Going to Get the Job

The doors on the turbo hissed shut and the interior refreshment system kicked in. Calypso crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall. Soft music filled the little lift. The lone passenger sighed. She always considered that sound to be more irritating than soothing.

“Turbo-lift: music off,” she said. The music disappeared, and the hum of rapid elevation came to the fore. Little wall lights flickered in a nearly hypnotic pattern. Calypso began to daydream. She had served the Agency faithfully for over twenty years now. She had led her team for the last seven years since her predecessor retired early. They began their corporate assignments together, but eventually Felix had had enough. And now, she was the team’s Alpha.

The turbo-lift hummed as it came to a stop. The doors slid open and Calypso stepped into the corridor. She had been down this route several times before. She walked down a long corridor, passing several people as she did so.

“Good morning, Agency Team Alpha,” greeted several people as she walked. She returned their attention, even stopping a couple of times to exchange further pleasantries.

Eventually, she reached the end of the corridor which ended into an option to go left or right. She took a left turn and began the final stretch to her destination. On her right, large window allowed her to see across the city.

New Cairo, on the planet Scenari, in the Osiris system. Home of one of the largest intergalactic unions ever known: Nexus-Interlocutor Inc. [have I heard this somewhere??] But N-I Inc. was not free from overzealous competition. It had grown from corporate takeovers and mergers, and to maintain its security from being a victim of its own games, it power games, it had to utilize it’s espianoge wing: the Agency.

Some call those of Calypso’s profession “added security,” some “negotiators,” and some even “counter-terrorists.” But she and many of her ilk preferred to be called “agents.” The nutshell version of her citizenship package for faithfully serving N-I Inc. through the Agency was simple: the corporate union takes care of her interests, and she takes care of the union’s interests.

Besides, she couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of pride, ownership even, with this company. Just over fifty years ago, it was a Rank 5 company (according to Inter-Galactic-Common-Rank, or IGCR), on the bottom of the galactic scale. As such, they were forced to make risky investments and offer juicy citizenship incentives to join. Thanks to genius-level-and-beyond marketing schemes, N-I Inc. caused a crash in the citizenship market, which opened up new possibilities for upwardly-looking, ambitious young corporations.

There was a certain amount of pride to be felt for one who was a citizen of such a successful union. They had made something out of nothing. They defied the odds in doing so. And Calypso and her team had been a valuable part of that story of becoming. While secretaries of expansion engineered the corporate takeovers, those like her in the Agency “protected” and “promoted” those investments. The story itself was a revolutionary one, and she was an integral part of it.

N-I Inc. had finally broken into Rank 2 status as a union. There were a total of three Rank 2 companies, and only one Rank 1 company: Strato-Sphere. The Secretaries and Administrators were working on that one. It was a holdover from an age that was dying. Its governance was not that of a union, but rather a conglomerated hierarchy. Calypso figured that its days were numbered. It was going down, and she intended to do her part so that N-I Inc. would be there to snag the lion’s share of the market.

Calypso enjoyed the view as she continued down the slightly curving outer corridor of New Cairo Office, Scenari Division. They specialized in tele-locators. Only a few other companies dabbled in such things. And a few conveniently “folded” before they ever really could earn the label, “competition.” Nonetheless, New Cairo Office was the best at what it did, and that gave it an edge in the market. Arguably, it had the best researchers, staff, and financiers. As such, it was a significant contributor to its union, N-I Inc.

Calypso reached a door marked “Director of Negotiations.” As she stepped intentionally toward the door, it hissed open and she entered the ante-chamber for his office. The Gatekeeper sat in her hover chair, interacting with her holo-grid via her interface gloves. Waving her hands in the air, she dimmed the holo-grid. The Gatekeeper was the stereotype of corporate appearance. Plain suit with silver trim. Badge of identification. Colored glasses.

“May I help you, Agency Team Alpha” she asked.

“I have an appointment with the Chamberlain at 75.50,” she said, using the one hundred hour scale that was common on Capital Worlds. “I know I’m a bit early. No hurry.”

The Gatekeeper stood and walked to the wall. The press of a button opened a panel that revealed a retinal scanner. Familiar with the process, Calypso stepped forward to be scanned. A moment later, a green light signaled an identification match.
The Gatekeeper said, “Chamberlain told me to send you in once you arrived.”

“Thank you.”

“Allow entry: Agency Team Alpha Calypso” the Gatekeeper announced. The door to the main chamber opened and Calypso entered.

Sci-Fi Spirituality?

Remember a movie called Powder? It's about an albino who could use the totality of his brain. He was more "fully human," if you will. That's what made him a "spiritual" being. Great flick.

Anyway, I had thought of using religious parlance as if some sense of "God-Presence" were common place. (Could it be that the existence of "God" has been "proven"? It is sci-fi after all.) In this setting, dualism is out (which causes its own problems). Since fully human and fully divine are considered to be two sides of the same coin, psychic ability is considered to be a sign of call to priesthood. (It's the whole gifting/calling thing.) This may very well create a caste and have its own dark and violent side (which of course challenges the whole foundation of the religious orders).

Target Length

When I was a teenager, I used to read a series of books entitled Phoenix Force. It was about a group of US government anti-terrorists. I suspect those books will have a bit of an influence in what I do with this.

On of those influences is going to be on length. I don't want to do a work of collosal proportions. I would rather do a series of small books. My target length will be about 125 to 150 pages. Sometimes, less is more.

"Rough" Draft, and I Mean "Rough"

I just re-read the post below. It's amazing what a little time away from my writing does to how I read it. Good grief is it "rough." It sounded much better when I originally posted it. It moves very quickly and the language needs a lot of tweaking.

So, I'm now posting a fair warning: prepare for the messy to happen all over the place. Mostly, this is about the storyline first. Then the polishing will have to happen.

One thing I need to watch for, though, is that my writing tends to be very "character-driven." (This was noted to me by a friend a few years ago.) By that, I focus a lot on the characters and not much on the setting. I like dialogue a lot. I'll need to work on balancing out my work in this area. But, that probably won't happen much until the polishing phase.

Loki and Calypso in the Command Pod

Multi-colored lights flashed on the virtual control panel hanging in the air before Loki. Using the sensor glove, he slid the appropriate galactic files into the calculations module. His task at hand was routine. He should not have been having as much difficulty as he was.

Another negative beep sounded from the console.

Loki rubbed his brow and leaned back in his seat. As he sighed in frustration, the hatch opened.

Calypso sensed his disturbed state and closed the hatch behind her. As she slid into the pilot’s seat, she did her best to pretend she had not noticed. “Are the astrogations ready?”

“No, sorry. I’m having difficulty focusing right now.” Loki returned to his virtual screen.

“There is no hurry right now. As long as we get the calculations in a timely matter.”

Loki flipped off all local monitoring devices, creating secure space. He sat silently for a moment before speaking. “Calypso.”

“Yes,” she replied coldly.

“Something’s been bothering me.”

Here it comes, Calypso thought. “You know we are not allowed to discuss our feelings around missions. It would cause unnecessary problems for not only you, but me as well.”

Loki turned to face the pilot’s chair. “I know, but I need to talk now.”
“You need to wait until you see your debriefing counselor.”

“I need to talk to someone I trust.”

Calypso turned in her chair to face him. The emotional anguish on her ex-lover’s face was evident. She couldn’t turn him down. “Okay, but it goes no farther than this room. Especially not to the debriefing counselor.”

A moment of gazing. All of the ship’s noises seemed far louder than normal in the silence.

“What’s wrong,” Calypso said finally letting out her compassion for him.

Loki buried his head in his hands. “I think we’re wrong. I think we just killed a whole lot of innocent people.”

“They’re pirates. Pirates aren’t innocent people.”

“Okay, maybe they’re not completely innocent.” He looked up at her, “But I don’t think they were the guilty of the raids we executed them for.”

Shock overcame Calypso. It was as if her greatest fear had just come true. “What are you talking about Loki? I was given the report of their guilt directly from the Chancellor herself. The Agency’s intelligence reports are high-quality information. According to the information, these pirates are guilty of the raids. There is no reason to believe that they would have made a mistake.”

“That’s the problem,” Loki’s voice began to raise, but he quickly calmed himself. “Look at this information that we stole from the pirate database.” Loki turned toward his virtual panel, loaded in his own password, and drew out information for the holo-screen. “I know. We are always supposed to destroy all pirate databases to prevent tripping universal info transferal links that would send their info to an undisclosed location. But, before I did so, I took the risk of making a copy. According to their own records, they were ‘on vacation’ at Asgaard Station. They weren't anywhere near the crime scene. See, it’s right here.”

Calypso looked at the information that Loki pointed to. He was right.
She shook her head. “This information could have been forged in case of capture…”

“No,” he interrupted. “They all know that all their data will be wiped. There would be no reason.”

Calypso’s legs lost their strength and she sat back down in the pilot’s seat. In a half-daze she murmured, “Why didn’t Intel pick that up?”

Loki reached over to take her hand. “Calypso, I think they did. There’s no reason they shouldn’t have. I think they lied to us.”

With those words, tears came to Calypso’s eyes. Loki leaned forward to take her head on his shoulder.

All those years in service to the Agency. How many times had they been lied to? How many people had they taken in who were not guilty. How many supposed “criminals against the state” had died needlessly? Was there any truth at all to be found in what they had been told? Was there anyone out there they trust now?

A Bit About the Setting

++All humans, no aliens.
++No laser beams; only ballistic-types.
++No personal teleportation equivalents.
++Some sort of warping-way is necessary, lest everybody die on long trips from age.
++AI and droids are a must.
++Unsure about cybernetic enhancements, but not sure why not.
++Psychic/spiritual stuff will be in there, but not sure how to do it yet.
++Citizenship is primarily non-local. One choses to become a citizen of an nation/organization/tribe and pays taxes to it based on the "Incentives Plan." These plans are full of various benefits and responsibilities, along with rules and regulations that must be followed. Somehow, there is "Universal Law" that supposedly governs the individual Nation Corporations.
++Local regions/colonies are governed by the Nation Corporations, with an acceptance of non-citizens as being tourist-like.
++Cloning is also up in the air.

Character Design

You may be thinking after this, "Hey, you have this neat idea for a story, so why are you so hung up on the visuals?" Well, because I think the visuals are not only important, but inspiring. As I start to throw out some pics, I can envision better what is going to happen and how it will happen.

I decided I needed some character sketches to get a sense of what the main characters will look like. Obviously, the focus is on attire here. The following have been created by using Hero Machine 2. Lot o' fun. It's a quick and easy way to start.

And in case you couldn't figure it out, I may name a character Loki.

Standard Look:


Exploring:


In Space:


Jumpsuit:

Gotta Have Gear

I believe that one of the keys to good sci-fi is slick gadgets and gear. So I started toying with the technical level of the setting. Of course, all the images posted here will be of a "conceptual" nature. Final revisions would have to be done to make them "original."

Playing with some pics has thusfar led to this:

* * * * * * * * * *

Name: Quill-Fire Mk VII Pistol
Description: The ammunition for this weapon is a needle-like shell typically loaded with phosphorous tips. Because of their size, they are capable of accelerated rapid fire. Their mini-warheads add a minor explosive element. The weapon has two modes: rapid- and single-shot. Rapid-fire mode sprays a stream of single “quills.” Single-shot mode shoots a small cluster at once. This is a prized weapon especially for combat inside starships because of the limited damage it does to structures. Alternative warheads include various poison-tipped quills. For “take down” procedures, Neural Incapacitation Poison (NIP shells) can be used. However, because of their frailty, only phosphorous tips are effective against even the lightest body armor. Electro-Magnetic Pulse warheads are available to combat AIs, droids, and drones.

* * * * * * * * * *

I like the way doing this sort of thing is helping me to "feel" out the universe I'm going to write about.

My Writing Style: Drip of Consciousness

The last time I sat down to write something in the sci-fi genre, I was in high school. I know the manuscript is somewhere in my parents' house, but I think I would be afraid to see it. I would probably think, "what was I thinking?" What I am about to write will surely be quite different, and maybe even a bit better. But, what I wrote so long ago I wrote because I was passionate about the story that I saw unfold in my imagination. I wrote from where I was at in life. Hopefully, that won't change.

So here's the basic idea as it stands now:

The main characters in the story work for an "agency" (whatever that means). Their job is to hunt the terrible, nasty pirates that interfer with corporate and "deal" with them accordingly. In the midst of the story, they will discover that the story by which they have lived their lives in the employ of their agency has been thoroughly "filtered." They enter crisis. If they continue with the agency, they will never be able to live with integrity. But, if they leave the agency, they have to admit to themselves that the entire meaning of their live thusfar has been based on a lie.

So the theme of the story is that there are many perspectives into reality, and these various truths form the basis for our sense of purpose in life. But what happens when all of that unravels? How do we find meaning in life when life has proven itself to be meaningless? These are the questions that this story seeks to address. My current humble task.

Who knows how often I will get to update this. I may write in spurts. I may just start it up and work right through it pretty quickly (highly doubtful). I'm sure a lot of this will be more "thought" oriented than "story" oriented (much like this post). I might need to post some conceptual graphics as well. Visuals help to convey the feel.

Wish me luck!