Mardi-Ellen Hill brings an entirely new world into the spotlight with her creation of the MEND™ Universe. MEND™, which stands for “music encode decode,” brings many new concepts at the forefront of our culture— A.I., cryptocurrency, blockchain, NFT, and the metaverse— into a young-adult entertainment space with a story that thrills as much as it educates. The story follows the Barringtons, a musical dynasty with a dangerous secret: their genetic makeup has a song encoded within it that could cause an international crisis if released. With the invention of a new technology, the MEND™ device, this song could be decoded by anyone— if they can get a Barrington to sing it. When the hunt for this powerful song leaves the international pop star, Rachel Barrington, dead, it’s up to her mother, Lily Barrington, to discover who did it and ultimately save the rest of the world. But will this search reveal more about her family than she ever wanted to know? As the hunt for her daughter’s killer continues she discovers all of the lies and a centuries-long conspiracy.

The original story, The Skeleton Score, serves two niches: it is a psychological thriller, hinging on complex characters and dangerous family dynamics. But it is also an education vessel that provides the fundamental knowledge of some of the most significant technological advancements with an emphasis on cryptocurrency, blockchain, and NFTs, and has a business model inherently built into the story. The story lays the groundwork for a wider MEND™ Metaverse where characters can be collected and traded in an online RPG. Upon completing the book the reader would scan a Q.R. code and receive an NFT of the playable character. They would then join a discord where they would be able to play as their assigned character. As they play with their group, they advance through three levels, all of which would reveal more about the story and allow the players more privileges within the community. The interaction between players would create a DeFi MEND™ marketplace, creation of digital currency through player tokens, and digital real-estate as players advance.

The MEND™ Universe has infinite possibilities, and the story works across several different mediums. Though initially imagined as a book series, it is easily transferable to a screen format, and a script for the first book already exists. Additionally, Hill has a 5-book plan for the series, allowing for future content in either form. The MEND™ Universe contains much more than just a story; it has all the elements of the fast-changing, new digital age that we are barreling towards.