Chapter Fifteen - The Axe-Wielding Astronaut

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The Axe-Wielding Astronaut

PCP

YOU FEEL invincible.
Not brave. Not cocky.
Invincible.
Like the laws of physics are suggestions, and pain is a rumor you’ve never heard.

PCP doesn’t ask how you’re feeling.
It doesn’t guide.
It takes.

Phencyclidine was meant to be an anesthetic.
It worked a little too well.
No pain, no fear, no filter.
The body keeps moving long after the brain should’ve called it a day.

You don’t trip on PCP.
You detach.
From thought. From self. From consequence.

It’s not a kaleidoscope. It’s a glass wall.
You’re behind it. Watching.
Sometimes you’re the god on the other side.
Sometimes you’re not there at all.

It kills empathy.
Not like a sociopath.
More like a machine.
A strange, cold mechanical drift where everything feels flat but urgent.

People scream on PCP.
Not because they’re scared, because they don’t know what fear is in that moment.
They’ll break windows with their bare hands and not notice.
They’ll walk into traffic.
They’ll fight a dozen cops.
All while completely, utterly numb.

It’s not strength.
It’s disconnection.

PCP messes with NMDA receptors. The ones tied to memory, learning, and perception.
So yeah, reality glitches.
You might forget your name.
You might think you’re a shadow.
You might think shadows are following you.
It’s not fun.
But it is powerful.

It’s called angel dust.
But there’s nothing angelic about it.

PCP has a reputation.
And it earned it.
Psychosis. Violence. Superhuman delusion.
Not always, but often enough.
And when it hits wrong?
You don’t just freak out.
You unhinge.

You lose contact with Earth.
Not in a floaty way.
In a “rip the steering wheel off the car because God told you to” kind of way.

So why in the flying f**k do people use it?
Because control is a cage.
Because invincibility is tempting.
Because the world hurts, and going full numb sounds like a win.

But numb isn’t peace.
It’s silence.
And silence, extended too long, becomes madness.

PCP teaches nothing.
It reveals nothing.
But it shows you what happens when the system fails safe.

No brakes.
No warnings.
Just raw, unchecked signal.

Some people come back laughing.
Others don’t come back the same.

PCP doesn’t ask if you’re ready.
It doesn’t care.

If it said anything, it would be this:

“Let’s see what breaks first.”