The Golden Touch

The Golden Touch

Kingston Midas, a tech billionaire obsessed with wealth, was granted a powerful algorithm by a mysterious investor named Dionysus. With one touch, Kingston could turn any object or asset into solid, 24-karat gold. He celebrated as his penthouse filled with priceless metal, but his joy turned to terror when his food and water froze into hard, inedible bullion, leaving him starving amidst his trillions.

The ultimate tragedy struck when his young daughter rushed in to hug him. His hand accidentally brushed her cheek, instantly transforming the little girl into a cold, breathless golden statue. Heartbroken and desperate, Kingston fled to the Pactolus River and plunged his hands into the water, washing the curse into the riverbed pebbles. The spell broke, restoring his daughter and leaving him with a permanent lesson on the destructive nature of greed.

After the golden spell finally broke, Kingston stood shaking on the muddy banks of the Pactolus River, tightly clutching his daughter as if she might turn back into a statue if he let go. For the first time in his entire life, the tech billionaire didn't care about his stock portfolio, his fancy penthouses, or his trillions of dollars. All he could look at was his daughter's warm, smiling face and the fact that she was breathing again. He realized right then and there that all the money in the world was totally worthless compared to the people you actually love.

When they got back to the city, Kingston immediately started changing how he lived. He deleted the golden algorithm completely from his mainframe, making sure nobody could ever use that creepy curse again. Instead of hoarding all his cash like a dragon, he started donating millions to food banks, homeless shelters, and hospitals because he knew what it actually felt like to starve. He even traded his giant, lonely penthouse for a normal, cozy house with a backyard where he could just play soccer with his daughter.

His brother Thanatos: Greek personification and god of nonviolent, peaceful death

Father of Midas Gordias: a poor peasant who fulfilled a prophecy by arriving at Telmissus in an ox-cart to become the first King of Phrygia and founder of the capital city Gordium.

Mother of Midas, Cybele: mother goddess of fertility, nature, and mountains.