Pale Kings

Dean's got a bit of a problem.
Just three days into his stint minding the family shop and already there's a jagged hole in the wall where the new smart-drugs vending machine used to be, courtesy of the local psychopathic heavy. But as the clock ticks down on his father's return, hope appears in the guise of an enigmatic beauty, a girl stepped straight out of Dean's dreams, proposing a wild and improbable plan that could just change all their lives - maybe even for the better.
Pale Kings is a sharp-witted and comical journey into the crazy world of contemporary fine art, the illicit potential of virtual reality gaming, and the neurotic susceptibilities of robotic guard dogs.
This novella is the first of the Merrywhile books. Set in the near-future, this is an ongoing series of sci-fi stories - novellas, short stories and full length novels - with a loose chronology, but which can be read in any order. They involve various characters and their dealings with Merrywhile Industries, a giant tech company with ambitions to take humanity to the next level - whether it wants to go there or not.