered for the Global Reinvestment For Tomorrow Conference (GRFT), promising to solve the problem of climate change once and for all. Very little problem-solving occurs before the GRFTers are infected with a lethal, highly contagious virus, dubbed Amazonian Recombinant Cytoneuropathy (A.R.C.). The A.R.C. virus has peculiar and unfortunate characteristics: it is wildly contagious but undetectable in its dormant phase; it is 100% lethal; and the kicker is … it’s activated by lying. This proves deeply problematic for a world drowning in an ocean of lies and misinformation. The GRFTers board their private jets and spread the virus worldwide. Chaos ensues.
The A.R.C.’s diagnosis is discomfiting for its accuracy. A pandemic of lying really is killing us, accelerated by the force multipliers of ubiquitous social media and AI. Yet for all of its acidity, the book runs with a just-perceptible strain of hope. As the characters stumble, confess, relapse, and reach for something like honesty, the story suggests that truth is not a purity test, but a shared aspiration. In a world where outrage is easy and trust nonexistent, The A.R.C. offers something more valuable than cynicism: the idea that our broken world can be rebuilt not by saints or saviors — but by flawed people trying to mean what they say. Maybe we are not doomed. Maybe honesty is contagious, too.
Tim Disney has produced, written, or directed multiple award-winning feature films and documentaries, which have appeared at Sundance, Telluride, SXSW, and other festivals. From 1990-1997 he served as Chairman and CEO of Virtual World Entertainment, an early pioneer of VR-based entertainment systems. He remains an active investor in media and technology. In the not-for-profit sector he has served as trustee or advisor to multiple institutions, including Southern California Institute of Architecture, California Institute of the Arts, The Museum of Contemporary Art, and The World Resources Institute. He currently serves as Co-Director and Curator of the community art space 2413 Hyperion. Tim lives on a hill in Los Angeles with a tortoise and a teenage human.
Jordan Weisman is a creative director, game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur with exits to Microsoft, Topps Inc, and Paradox Interactive. He is a NYT bestselling author, Peabody award winner, E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year PNW winner, Game Developers Conference Innovation award, inductee in the Game Designers Hall of Fame, and 100+ other specific design, production, or innovation awards. Jordan served as Creative Director for the launch of Xbox, led Disney’s Imagineering R&D interactive developments, founded a large augmented reality studio for Walmart, and has created long lasting game franchises such as BattleTech, MechWarrior, Shadowrun, Crimson Skies and many others. At Endless Adventures Inc he is currently focused on empowering others to create their own narrative videogames and RPGs with a no code authoring platform called Adventure Forge.
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