In Montraye, everyone has a button on the back of their neck that turns on pain. But only if they want to.

Most people turn it on when they’re in the middle of a terrible traumatic event that scares them and keeps them from ever pressing that button again.

People have been led to believe that pain makes you weak. I disagree.

You may think that the absence of pain means we live in paradise. It doesn’t.

People still get divorced. People still die. People still get cheated on. Babies are still born. People still get injured. Daredevils still do stupid things. People are still abused.

All these things continue to happen, just like in your world, reader. But they do not have to suffer the consequences of their actions as severely as you do.

Developing meaningful relationships is almost impossible because people can drop you without a second thought and have no pain or regrets. You also cannot_ _develop_ _trust people without pain because part of trusting someone is making yourself vulnerable to them and seeing how they react. Without pain, what is there to be vulnerable about?

The world is dull and monotone. This is why I value pain and keep it turned on. I want to experience life in its fullest, truest form.