Contact High is an excellent short high concept science fiction story and while there are numerous aspects that make it work what stood out the most to me was the usage of color. The first two pages of the story are done in fairly strong colors, but the moment we cut to our protagonist in a full-body hazmat suit the color choice not only becomes more sterile in-universe like the medical facility he’s in, but the colors themselves become more more washed out, more lifeless. We the reader are made to feel off-kilter and uncomfortable just like our main character is in the environment. And once our protagonist strips off the suit, with action scenes beginning, not only his he himself once again drawn in bolder colors, but dynamic reds and blacks break up the monotony, culminating in red toned sequences bringing to mind blood and rage as he defeats an entire security team by himself. Raw, unrestricted emotion is shared with the reader, just as the protagonist’s body is unrestricted, and once reunited with his partner color takes over again, this time the vibrant rainbows of love, of pure happiness, of joy, of intimacy. Even as the two men are surrounded by guards (all colored completely in white without a single trace of color) they are glowing. Touch is emotion, and emotion is color.