The Protocol Series

The Characters

Book I

The Recurrence Protocol

Protagonist

Daniel Mercer

NIST Metrologist

Daniel Mercer monitors the most precise atomic clocks on Earth at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. When the clocks begin producing identical residuals for the first time in history, he recognizes a coherence event that shouldn’t be possible. His investigation takes him from NIST to Göbekli Tepe.

Expertise	Atomic clock calibration, frequency standards, precision measurement
Method	The data doesn’t lie. If the instruments agree, something real is happening.
Setting	Boulder, Colorado · 2024 · NIST, Göbekli Tepe, Karahantepe
Weakness	He trusts instruments more than people. The instruments can’t tell him who’s watching.
Arc	Four books. He follows the signal from a lab anomaly to the edge of what physics can explain.

Ally

Miriam Hale

Archaeologist

Miriam Hale is an archaeologist specializing in pre-pottery Neolithic sites in southeastern Turkey. She has spent years at Göbekli Tepe and knows the site better than anyone alive.

Ally

Claire Dolan

Investigative Journalist

Claire Dolan is an investigative journalist who has been tracking anomalous government spending on scientific infrastructure. Her work intersects with Daniel’s when the same budget lines that fund NIST begin pointing toward something else entirely.

Ally

Marcus Trent

Technical Support

Marcus Trent provides the technical infrastructure that keeps Daniel’s investigation running. His background in signals intelligence gives the team capabilities they wouldn’t otherwise have.