Introduction

        "An Index Of Metals" was begun in the early parts of the 1990s as something called "A Brief History Of Radiothermics In Our Times."  That story was about someone named Lisa who eventually has sex with someone named IBM Jones and this may or may not cause the destruction of the universe.  It was a total and complete failure.  And so I threw it in the garbage.
        But then, some time later I had a brainstorm:   I resurrected "Radiothermics" and changed the main character to Kieth Alton, someone I'd been writing about off and on since highschool.  And I also changed the title to "An Index Of Metals".  And then I started the ball rolling in a bar.  And boy did it roll.
        Spitting on the Law of Gravity, it rolled right into the aether and then deep space.  (You'll know what I mean once you read it.)
        So I tried the story out on a group.  Two people left halfway through the reading.  A bunch of others were confused and offended and yelled at me.  One girl simply stared at me and said (in a very small, cute voice):  "....wow...."
        So, pleased as punch (I always like to pat myself on the back when I succeed at alienating my audience), I tried to find a publisher for "Index."
        Nope.  Alas, it turned out to be too long for the magazines these days, and way too weird.  And shortening it (which I tried) only diminished its impact, as well as all the resonances that build and echo between chapters.  Which, in many ways, is the whole purpose of the story.
        (Also, it just doesn't work as a novel.  It simply gets too boring.)
        By the way, this is more or less the full version of the story.  There are four chapters I didn't include, but they don't add anything to the overall effect of "Index."  In fact, they tend to subtract.  In all honesty, they just plain suck.  So they're gone.
        Oh, and also:
        When people read "Index" they invariably ask me what drugs I take.  Sometimes they're joking, most of the time they're not.  Occasionally, they offer to buy some off me.  And then I tell them I don't do drugs.  And then they're either amazed that I could come up with a piece of writing like "Index" without chemical assistance, or they just smile and nod and refuse to believe me.  Oh well.  Just thought I had to mention that here.
        And, ultimately, despite its whole anti-everything attitude, "An Index Of Metals" is a love story.  Ultimately, I think everything I write is a love story.  I think.  Ultimately.
        What can I say, I'm a Romantic.
        And it's very hard to be a Romantic in these last dying months of the 20th Century.
        Heh, heh, heh....
 

Brian Cotts.
 

"AN INDEX OF METALS"
You have two options:
You can view it as a single-page (100k+) text file: HERE.
Or, each chapter on its own page (recommended: loads quicker, creates an interesting ambiance): HERE.