The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

In a future ravaged by solar flares, Earth's remaining population faces relocation to Mars, a desolate and monotonous existence made bearable only by the illegal hallucinogenic drug Chew-Z. Developed by Leo Bulero's company, P. P. Layouts, Chew-Z allows users to escape into shared, simulated realities of idyllic Earth-like worlds, featuring popular dolls known as Perky Pat and Walt. However, this fragile peace is shattered by the return of Palmer Eldritch, a reclusive industrialist who has voyaged to the edge of the solar system. Eldritch brings with him a new, more powerful, and potentially terrifying alien-derived drug called Chew-X. Unlike Chew-Z, Chew-X promises a permanent, inescapable communal hallucination, blurring the lines between user, dealer, and Eldritch himself. As users delve into the unsettling world of Chew-X, they encounter the "stigmata" of Palmer Eldritch—unsettling physical alterations and an unnerving sense of his presence within their hallucinations—raising profound questions about reality, free will, and the very nature of divinity and damnation.