The Midas Protocol
- Details
- The Midas Files
In 1983, brilliant Unalco researcher Dr. Lawrence Bingham and his wife are murdered, and Bingham’s greatest...
Ideas don't always become novels. Sometimes they become essays, reviews, observations, conversations, or simply stories worth sharing.
Scratch Magazine is the editorial home of Scratch Writing—a collection of articles exploring storytelling, hidden history, emerging technology, films, humor, and the creative process. Whether you're interested in the lore behind The Midas Files, the future of artificial intelligence, a great movie recommendation, or a laugh at the day's absurdities, there's always something new to discover.
Explore the channels, follow your curiosity, and enjoy the journey.
THE PEARLY GATES — In what theologians are calling the most significant change to the afterlife since somebody decided clouds needed harps, a recently deceased Ohio man was shocked to discover that eternal salvation apparently now operates on a subscription model.
Read more: Man Arrives in Heaven, Discovers Eternal Life Now Requires Monthly Subscription
Every once in a while, ancient technology makes modern technology look a little less impressive.
Read more: TechGnosis: Roman Aqueducts - Watering An Empire on Gravity
MIAMI — In a radical departure from current medical opinion, common sense, and several basic rules of chewing, the Tennis Ball Nutritional Approach® has become the latest diet craze sweeping Hollywood.
Read more: The Funny Newz: New Tennis Ball Diet Sweeping Nation
I still remember sitting in a dark movie theater in the summer of 1977, clutching my popcorn as the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” appeared on the screen.
Read more: Cool Filmz: I am watching Star Wars in Machete Order and It Changes Everything
By Michael E. Fossum, Texas A&M University
Boeing’s crew transport capsule, the Starliner, returned to Earth without its two-person crew shortly after midnight Eastern time on Sept. 7, 2024.
Read more: Tech Gnosis: Boeing’s Starliner Returned Without Its Crew. What Does That Mean for NASA?
Caroline Friday is twenty-one years old in December 1989 and lives with her family in Pittsburgh’s North Hills. She comes from a relatively comfortable upbringing, but she is broke, directionless, and determined to prove that she can build a life without relying on her father or the expanding family restaurant business.
Read more: Character Sketch: Caroline Friday In The Midas Protocol
Hank Raglan is a 24-year-old materials engineer from West View, a working-class suburb north of Pittsburgh. The year is 1989.
Read more: Character Sketch: Hank Raglan In The Midas Protocol
The Scratching Post is Matt De Reno’s personal corner of Scratch Magazine, featuring author updates, creative reflections, Pittsburgh-rooted storytelling, house-project avoidance, writing life, book news, and friendly notes from the world behind The Midas Files.
Bingham’s Notebook explores the lore, characters, artifacts, hidden history, timelines, and behind-the-scenes mythology of The Midas Files, Matt De Reno’s Pittsburgh-rooted sci-fi thriller series about ancient power, impossible technology, and dangerous secrets.
Cool Filmz is Scratch Magazine’s movie and TV room, featuring essays, reviews, lookbacks, and story-minded reflections on sci-fi, thrillers, action classics, pop culture, character arcs, genre storytelling, and the films that shaped Matt De Reno’s imagination.
The Funny Newz is Scratch Magazine’s humor section, featuring fake headlines, sci-fi satire, UFO nonsense, cryptid chaos, ancient-alien absurdity, local parody, bad technology, and ridiculous reports from a universe that probably should not be trusted with advanced tools.
Quantum Soup explores strange science, future technology, space, AI, cybersecurity, fragile systems, hidden knowledge, and real-world ideas that sound like they escaped from a sci-fi thriller — all through the curious lens of Scratch Magazine.
Step into The Midas Files, a techno-thriller series where quantum mystery, ancient power, corporate ambition, and otherworldly secrets collide. Start the journey with The Midas Protocol: Midas Files Book One by Matt De Reno.
Buy on AmazonIn 1983, brilliant Unalco researcher Dr. Lawrence Bingham and his wife are murdered, and Bingham’s greatest...
The Gold Box was only the beginning.
Ten years after the events of The Midas Protocol, Hank Raglan...
The labyrinth has opened.
Hank Raglan has survived the impossible, but survival has come at a...
The Gold Box was only the beginning.
More than ten years after the events of The Midas Protocol, the...