Friday, August 31, 2012

Spanner 8.2: All in the Cards

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 8: Rip Her to Shreds
Part 2: All in the Cards (Final Revision)

14 september 2014.
bainbridge island.
A man’s voice speaks through Drusilla’s spectacularly robed body. He is not man but god: Ra, leader of the Nine who make up the One God incarnate as America. Though her body channels the god’s voice, the god channels Drusilla’s frustration. He speaks her words to their adoring disciples.

“It offends Us that she whom We have chosen should scorn Us and her role in Our mission of transforming Our glorious Remnant into the Sixth Men whose destiny it is to reclaim the solar system for Man and conquer the kingdom of space. She now consorts with the idea of turning her devotion from Us to the Angel of Chaos.”

Horrified at the very idea, the disciples gasp. “Spanner?

“The Angel of Chaos has taken flesh in the image of Lilith, evil angel of lust. His chosen fleshly vehicle partakes of descent from the lowly native race and is of a lineage of black magic. Our chosen is of the lineage of Hathor. Her lineage must not be compromised by the power of Chaos. Do whatever you must.”

A disciple asks, “Holy One, what should be done with the ones who attacked Your chosen?”
“Reno Corson is a beast masquerading as a man. Tonight he will be dead.”

shira’s apartment. Someone knocks on the door. Mikan stops playing the piano. Catalina runs up to bark. Shira walks up, pets Catalina, takes a peek through the peephole, puts on her robe, and opens the door.

Ariel Shield wears a modest black dress, an ornate black-and-silver jacket, a bowler hat, and a smile. “May I come in?” Shira lets her in. She lets Catalina smell her, then pets her. “Please make sure you lock the door behind you.”

“This has something to do with Leila, doesn’t it.”

“I saved her. Oliver thought he was saving her. Now he’s raving about someone he’s calling ‘Slender Man.’“

Shira looks at her strangely. “You mean as in the Darknet creepypastas?”

“It’s based on a legend of Nazi Germany. The legend is true. It’s closely connected to the Beckets, and thus their precious Conservative Revolution.”

“So what did he have to say?”

Shira hears her phone signal an upload.
Oliver: (panicked, pacing) Slendy’s real, man! I saw him! You were there! You stole Leila right outta his hands! You shot at him!
Ariel: He was a super soldier—
Oliver: You ain’t fucking getting it, man. Nobody who sees him survives. All those people taping and blogging about him? They’re all fucking dead! (paces) Shit, shit, shit. We’re all fuckin’ doomed!
Ariel: Are we...

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Spanner 8.1: Black Caturday

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 8: Rip Her to Shreds
Part 1: Black Caturday (Final Revision)

Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel
is the headlamp of an oncoming train.

anonymous

13 september 2014.
dreamspace.
The beastman chases Leila. If he catches her, he’ll rip her to shreds with his teeth and eat her. She runs as fast as she can and tries to avoid him. Her body is covered in blood from the wounds he has carved into her flesh with his fangs and claws. Every time she thinks she’s lost him, he attacks her again without warning.

Several times, she wakes up screaming. She tries to sleep again, but the nightmare only continues from where it left off. Reno Corson, come back from the grave for revenge, continues to rape her again and again—

hospital. No one comes to see Leila. Surely her grandfather is keeping her friends away from her just to punish her for defying his will. The more she knows about Walter Brinkman, the more she hates him. At times, the hate threatens to consume her. She fights it back.

She struggles to remember who raped her. He treated her viciously. As he raped her and beat her, he ranted endlessly about how woman is a danger to American manhood. Reno? Or Frank?

Oliver wasn’t being kind when he rescued her. He believes Shira killed his father. Now Shira’s taking her away from him, and he's freaked. She wishes she had delivered the bomb herself. Her mother must have sent it, trying to protect her. For a moment she hates her mother for not protecting her from Oliver and Reno this time. But reason prevails: the Governor uses her, Oliver wants to enslave her, Reno wants to rape her, Frank wants her dead, Drusilla...

Silently she swears she will find some way to destroy them.

Despair and hatred seep through her body, consume it, caress it, fills it with hideous blackness. She tries to shock it away, but remembers the last bed she destroyed that way. She gains control of herself, pushes it back slowly, reclaims herself from the darkness.

The memory of Shira’s kiss touches her lips, her body. The darkness flees. Leila sighs in relief. She won’t turn evil. At least not now.

copco bremerton. It’s almost a formality. Shockley intercepts Shira and hauls her into interrogation. Sparks is there with her; Kowalczyk watches outside, eagerly anticipating whatever Shira will pull. Sparks begins the questioning with a formality. “Now if you’ll help me here, maybe we can catch the motherfucker who did this to Leila.”

Shira stares at Shockley. A bitter tone creeps into her otherwise chilly voice. “Princess, you know what rape really is?”

Shockley tries to shout her down; Shira silences her with a hard glare. Sparks asks calmly, “So, then, what is it, really?”

“Terrorism, that’s what.”

Shockley slaps her forehead and rolls her eyes. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Seriously. Rape is defined as terrorism against women. It’s official government policy in the Caliphate. Now the problem with terrorists is, they’re trying to be superheroes. They got the contempt for women that Superman used to have for Lois Lane, only worse. You can practically hear ’em sneering, ‘We’re heroes and you’re not.’ But wait — it gets better than that. Terrorists are fanatical dualists committing their dirty deeds in the name of the Absolute. To rapists, Woman is the Devil out to unman Man, so Man must relentlessly retaliate against Woman with maximum terror — rape, and worse.”

“And this explains what Reno Corson did to Leila.”

“Him, Ollie Thorwald, and their gangster friends.”

Sparks rolls his eyes. “Ollie’s here, by the way, raving about Slender Man.”

Shira looks strangely first at Shockley, then at Sparks. “You know that’s just a net.meme, J.T.”

He shrugs. “What do I know.”

On the other side of the window Kowalczyk and Perry stare wide-eyed at each other. Kowalczyk asks, “You just hear what I heard?”

Perry narrows her eyes. “Sounds crazy.” She goes into the interrogation room to announce, “Hey, guys, we just found Reno and his gang. Looking like they was napalm bombed.”

“Looks like somebody already got him,” says Shira. Sparks laughs.

Outside, he says, “I think I need a break from this police stuff.”

Shira asks, “Can I buy you donuts and coffee?”

“Excellent idea.”

“I know this place right across from the hospital.”

“So let’s go.”

Sparks and Shira leave together. Kowalczyk calls back, “Hey, bring me some when you get back!” They wink back.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Spanner Interlude 5: Approaching Solstice, December 2012

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner
Interlude 5: Approaching Solstice, December 2012

the medium. Nine voices come out of the mouth of a spectacularly robed Drusilla Becket in her gaudy temple made of gold and gems and rich fabrics yet built at strange angles that defeat Leila’s mind and make her head spin. Through their channel the nine chant their message from beyond as if chanting a spell to foreordain Leila’s future. In their singsong ninefold voice the nine principles of God speak as one through Drusilla’s lips down to Leila. “We are well pleased that you have successfully transcended what had been chosen for you so that you may be prepared for a higher destiny, yes. We are choosing you for a destiny that is higher, yes. For the end of the aeon of the Fifth Men as signalled by the ending of the Mayan calendar is at hand, the day when the Reckoning shall begin and the way is prepared for the coming of the Sixth Men that shall succeed the Fifth Men that are now dominant on this planet, yes. And the work to purify this planet of the children of the Evil One who worship the black jewel in his infernal crown, and the Evil One has introduced the virus into the programming of humanity, and this planet must be disinfected of this virus and of the race of Darkness that infects the mind of the Fifth Race so that the Sixth Race may not come, yes. And you, our chosen one, must make the sacrifice necessary to purify this planet so that the aeon of the Sixth Race may be born and reign over the kingdom of space. You do understand, yes.”

Leila nods reluctantly. She refuses to trust these godly words with their godly contempt for human grammar and thought. She witnessed what their anointed did to Yolanda Currie. She is not yet fourteen, yet she knows her life is already over even though it has barely begun. Unknown to Drusilla and the nine-principled God whose speaker she is pleased to be, Leila plots her own assassination.
escape: Alarms sound — people panic throughout the complex — the Biotron Labs mainframe has been taken over by a virus that streams loliporn Rebel Styles videos from the Darknet with no way to stop them short of destroying the computer with bombs. Lars Thorwald and Mina Tatsumi, the bioweapons engineers who own and run Biotron, blame each other to the accompaniment of Rebel Rebel’s sweet giggles over a chorus of screaming dying men.

“Mina, did you lower our security level? I told you we’d be attacked by terrorists!”

“Stop being an idiot, Lars! Let’s stop whoever’s doing this before they pirate our Intellectual Property!”

They try to contact their head of security only to listen in on his keening wordless death aria.

Taking advantage of the panic, weaving through the fleeing mob, Dr. Wendy Chaloner (27) leads three Factor Positive subjects and a Sexaroid named Priscilla Persocom in a desperate escape: Yolanda Currie, 24, short brown hair; Leila Shelley, 13, long black hair and violet eyes; Lucie Stenbeck, 6, blond-haired blue-eyed acquisition from a terminated terrorist and now being carried by the faithful Miss Persocom as they flee Biotron Labs past the twitching gurgling Dictel Security corpses under the watchful eyes of Rebel Styles, to the garage where they take her car and speed out before the virus can self-destruct the complex.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Spanner Chapter 7: Love Missile (Revision 4)

Chapter 6

Chaos Angel Spanner — Book 1: Rock City Blues
Chapter 7: Love Missile (Revision 4)

Jennifer, having hit it off with Brandi, passes her final test and joins the Slasher Hunters group trying to recruit her since the Blake Island incident. Shira and Hope discuss what to do with their adoring unwanted visitor. Debbie asks Shira what her trick is in scoring goals. All America stops its business for September 11, “Patriot Day.” Disaster strikes the football field at Dictel Stadium even as Shira pulls one of her legendary pranks. Shira’s birthday arrives, and she receives a special gift — not the car, nor the Python-powered Furby — that leads to the first of a whole string of disasters that will have major political significance...

The trouble’s now coming fast and furious. Can you handle it?

Special Guest Stars: Vice President Sarah Palin AMERICA! and her dog Spot! soon-to-be ex-husband...

Table of Contents:
  1. She Shoots, She Scores (July 16, 2011, Final Revision 8/22/12)
  2. The Marriage Exception (July 9, 2011, Final Revision 8/23/12)
  3. Through Being Cool (July 11, 2011, Final Revision 8/24/12)
  4. The Birthday Party (July 12, 2011, Final Revision 8/25/12)
  5. Patriot Day (July 13, 2011, Final Revision 8/26/12)
  6. Seize the Day (July 14, 2011, Final Revision 8/27/12)
  7. Interlude 5: Approaching Solstice, December 2012 (August 29, 2012)
Moved from Chapter 8: the Ayla thread, originally 8.1 “Pretty Baby” in Revision 2; the football game and Shira-Falconer confrontation, originally 8.4 “No Blood, No Foul” in Revision 2. Moved from Chapter 6: the final two scenes, now revised for Revision 4 continuity. Added from the Revision 1 notes: the Shira soccer match, now accompanied by Debbie’s lacrosse match.

The introduction to Revision 1, with revision updates [note: original First Revision title was “Here Come the Brides”]:
Okay, yuri fans, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Originally Chapter 5 in the original JulNoWriMo 2010 draft, this entire chapter is pure yuri in concentrate. Ironically, it has nothing about the story’s central relationship, the one between Shira and Leila...

Even though I wrote this chapter from scratch in July and all its story ideas are new, it has its roots in the mid-Nineties origin of Spanner. First I read Camille Paglia’s Sexual Personae in 1992, then I found the infamous yaoi manga Desperate Love 1989 (Zetsuai) in fan translation online in 1996. The combination was as explosive as the chemical reaction that results when you put metallic sodium in water, and Spanner began to take its mature form as the yuri manga I wanted it to be. You can consider this chapter an aftershock of that mind bomb.

Second Revision Update: The original chapter intro still holds true. Except for the part about this chapter having nothing to do with the Shira/Leila relationship; I corrected that issue, since the two have now known each other since Chapter 3...

Third Edition Update: You’ll notice a major change in the section order. The former 8.1 is now in its proper place as the first part of this chapter, as the new 7.1 immediately followed 6.6 in the first draft (when they were the end of Chapter 7 and the beginning of Chapter 8). Leila now has a greatly expanded role, since she is the star of Chapter 8. Ayla’s name has been corrected from “Aira” for reasons explained in 7.1. And the opening sequence of Part 19.6 has been changed as part of this chapter’s revision.
Chapter 8

Back to Chaos Angel Spanner table of contents...

Copyright © 2011, 2012 Dennis Jernberg. Some rights reserved.
Creative Commons License

Monday, August 27, 2012

Spanner R4 Update: Where Did I Get Some Of These Characters?

While editing Chapter 8 for the Final Revision, I got to thinking about the origin of some of my characters. Some of them are riffs on characters of other stories. Some of these riffs date all the way back to 1992, when I created the original group around Shira.

Diana Shockley: I created her as early as 1991 because I hated Appleseed's Deunan Knute when she killed Chiffon in the first graphic novel. The concept: what if Deunan were a villain?

Henry Becket: Her father was the second villain I created. He's basically the original Battlestar Galactica's villain Baltar without the smirk and with a fedora and thick glasses and the invincible delusion that he's the last actual hero in existence. When borrowing public-domain superheroes, I made him the Bronze Age version of the American Crusader from the Nedor comics.

Richard Becket: His younger-looking older brother is basically the Corporate version of Eblis, the Satan figure from the same show. He also thinks he's the good guy; since he's the story's supreme elitist, that means the masses are by definition the villain. His superhero identity is the Bronze Age Scarab — and for him I borrowed the idea of superhero lineages from The Phantom. The original Scarab was a Frenchman in Napoleonic Egypt, and the lineage has occult origins. Dick Becket is the seventh Scarab (the Golden and Silver Age originals being the fifth and sixth), and he has to fight his own successors, the eighth and ninth Scarabs. The Scarab lineage is central to the mystery of Spanner.

Drusilla Becket is the answer to the question, what if Erica Kane from the soap opera All My Children were a guru like, say, J.Z. Knight (of Ramtha fame) or Elizabeth Clare Prophet? For one thing, like them and other gurus, she made an enemy of Shira's grandmother Eleanor Richter, the children's author and witch.

Will Becket: If Diana is Deunan Knute as a villain, her younger brother is Mobile Suit Gundam's Char Aznable as an extremely ambiguous antihero. There will be hints of another antihero inspired by Char, Lelouch Lamperouge of Code Geass, especially come Book 5.

Colonel Tom Becket: I didn't get a good grip on the Dictel Corporation chairman until I saw James Cameron's Avatar. Then I realized he's basically the villain, Colonel Quaritch, as the chairman of Blackwater.

I just noticed that these are all Beckets. One of the characteristics of the Cromwell Becket clan is their stubborn resistance to change. They are more archetype than character. They claim divine origin, descent from the Norse, Celtic, and Egyptian gods. More than the other dominant clans in the Conservative Revolutionary Party, they remind people of Unseely Fae with their inhuman morality and their lack of respect for human lives.

This in contrast to my more protean heroes, and especially heroines. Shira is a chameleon. Jennifer has a whole arsenal of personae she can summon at will. Surviving Leila or Melody, even when they're not at full power, may depend entirely on what mood they swing into. The only heroic character who is genuinely archetypal is Ariel, with the striking white stripe in her black hair and her Holy Grail obsession. She's the one who puts the heroines' doings into some mythical context and puts them on heroes' journeys. She traces her own ancestry (and therefore her niece Leila's) through the female line ("bar sinister" in heraldry) to Mélusine, Morgan le Fay, and ultimately to Mary Magdalene. And of course she's a mentor character like, say, Willa Richter-Thomas, Zac Finney, or (looking to Chapter 16 R4) Dr. Hiram Whistler. Shira herself has multiple origins.

I'm not actually cloning any characters. I'm too good a writer to let myself be that lazy. But some of my own characters were inspired by characters in other works. Of course, creating them is only the first step. After that, their job is to grow away from their origins so they can help the other characters take the story away from their author and run amok.

Spanner 7.6: Seize the Day

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 7: Love Missile
Part 6: Seize the Day (Final Revision)

12 september 2014.
lobby.
The gauntlet of relentless advertising bullies the students by name to buy their high-priced, low-quality products and services. It gets so annoying that some students close their eyes and ears to avoid being oppressed by it, while others run or speedwalk past. Polly complains, “Can’t they put some interesting commercials on for once?”

“No,” says Shira. “They’re stupid on principle.”

Jennifer says, “Why nobody’s yet thought to hijack this bank for a piratecast yet, I have no idea.”

“Hey, Akane and I had a monfight on it, so why not.”

“You gotta wonder when they’ll put a stop to this,” says Kio.

“When SPEC screws the ad company.”

Mimi runs toward them in a panic and tugs on Shira’s sleeve. “Uh-oh, we got big trouble.”

principal’s office. Shira laughs when R.A. Leggett bursts in wearing a bandage over his right eye. She traps his arm in her armpit when he raises his gun. “That was not funny,” he growls.

“Yes it was, Mr. IP Defender. You’re so having a cow right now.”

I am not a girl!” he screams.

Jennifer tickles his ear. He squirms. “So you’re a badass IP Defender, eh? We so didn’t know that.”

Polly, cringing behind the nervous Principal, giggles involuntarily. Leggett shrieks, “Not funny!

His arm goes limp when Angela storms in bearing her pistol and a summons. Shira drops it.

hallway. Debbie stands in Leila’s way and glares at her with jealous fury. “You won’t get away with this treachery, Leila.”

Shira glomps her from behind and says in her ear, “Get away with what?”

Debbie twists in her embrace to see her mischievous smirk. “Leaving me for you, that’s what! You’re evil!

“Don’t call me what you are, Debs darlin’. Her heart belongs to me now, and you can’t take away from me what’s mine. Hurt her and I’ll make everybody know you treat her like shit. C’mon, love.” She puts her arms around Leila and leaves with her.

Debbie stares at them in helpless rage. Her thoughts turn to murder. She takes out her phone and makes a call. “Hello, Frank?”

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Spanner 7.5: Patriot Day

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 7: Love Missile
Part 5: Patriot Day (Final Revision)

11 september 2014.
dreamspace.
Naked and helpless, Leila runs till suddenly she can no longer move. She looks down to find her feet merging with the blackened ground, and the blackness is moving up her body. Out of the blackness of darkness comes a monster. It dwarfs her, makes her insignificant, tries to pick her up and eat her.

Shira hits it with a mighty punch. It screams in pain with the voice of Oliver Thorwald. The pain shrinks it into insignificance. Shira laughs at it. Leila holds onto her for dear life and screams—

Seductive Shira dances nude, dangerously close, to taunt Thorwald. In his face she sways her buttocks breasts cunt close enough to kiss—yet there’s a Repulse between her body and his desire: he can never ever touch her. She torments him with the tortures of Tantalus. Softly seductively yet defiantly she sings:
I know what you want,
and you can’t have it.
I know what you want,
and I’m gonna take it.
He is in Hell, and she is his demon.

warehouse, bangor. He wakes up panting hard, his pajamas drenched in sweat. He is unaccustomed to such spartan surroundings, but he has no choice but to lay low while emergency reconstruction goes on at the penthouse. Mina said this abandoned warehouse on the edge of Biotron property would suffice.

Humiliation turns to rage; his muscles tighten hard, his teeth grind. “Fucking bitch. First she kills Dad, now she rapes my dreams.” He throws the lamp beside him across them room; its destruction plunges the windowless room into blackness. “Shit!

mudlark house. Willa Richter-Thomas summons the leaders of Bangor High’s opposition for an emergency meeting. From the Teachers Guild dissidents: Hope Reston, Dave Whitmer, Sally Hatfield, Kitty Carlisle, Christine Jordan, Sylvia Plame, Eugene Fletcher, Yasmin Khoury, and Ada Paulette Wintergreen. From the Student Union: Karen Kubota, Lorelei Straight, Courtney Richter-Thomas, Sana Ibrahim, Lyssa Watkins, Charlene “Chuck” Johnson, Don Vasquez, and Lorine Kelly. From Team Bremelo: Shira Thomas, Connor and Jennifer Blair, Brandi Quinn, Cory Belmont, Rob Shelley, Polly Parker, and Kio Marques. The absence of Colette Rosewater overshadows the meeting. Willa surveys them like a general. “The Patriots come at sundown. Are the fireworks ready?”

Kio replies, “The Indian tribes came through.” Several girls giggle.

“All the firecracker emplacements are in place,” Connor adds.

Polly’s voice trembles with worry. “I don’t know about this. You’d think Echelon woulda sniffed us out already.”

Shira grins and pats her on the shoulder. “Not to worry, Polly darling. Last night its eyes were on the paparazzi riots.”

Willa smiles. “We’re prepared for tonight. Now our first threat is SPEC and its proxies.”

“They want us to surrender without a fight,” says Jennifer.

“We can’t give up,” says Karen. “We can’t allow ’em to win.”

“This is a Challenge,” says Shira. “Let’s throw it back in their faces.”

“We gotta do this, no matter what,” says Cory.

“For all the victims of the Revolution,” says Connor.

“For Colette,” says Kio.

In unison, they all raise their voices and fists: “For Colette!”

holy city. Thirteen years ago today, the cult Al-Qaeda attempted to transform itself into a superpower by using hijackers armed with box cutters to destroy the World Trade Center and punch a hole in the Pentagon. The civilians have not been remembered. The full name of this holy day is the Day of the Patriot Martyrs—the martyrs in question are not the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, but the revolutionary militants who offered their lives in blood sacrifice to Jesus America by dying for the Conservative Revolution. Cult fuhrer Osama bin Laden, self-proclaimed Messiah of the End Times, fell to Will Becket’s fangs the previous March. The Caliphate his cult so wantonly murdered to establish was actually created by the Conservative Revolution.

The High Holy Days of the American Religion are: Presidents’ Day, Veterans’ Day, Independence Day, Revolution Day, Restoration Day, Memorial Day—and today. The Patriot militants protect their Nation by assaulting the “Un-Americans” whose existence they believe desecrates the Nation. For the Caliphate is the body of Satan, and all who do not worship Jesus America by definition belong to him.

Today the Party celebrates the revolutionary overthrow of the People and the freedom of the State, beginning as always with a massive military parade through the vast expanse of Dominion Square that bisects the arcology to intimidate the world with the largest military force in history. A million soldiers goosestep past the platform and give the legionary salute to President Biff Thompson of President Goldman Sachs & Company, Vice President Sarah Palin, Dictel Corporation CEO Tom Becket, COPCO CEO Brendan Sparks, Defense Secretary Oliver North, Secretary of State John Bolton, and Homeland Security Secretary Henry Becket, who reply by holding up their right hands in the classic salute beloved of tyrants since Stalin. In the expensive exclusive luxury view boxes above, countless Corporates break open countless champagne bottles and drink deep to celebrate their supremacy. Michael Bay directs this gigantic pageant of revolution with spectacle and bombast intended to surpass Riefenstahl and Speer. But unlike Adolf Hitler, superstar, the true producer hides far back in the wings. Richard Becket, Chairman of the United Corporations, corporate owners of the Empire, looks upon the video feeds from the control room in Party headquarters, and pronounces it good.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Spanner 7.4: The Birthday Party

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 7: Love Missile
Part 4: The Birthday Party (Final Revision)

9 september 2014.
bainbridge island.
In a state like Cascadia dominated by Corporates paranoid about keeping their wealth in the family, pharaonic incestuous marriage has become standard policy because to the Corporate caste, blood itself is money. If a white man has a “dysgenic” for a daughter, he is allowed to take her as a mistress. So Shira skips school driving Ric to drive her to the Corporate colony of Bainbridge Island to have the Eugenics Institute office make her desire official in the eyes of the Law. For this occasion he looks like a country music executive in salmon-pink suit, Billy Jack hat, cowboy boots, black dress shirt, and antique bolo tie; she looks surprisingly sober in sleeveless black dress that almost reaches her knees, knee-high black leather lace-up boots, and pink quartz necklace and (most shockingly) stud earrings to match his suit. Both wear matching wraparound mirrorshades.

He caresses her bare leg. “Are you sure you really want this, Shira?”

She caresses his crotch. “Damn right I want you, Ric.”

“Won’t Drusilla have a cow.”

“Curses foiled again.” She grins mischievously. They burst out laughing.

The Institute office is prominent in the municipal hall. A crowd of Corporates dressed self-consciously expensive turn up their noses at Shira’s dark skin thinking it gives off some sickening spiritual stench. The registrar blurts “ew” when she reads the word “Bremerton.” Ric sweeps his arm toward the tut-tutting Corporate crowd. “Keeps their daggers out of my back.”

Certificate of registration in hand, they walk out arm in arm. And who should they encounter at the door but Drusilla. She goes ghost white when she sees the love in their eyes and the certificate in Shira’s hand; her blood-drained face twists into shocked disgust. “No.”

Father and daughter embrace and answer in unison: “Yes.” And like newlyweds they kiss, tastefully because Corporates are prissy. The prissiest let out a shocked chorus of “ews.” But Drusilla stands paralyzed in horror at the sight of her Rocker ex-husband and his newly official incestuous mistress.

A huge relieved sigh bursts out of their bodies the moment they cross the Agate Pass Bridge out of that circle of hell onto the Indian reservation where the Suquamish Nation keep a determined foothold in reality. At the firewater shop they buy a bottle of champagne (clerk: “You’re awful polite for a white man.” Ric: “They’re that bad, huh.”), then share it behind the building, straight from the bottle like un-Corporate barbarians. When they judge themselves sufficiently drunk, they wrestle off their clothes into the back seat; she flattens her seat back, and he climbs onto him.

“Happy birthday, lovergirl.”

“Yay! I’m legal.”

“And now we’re official.”

He rams inside her, they fight scream unleash violent lust inflamed by transgression till together their minds explode—
(Twitter) LocaFantoma99 Mi quinceañera! Party’s right downtown! B there or b L7! /cc @PerezHilton @TMZ
(Facebook) Shira Thomas Birthday! Party! Downtown!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Spanner 7.3: Through Being Cool

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 7: Love Missile
Part 3: Through Being Cool (Final Revision)

26 august 2014...
Todd Palin threatens to sue his now ex-wife. All the sleazy celebrity magazines in America and the even sleazier tabloids in Britain and Japan bid for his tell-all exposé.

8 september 2014.
red house.
Ayla clings to Hope. “Do I have to?”

Hope kisses her on the forehead. “You’ll be safe here. Charlie and Desi will fall in love with you the moment they see you.”

“I hope so.”

Charlie and Desiree come out onto the porch and wave. Desiree says, “You must be Ayla”

“Wow,” says Charlie, “that’s beautiful dress you’re wearing.”

Ayla blushes. “Thank you.”

“We’re Shira’s sisters. I’m Charlie, and she’s Desiree.”

She shyly waves. “Hi.” Charlie takes her by the hand and leads her up the stairs to the porch, where Desiree takes her other hand.

Melody, dressed in her middle-school uniform, stands in the doorway and stares at Ayla. Charlie says, “Mel, this is Shira’s friend Ayla.”

“Hi,” says Melody weakly.

“And this is our daughter Melody.”

Ayla bows and cheerfully says, “Nice to meet you!”

They look at Melody and see a shy smile on her face. Ayla skips over to her, gives her a huge sweet smile, and hugs her. Melody blushes and helplessly grins. They wave at Hope, then go in the house together.

seabeck highway. The van picks Jennifer up at Mudlark House; she wastes no time leaping into Brandi’s arms and kissing her wildly. They kiss halfway up Bangor’s diagonal main street before the black man in shades driving speaks up. “I never expected you two to fall in love,” says John Peck

“Jenni knew I was lesbian,” Brandi says. “She’s been seducing me the whole time.”

Jennifer kisses her. “I wanted her the moment I saw her.” She winks.

Peck looks at them in the rear view mirror. “Your capture of the Caliphate agent was expert. You have convinced us.”

“Will you join us, love?” asks Brandi.

“Hell yeah I’m in,” Jennifer replies. “By the way, there’s someone I’d like to recruit.”

Brandi looks at her curiously. “Hmmm?”

Prck asks, “Who would that be?”

“Shira Thomas. My cousin. She’s a Tracker. She’s fought Oliver Thorwald multiple times and never, ever lost.”

“That’s impressive!” says Brandi.

“That’s complicated,” says Peck. “Does she realize he’s arranged to be married to Leila Shelley?”

Jennifer replies, “She’s in love with her.”

“Hmmm.” Brandi stares at her; Peck strokes his chin. “Brandi, could you scout her for me? She looks very interesting.”

Brandi answers, “Anybody who owns Oliver Thorwald is all right with me.”

Jennifer smiles. “Thanks!” Peck drives into the Bangor High campus to drop them off.

lockers. Mimi asks Shira and Jennifer, “Wow, you beat all those gangsters and priests naked. What’s your secret?”

Shira winks mischievously. “Fanservice as a deadly weapon.”

Jennifer explains, “It’s a well-known fact that most men and some women have a weakness for pretty girls, especially naked. We fight naked not just because sweaty bodies are harder to hold onto, but because we distract opponents, making ’em that much easier to beat.”

Mimi suddenly turns toward a conversation behind her. “Shhh!” Debbie is telling Leila, “Stay away from that Shira. She’s no good. She’s trouble incarnate. She only wants you — ” She spots Shira. “Uh-oh.” She storms up to her and gets in her face. “You stay away from my Special Friend, you slut!”

Shira is amused but pretends to be offended. “I thought Leila was in love with trouble.” Leila blushes.

“Well, I’m trying to keep her out of trouble!”

Shira gives an amused glance to Jennifer.

nike arena. The rematch. Debbie charges Shira, ready to punch — but Shira leaps over her in a flying somersault, catches her on the way down, and rolls her into a pin. Debbie tries to escape, but one, two, three. Shira stands up and blows kisses; Debbie punches and stomps the mat in frustration. Shira 2, Debbie 0.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Spanner 7.2: The Marriage Exception

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 7: Love Missile
Part 2: The Marriage Exception (Final Revision)

25 august 2014...
As the Corporates fly into cleared-out Manhattan for their Spanner-plagued Acceptance of Steve Jobs and Apple into the United Corporations, Vice President Sarah Palin, Incorporated, announces that her divorce from Todd Palin is final. She is now free to marry whomever she wants. And she intends to marry him on September 11, the Day of the Patriot Martyrs, one of the high holy days on the religious calendar of Americanism.

The world press explodes with rumors of the groom. Is it another politician? a high-ranking Corporate baron? a celebrity (presumably not the tarnished Mel Gibson)? a European prince? one of the powerful Shepherds of the Church of America whose inquisition protects the Empire’s power? Jesus America Himself? The bookmakers are already making their bets.

7 september 2014.
tokyo.
Hikki otaku Hiromatsu Fukuda hears his iPhone’s ringtone. The caller ID is that of Aya Shibata, the videogame character he married. Disturbed yet curious, he answers. A pretty teenage gaijin who looks exactly like nudefighter!Aya greets him wearing only a cheerful smile, waves at him, and sings “Hiro-nyaaaan! Moshi-moshiii!”

Hiro is shocked to see his beloved character suddenly reveal herself as real. “Dare—?” [Who—?]

Boku wa maiwaifu yo.” [I’m your anime bride.]

“—Aya-chan?”

“Honto
[I’m real]... Hiro-nyan.”

technosphere... “Hiro-nyaaan.” She’s a pretty little youko in a fluffed-out goth-loli dress complementing her fuzzy fox ears and tail and the barely pubescent physique she uses to lure Japanese perverts to their doom. Aya Shibata is a succubus. She drapes herself over her smitten victim’s shoulders and playfully nibbles his ear.

shibuya... In a crowded internet café, Hiro-nyan marries his love. Not the hard-boiled bujutsu-game nudefighter, not the lubricious dark elf terrorizing Gensoukyou — his new “maiwaifu” is loli youko!Aya Shibata.

At first it weirds her out. Then she is furious. At last, the real Shira contemptuously quips: “Otaku no baka.

xbox field. The faith-mad zombies of the cult of America rush onto the pitch to line up in perfect formation, two by two, male and female, to join in perfectly eugenic matrimony. Sun Myung Moon, late Shepherd of Korea, industrialized marriage into mass spectacle; Shepherd Moon, the hater of Communism, communized it in a way that Stalin and Mao would approve and the Kims adopted. The Eugenics Institute rationalized the aristocratic tradition of arranged marriage to advance Galton’s science into the age of space conquest. With absolute faith that they are bringing into being the New Man, crusaders united to defend the grail of Corporatism against the passing of the great race and the all-destroying entropy of individual passion, one thousand Corporate aristocrats in battle formation advance across the sign of the X to be united in eugenically correct union by the savior of the American Union.

Her name is Princess Drusilla Anne Becket Thomas Thorndyke Wilkinson Brinkman Draper Pernell of Dictel, Incorporated, and she reigns over them as Supreme Shepherd of the Church of America in the American State of Cascadia. Upon the stage, before the altar, she stands before and above them as a living goddess: gleaming golden prophetic robes encrusted with glittering gems, beautiful harsh face artfully painted into an Egyptian objet de culte, golden locks architecturally braided atop her head and crowned with the spiked iron crown of Columbia, the Nation, eternal bride of Jesus America. Drusilla Becket, superstar: flanked by her top-hatted, leather-trenchcoated Patriot Metal acolytes Byron Scofield and Jeremiah Light, she appears before them as the Ideal made manifest, blinding all present who see her without the rose spectacles of faith. Behind her, a giant television screen projects the image of a slowly waving one-star American flag superimposed with the sacred Sign of the Dollar.

mudlark house. But four women watching Drusilla on the big screen see through her Emmy-bait costume and her deceptive mask of spiritual authority. They know her for the insufferable narcissist she is, these two couples cuddling nude on the couch, her four most implacable enemies: her estranged daughters Charlie and Desiree Richter-Thomas; their aunt Willa, Drusilla’s archenemy, whose personality alone can outshine the guru-queen’s mask; and her sister-in-law and lover, Hope Reston. “Oh my god,” says Charlie, “do you know how much money she’s putting into that?”

“Ohhh!” moans Desiree. “Mommie Dearest makes me wanna suicide-bomb that place into cinders!”

“Is that a Moonie marriage she’s pulling?” asks Hope.

“In finest Nuremberg style,” Willa deadpans.

Shira and Jennifer call them from Union Station. “Hey you guys,” Shira says, “you watchin’ the show?”

“Would we not?”

“Rumor has it Spanner’s planning a surprise ending.” She winks.

Jennifer grins. “Don’t change that dial.”

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Spanner 7.1: She Shoots, She Scores

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 7: Love Missile
Part 1: She Shoots, She Scores (Final Revision)

There is always some madness in love.
But there is also always some reason in madness.

Friedrich Nietzsche

You drive me crazy...
Fine Young Cannibals Cadillac Escalade

6 september 2014.
technosphere.
Posted to LocaFantoma99’s Profile on September 6, 2014:
[Wearing: Sexy Miss America.]

I know something they don’t want you to. Did you know they have elections? The sacred Party principle is “One Dollar, One Vote.” [giggles] Of course they don’t want you taking part in their elections, silly people. Y’all just ain’t rich enough.

Here’s how it works: The candidates apply to the Party for the right to special-interest grants. The one who gets bought by the most or biggest special interest wins! That’s right: our Imperial lords and masters elect by bribe.

This is what they call Conservative Democracy.
nenene’s apartment. When the drugs wear off, Koji Mizoguchi, disgraced Yakuza in exile, feels like he’s been hit by a truck. He wakes up and reaches across the bed, but touches only bed. He gasps in shock: his precious loli-chan is gone!

He flings away the covers only to find empty space where he expects Ayla. “Ai-chan ga itta — ” He runs into the closet, only to find the box where he keeps his drugs unlocked and open. “My drugs — they gone!

Nenene says in Japanese, “What are you blithering about this time, Koji-baka?”

He answers in English, “Ai-chan — she gone!

“No remind me. She run away last week.”

She steal my drugs!

“You so baka,” says Nenene. “She flush your drugs down toilet.”

He wails with manly tears. “Ai-chan, why you leave me?”

Nenene laughs. “’Cos she no like you fuck her instead of me! Sukebe.”

“So where she go?”

“She run away Shira Thomas.”

He gasps — “Nani?!” — and faints dead away.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Spanner Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland, Inc. (Revision 4)

Chapter 5

Chaos Angel Spanner — Book 1: Rock City Blues
Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland, Inc. (Revision 4)

Days 2 through 4 of the 2014 school year are just as chaotic as day 1. In revenge for the murder of the Slasher he sent to destroy the Student Union, SPEC chairman Ross escalates his revenge attempts against the Student Union, and Shira and Jennifer counter by upping the provocation: he sends the Church of America priesthood to pray for Jennifer’s death, and she walks right out into them with neither faith nor clothes; he sends the Dictel Park gangs into his company’s own school, only for him and them to find out just how much damage an entire fight club of nudefighters can inflict...

Following the "pilot episode" (the Intro and Chapter 1), Chapters 2-3, Chapters 4-5. Now witness the escalating series of shocks and disasters that is the second episode of the School Arc...

Table of Contents:
  1. The Head and the Tail (August 16, 2012)
  2. First Day of Classes (August 17, 2012)
  3. Throw the Gauntlet (August 18, 2012)
  4. The Death Prayers (August 19, 2012)
  5. By Any Means Necessary (August 20, 2012)
  6. The School Invasions (August 21, 2012)
Expanded in Revision 4: the “death prayers” and “school invasion” scenes, the roles of Jennifer and Chairman Ross, and the Shira-Leila main relationship line. Moved from Chapter 5: the first-day classes. Moved from Chapter 7: the Jennifer-Willa love scenes and the final scene. Added from the Project Notebooks: the Shira-Debbie fight and the repeated “waking up in Shira’s bed” scenes. The big love-related surprises during the final edit involve Debbie and Brandi, and not those two together (as I’d originally planned in the late-’90s Project Notebooks)...

Spanner 6.6 R4: The School Invasions

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland
Part 6: The School Invasions (Final Revision)

cafeteria. A gang of huge muscle-boosted adult men beat their way through the guards and past the front door: Polynesian gangsters, or Mokes. They find their target at the point where the main hallway and the cafeteria meet, a black kid named Trey Phelan with a gambler father unable to pay off his debts to their mob. Shira maneuvers Trey into a corner and stands in front of him, blocking the gangsters.

Their fuhrer, Antwaan Rockamora, is pained to see her again. He gets in her face and barks, “Get the fuck out of our way, bitch! We gotta teach this worthless nigger’s daddy a lesson!”

Shira shrugs. “Sorry, Rockhead. I’m afraid old Deuce is too brain-damaged to learn any more lessons. You’re doing this just to swing your dicks. Just ask all my friends. They’re behind you.”

The gangsters look behind them and find themselves surrounded by three pretty boys (Connor, Cory, and Rob), one big guy (Kio), and two scary-looking girls (Jennifer and Leila). “Yo dawgz,” says Cory.

“Looks like all you Mokes are surrounded, massa.”

Rockamora snarls, “Fuckin’ bitch! Your pretty boys ain’t nothin’, and you is just a stupid-ass girl!”

“Sure, we’re way prettier than you ugly mugs. But any one of us is ten times the fighter as all y’all combined. All’s you got’s big and mean. Big and mean don’t beat MMA.” Shira smiles.

Team Bremelo’s pretty boys hit their left palms with their right fists and smile. Jennifer and Leila glare menacingly at the big men; Jennifer punches the palm of her hand. Gangsters and fighters stare each other down for a minute that feels like hours. Silently, Rockamora gestures for his gang to leave. They walk away, stopping at the front door to glare back threateningly. Then they leave. Trey puts his arms around Shira, collapses onto her back, and lets out a massive sigh of relief. The gathering student crowd cheer.

Jennifer walks up to Shira and looks back at the gangsters. “Looks like Team Bremelo have passed our first test.”

“But not the first big one. Ross hasn’t made his move yet.”

“True...” Jennifer leads her fellow tutors down the hall. The other Bremeloes go back to their lunch.

laboratory. The Blair and Shelley siblings and Shira file in to find Sana bitterly snipping pieces of paper with scissors as a worried Harumi looks on. Steve runs over to greet them. “Are we glad to see you!”

Jennifer puts her hand on Sana’s shoulder. “What’s wrong, Sana?”

“Everybody thinks I’ve got cooties or something. They even got my boyfriend to run away screaming.”

Shira throws her arms out and paces. “I keep telling ’em, ‘Don’t call people what you are,’ but they just scream that I’m a devil person. Moral morons.”

“I don’t trust feelings. You throw away all your reason, and then people turn your feelings against you and people even die! What’s the use?”

“Not even love?” asks Rob.

Sana waves her scissors around. “How’s love any different from hate? In a sense, love’s even worse! Love God, crucify people!”

Leila asks innocently, “What about love between people? Surely—”

She flinches when Sana storms over to wave the scissors in her face. “Let me tell you, Miss Love-Death! You ever heard of jealousy, huh? You know how many murders are committed in the name of love? You should know. You committed several of ’em!”

Jennifer grabs Sana’s arm and gently lowers it to her side. “Sana, what motivates you to be a scientist?”

Shocked, Sana looks at her. “Curiosity. Why?”

“That’s all?”

Sana crosses her arms. “Yeah. So what motivates you, O great professor?”

Jennifer smiles. “Love.”

“Love’s what motivated Karen and Colette to risk their lives the other night,” says Shira. “They were trying to save their friends. Right, Kio?”

Kio lets out a sigh and nods sadly. “Yeah.”

She hugs Sana. “That, my friend, is what makes a hero. When Colette wakes up, she’ll be shocked at how many people love her.”

“As for your boyfriend,” Jennifer adds, “he’ll come to his senses once he listens to reason.”

Sana sighs in despair.

Mimi and Trishie burst through the door in a panic. “Guys!” says Trishie. “The whole school’s in trouble!”

“It’s the gangs!” cries Mimi. “They’re attacking the school!”

Tutors and lab assistants dash out the door. Students run around in a panic. Already they can see thugs in gang colors chasing them, trying to beat them up. Shira says, “Looks like Ross is giving us our big test now.”

Jennifer commands, “It’s fight time. Call the team. Get ready now!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Spanner 6.5 R4: By Any Means Necessary

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland
Part 5: By Any Means Necessary (Final Revision)

5 september 2014.
telesphere.
Some things are not news. Sometimes the official media report what is not news.
Amanda: Official spokesmen of the Church of America deny rumors of an alleged incident that allegedly happened at a Seattle-area high school. In other news, government spokesmen deny that droughts that allegedly occurred throughout the American Heartland are evidence of the nonexistent alleged phenomenon of global warming...
shira’s apartment. Dexter is sitting up naked against the bed’s headboard reading a book when his bedmate rolls over to face him. Shira throws off the covers. He says, “Hey, baby girl.”

“You still think you can handle me, darlin’?”

“I know we can settle down and build a life together.”

She gets onto all fours. “You know I’m not the settling-down type.”

He strokes her hair. “You call yourself a bad girl, but you’re a good person inside.”

She caresses his dark skin. “Maybe you’re right. But I need adventure.”

“You like having to worry and look over your shoulder all the time?”

“’Cuz they do? That’s all they do. It’s what you get for having such a monster ego.”

Dexter sighs. “Dammit, Shira, I love you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Shira rests her head in his lap. “I know... You’re a total sweetheart, Dex.”

They look at each other for a long moment. Then Shira takes his hard penis into her mouth and works her expertise on him...

principal’s office. Once again, Shira and Jennifer stand cross-armed before the always patronizing Principal and the always angry Falconer. Sternly the principal says, “Young ladies, I’m afraid you’re coming too close to pushing things too far this time.”

The girls look at them strangely. “Excuse me,” says Shira, “we just prevented a massacre just yesterday.”

“But your cousin has been taking her clothes off in public. That is not just illegal, it’s immoral.”

Jennifer glares back. “Your priestly friends were trying to kill me yesterday. I’m sorry you’re disappointed I’m not dead.”

The Principal wags his finger. “I will not take any more guff from you young ladies. You have to know your place and resign yourselves to it. Do what your betters say, or there will be consequences.”

Jennifer unholsters her phone and brings up her contacts list. “I’m afraid you don’t get it, Mr. Principal.”

“You’re letting badly disguised criminal street gangs rampaging all over this school,” says Shira. “Bullying may be politically correct in the Party, but it’s illegal here in Cascadia. In fact, bullying is really just the playground name for terrorism.”

Falconer barks, “You two are out of order!”

Jennifer takes off her glasses, stares defiantly at the Major, and says nothing. Shira says to her, “Push it. Call her.” Jennifer presses the “talk” button on her phone, then puts it to her ear. Principal and Falconer look at each other.

“Hi. Mom? It’s me... Shira and I need you. Now... okay... yeah... right!... We’re here waiting for you. Love ya! [kisses into the microphone] ’Bye!” She ends the call and puts her phone back. She smiles at the principals. “My mother’s coming. She’ll be here in just a few minutes.”

Principal interrupts Falconer before she begins to shout. “We would love to speak with your mother. We are patient. We can wait.”

Shira and Jennifer trade looks but don’t talk. Principal and Falconer remain still and say nothing. Ten minutes later, Willa arrives: as tall, blond, and beautiful as her daughter, but much more formidable. She looks strikingly professional in dark beige sleeveless coatdress, knee-high lace-up brown leather boots, and rectangular geek glasses. Both Jennifer and Shira throw themselves into her embrace. She kisses first Jennifer and then Shira on the lips. She turns to face the red-faced principals with the girls at her sides. “My daughter tells me she’s having some kind of trouble concerning you. Is this true?”

“She and her girlfriend are in trouble, yes.”

“Her cousin.”

Principal and Falconer stare suspiciously at them. “Yes.”

Willa continues. “I should add, Mr. Principal and Ms. Falconer?”

“That’s Major Falconer!” snaps the Vice Principal.

Willa takes off her glasses slowly and drills a chilling glare into Falconer’s eyes. “From what I hear, Major, you’re no longer an active duty Marine, so as far as I’m concerned you’re Ms. Falconer. Anyway, my daughter has been telling me that she and her cousin are being harassed by mercenary agents hired by your company. What I was trying to say, Ms. Falconer, is that your policies may be less than legal, to say the least. In other words, the trouble is not ours, but yours.”

The Principal says, “I’m afraid you don’t get it, Mrs. Thomas.”

“That’s Miss Richter-Thomas. And I get it all too well. But I see that you don’t, and won’t. You are so clueless, it’s not funny.”

“I’m afraid the Law stands behind every action we take. Nothing you can do can change that, for the Law is utterly without mercy.”

“Try me.”

“Your move.”

Willa takes her phone out of her purse. “Hello, Angie?”

Another ten minutes later, their lawyer Angela Coyne arrives. Willa, Jennifer, and Shira greet her with hugs and kisses, annoying the administrators. Falconer screeches, “Will you people stop that? Are you lesbian or something? You’re driving me nuts!

Angela slams a thick stack of legal paper onto the desk, in front of the Principal. “I hear you people are giving my clients some serious trouble. Now tell your people to lay off, or trouble will be yours. Got me?”

The Principal stares at her open-mouthed. Vice Principal Falconer glares at her with her mouth shut tight. His smirk is strained when he finally pulls himself together to say, “Miss Coyne, we are not responsible for actions taken by the company.”

“Actually, the problem with your company is, it’s completely irresponsible. You’d better be careful too. The Law’s merciless, remember?” The principals stare back, Principal nervously, Falconer resentfully.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Spanner 6.4 R4: The Death Prayers

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland
Part 4: The Death Prayers (Final Revision)

4 september 2014.
telesphere.
The official news media so abhor a slow news day that they report rumors and fluff as news.
Amanda: In shocking news out of Seattle, a high school teacher is rumored to have stripped in front of her class. The teacher has hired a spokesperson who says it was a student who did it. SPEC spokesmen declined to comment.

After the break, amazing video of a windsurfing dog!
shira’s apartment. Shira is sitting up naked against her bed’s headboard reading a book when her bedmate rolls over to face her. Cory throws off the covers. “I still can’t believe you had Leila here last night. I wish I was here”

“I needed to be alone with her. She needed me.”

He rests his head in her lap and chuckles. “If only Dexter knew.”

She strokes his head. “In his heart he knows he loves the dangerous girls.”

“Nah, he’s a wimp.”

“And you’re not?”

He sits up in her lap and puts his arms around her. “I know you too well, darlin’.” He kisses her.

principal’s office. As leaders of the Student Council and Team Valiant, Charmian and Bart stand before the principals. Principal Principal says, “You already know what kind of troublemaker Thomas is. By now you’re also aware of the stunt Blair pulled yesterday after school.”

“This is a moral emergency!” shouts Falconer. “This school is in danger of complete moral collapse!”

“You know what to do.”

Charmian turns to Bart and pleads, “Bart, what do we do?”

“We stop ’em, of course!” he snaps.

“And if your Valiant Team fails, will my Pretty Team have to clean up your mess again?

Bart snarls. “Girls cannot do a man’s job. We will not fail!

Charmian glares at him skeptically. After a pause, she says, “Very well. But don’t come begging to me if you lose.” She flounces off.

student council room. Charmian summons the Council. The councillors are still gossiping over Jennifer. She bangs her gavel to silence them and call the meeting to order.

“So what’s the emergency?” asks Debbie.

“We’re not just facing the Student Union insurrection. The most insolent and obnoxious of the rebels have actually started their own fighting team. They even had the gall to name it after the kind of repulsive whore that stalks drunken sailors in Bremerton bars—a ‘Bremelo.’” The girls gasp.

Mikey sneers, “We should just beat ’em up. Especially the girls.”

Bob stands up to his full 6′ height. “Not so fast, Mike.”

Rachel stands up beside him, crosses her arms, and peers over her cat’s eye glasses skeptically. “Yeah. We went through this before last year, remember?”

“Remember what Clover Thomas did to Rex and Scotty when they tried to double Challenge her?”

“And remember what happened to Eugene Bean last year when he tried to rape Minty Fresh? I doubt he’ll ever recover from that kick she delivered him.”

Charmian answers, “We’re not those testosterone-brained Valiant fools. Blair and Thomas are no fools, either. They already have Kubota hiding behind their skirts. I suggest we prepare for war.”

cafeteria. Bart summons his Tournament fighters. Ten of them come. “Atten-tion!”

The fighters stand rigidly in formation. “Yes sir!”

“Valiant Team!”

“Yes sir!”

“Are you gay!”

“No sir!”

“Are you ready to fight?”

“Yes sir!”

“There’s a new team that named itself after fat whores in Bremerton—Team Bremelo.”

Beck asks, “That the one with the girls?”

“Damn straight! You ready to Challenge?”

The fighters reply, “Yes sir!”

“Now go!” Team Valiant disperse.

hallway. Shira arrives at her locker as Leila turns to walk away. To get her attention, she slaps her in the butt.

Leila turns around and slaps her in the face. They stare at each other for a long moment, holding their breaths and blushing.

Debbie clears her throat. They turn to face her. Arms crossed, she glowers at them jealously. Without taking her eyes off her, Shira unlocks her locker. Debbie grabs Leila to try to pull her away, but Leila escapes her grasp and hides behind Shira.

Shira and Debbie stare each other down. Students begin to crowd around them. At last, Debbie snarls, “I Challenge you. In the ring.”

A wicked grin begins to form on Shira’s face. “I accept.” The crowd gasp.

homeroom. The feud between Bernkastel’s widow and mistress has shifted to the courtroom, making Vern Rooney the third homeroom teacher in as many days. Mr. Rooney is a former Marine and a friend of Mobley who shares a similarly low opinion of women. But yesterday’s “Red Sonja” outburst was Mobley rambling. Rooney’s mind is locked into a fixation all too common among the more macho Patriots. When he sees that most of the tutors are female, he does not take it well. He takes it out on Shira, backing her against the wall next to the blackboard. “You must be that mudblood whore everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout. You think you’re so smart. Well, guess what? You’re just a girl.” He tries to crush her against the wall with his body. “You know what women really want? They wanna be raped by a real man. You know that’s what you want.”

She kicks him in the groin. He bends over, clutches his injured groin, slowly staggers back, and whimpers. “Think what you want,” she says, “if you even think at all.” She launches a vicious roundhouse kick into his head, sending him flying halfway across the classroom, knocking him out

The girls stand up and cheer, even the mean girls. Half the boys stand with them and howl.

cafeteria. Shira barely gets to sit down with her lunch when someone fires gunshots at the front door. Panic ensues; screaming teenagers flee the lobby and cafeteria, running down the hall to save their lives; Polly and Mimi follow them. A few remain: Shira, Jennifer, the Shelley twins, Dorian, Lucy, Debbie (who rushes back for the action), and a few others.

Shira and Jennifer look at each other. Jennifer says, “Sounds like a gunfight.”

Two men in black ski masks and trench coats burst through the doors, ranting incoherent death threats and leaving dead security guards behind. They spot the cousins and point their guns at them. They recognize the voices as Tournament sore losers Ron Tremayne, who never got over his Shepherd father’s death by Rebel Styles, and his inseparable friend Don Murphy. Shira says, “It is.”

“Let’s end it before our friends here do.” Jennifer glances sideways, implying Leila, Rob, and Debbie.

“Gotcha!” Shira flits out of view and appears right in front of Ron and Don as if from out of nowhere. She fixes them with a hard gaze. “Stop! Don’t move!”

Ron and Don freeze in place. They try to shoot Shira but can’t. They try to move but can’t. They’re completely motionless, and helpless.

Dorian gasps. Jennifer takes off her glasses to see what astonishes Dorian. Her Charmer cousin is projecting a reality distortion field so powerful that she can see it. Debbie asks, “What’s she doing?”

“She’s a Charmer. She’s casting a geis.” Debbie covers her mouth involuntarily and gulps hard.

“Drop your guns.” Ron and Don drop their guns. “All of ’em!” They take off their trench coats, which are loaded with guns and bombs. Then they remove holsters, bandoliers, anything that bears weapons. They wear black T-shirts, jeans, and combat boots. Dorian runs in and starts picking up discarded weapons; she gestures to the others, and except for Shira they help her take weapons away from Ron and Don. The Tournament losers are now disarmed, helpless, and quivering in terror at Shira’s power over them.

Shira paces slowly in front of the two boys, never keeping her eyes off them. They squirm but cannot move. A mischievous cockeyed smirk grows onto Shira’s face. They twitch nervously. She says, “Piss.”

Their bladders obey her command. The crotches of their black jeans go wet; the urine stains spread, and eventually drip. Shira revels in their suffering. Lucy runs away to shout the news; she comes back with a small group of students that quickly grows into a small crowd, all laughing at the predicament of the two who had come to massacre them. It ends only when their bladders are completely empty. Then Shira’s smirk becomes a wicked grin.

Ron whimpers, “Oh no...”

“Shit,” she commands.

The sound, the smell, and the pained look on Ron and Don’s faces betray that their colons are as obedient to her command as their bladders were. Diarrhea explodes out of Ron, staining his pants brown. Several girls hold their noses and cry out “Ew!” Lucy and other more squeamish girls flee the scene. The remaining jocks and princesses laugh.

“Now lie down on the floor and remain calm.” Ron and Don resist her command with all their might, but their bodies obediently climb down onto the floor and lie down, their legs together and their arms at their sides. Shira points down at them and orders, “Don’t you move a muscle till the nice policeman snaps his fingers.” They go catatonically rigid.

Several students laugh loud and cheer Shira’s victory. Debbie runs over to kick and slap them quiet, but Shira grabs her, spins her around, and says sternly, “Oh, no you don’t.” Debbie glares at her, flinches when she remembers Shira’s kiss, then stomps away in frustration, leaving in the direction Lucy and her friends went. Shira throws a hard glance at the others; they go silent and slink away.

Scotty comes over to Shira grinning. “Why didn’t you tell ’em to ‘fuck’?” She throws him an annoyed look over her shoulder, rolls her eyes, and casually walks away. Embarrassed, he runs after the others. Everybody leaves Ron and Don to their fate.

period 4. Algebra class. Dave Whitmer serves as the tutors’ advisor. College classes don’t begin till the 21st, so till then Shira assists his teacher’s assistant during his fourth-period algebra class.

Bart Green, who is supposed to be in history class, barges in to protest the very existence of math on behalf of the Civil Religion, accompanied by his lieutenants Beck Skeever and Rex Corson. “This is nonsense!” he barks. “This has nothing to do with the will of Jesus America!”

Shira laughs and strolls idly toward Bart. “Sorry to burst your bubble, boy, but you can’t make heads nor tails of those all-important codes that God and Bacon slipped into the Bible, the Constitution, and Shakespeare unless you know some serious math.” She sings, “Just sayin’.”

A light goes on in Rex’s head. “By God, she’s right! Bacon did write Shakespeare!”

Bart grabs Beck and Rex by their collars and drags them out of the class in a huff.

period 5. History class. Most of the guys and half the girls can’t take their eyes off new teacher Sylvia Plame, twenty-four and beautiful, a stubborn idealist who has volunteered to be the new Student Union’s faculty advisor. She is one of Hope’s most promising (and adoring) protégées, so Shira and Jennifer greet her with hugs and kisses like a close family friend.

As soon as the bell rings, Sylvia takes roll call, and class gets under way. She barely gets halfway through roll call before Kelly storms up to the front of the classroom and pushes Sylvia around to disrupt the class. “History is bunk!” she yells.

Jennifer gets in front of her to stop her. “As a philosopher once warned, you’d better learn history, or you’re doomed to repeat it.”

“Bull pucky! There ain’t no such thing as history! Only Jesus America and Satan Satan Satan!”

Please cut the Jack-Chicky cliché storm, will you, Kelly?”

Shira stands up and laughs at Kelly. Embarrassed at Kelly’s outburst, the other students start to fidget and moan. Shira covers her ears and yells, “I can’t hear you, Kelly! La la la la la!” The other students giggle uncontrollably.

“Stop that, you idiot! Take those hands off your ears and listen to me!” Some students laugh at her misaimed insult.

Shira willfully ignores her and comically shrieks, “LA LA LA LA LA LA...” The whole class falls over laughing. Kelly storms out and slams the door.

period 6. P.E. class. Elspeth Currie, the youngest, best, prettiest, and most popular physical education teacher, is a magnificent athlete with short blond hair who towers over even Jennifer. Elsie was once a professional athlete; but shortly after the coup, whereas her older sister Amanda saved her job by selling out, she was blacklisted for refusing to take the loyalty oath. She’s the girls’ soccer coach, and half her players have a crush on her. Shira is the most ardent of them.

Shira worries that this class will go as badly as Polly’s first-period class. It goes perfectly smoothly, to her great relief. Even so, some of the students stumble off winded to the sides even before the light warmup ends. Shira notices that most of them are pampered rich kids.

Appalled at them, Charmian asks her, “How come none of your kids are tired?”

“You wanna eat, you gotta work, and if you wanna work, you gotta work out.” Shira sweeps her hand in the exhausted rich kids’ direction. “Says volumes about your kids’ chances in a fight, O Pretty Team.”

Charmian glares. “Hmph!”

Shira and Charmian do harder exercises than the rest of the gym class. They compete to see who lasts longest; they’re surprised to find they can keep up with one another and surprise the rest of the students by outlasting them. Charmian glares at the panting students on the sidelines and barks, “Get back here, you wimps!” They whimper and say nothing.

At the end of class, Elsie asks Shira, “Could you stick around in my office after class?”

“How come?”

“I like you.”

Shira grins. “Sure.”

locker room. Elsie shuts the office door behind them so no one else can hear. Shira asks her, “Is this about Amanda?”

“You love her even more than I do.”

“It hurts me every time I see her parroting Murdoch’s lies like a cult zombie.”

Elsie sighs. “I was hoping you feel the same way I do.”

Shira hugs her and looks up into her eyes. “I’ll bring Amanda back. I promise.” Clutching her one thread of hope, Elsie smiles.

When the last girls leave, they strip off their sweaty gym clothes and admire each other’s athletic bodies all the way to the showers. They pick a stall; Elsie turns on the showerhead. Shira takes some liquid soap from the next dispenser and lathers Elsie’s smooth white skin with her hands. Elsie starts to protest, but Shira gently shushes her and soaps her entire body. After washing the soap off her body, she washes Elsie’s face and hair, and then kisses her lips. Elsie sighs.

Shira winks. “Your turn.”

As Elsie soaps her body, Leila walks sadly in. The sight of Shira facing her nude and wet stops her cold. She blushes furiously. Shira smiles. “Leila! Glad you’re here! Please take off your clothes and join us.”

Leila hesitates for a long moment. She stares at the strong curvy shameless brown body facing her. She blushes deeper red. Suddenly her heart makes the decision for her. She drops her backpack, throws off her clothes, and runs into Shira’s arms. They share a long hard kiss as Elsie looks on with pleasure. Elsie begins to soap her body; soon Shira moves her into the water stream and runs soapy hands up and down her. Leila allows herself to enjoy it; she moans, sighs, and giggles.

Suddenly a panicked Polly rushes in. “Girls! Get dressed, now! It’s an emergency!”

cafeteria. Jennifer stares open-mouthed through the big window at the chanting crowd gathered outside. “Oh emm gee, they love me!”

Now it seems all the Shepherds of the Church of America, all starred and striped, half named AMERICA!, crowd the Bangor High campus, completely surrounding it in hordes, to pray in unison for Jesus America to strike Jennifer Blair dead and her infidel friends along with her. Polly runs in leading Shira and Leila by the hand. When Shira hears the death chants, she laughs. “Holy Poe’s Law, Batman!”

Mean girls crowd into Jennifer. Christian gloats, “Survive that, Blair!”

Jennifer rolls her eyes and smiles contemptuously down at her. “Christie, Christie. All the ’re doing is chanting ‘Die, Jenni, die, Jenni, die, Jenni, die.’ It’s not like they’re doing anything more than calling for Challenges.”

“You fool!” shouts Lady. “They’ve got the full power of Jesus America on their side!”

“They’re mighty Prayer Warriors,” Lucy sneers, “and they’re here to pray your evil influence out of our school!”

Charmian walks toward Jennifer, glaring at her. “Now you’ve done it, Blair. I thought you were better than that, till yesterday.”

Jennifer walks away and laughs at them. They are almost about to tackle her when Shira gets in their way. “Not so fast.”

“Don’t interfere, Thomas. We outrank you.”

“I’m her adoring cousin. Remember?” She attempts to kiss Charmian on the lips, but she shrinks away.

By the time Debbie comes running, it’s already too late: Jennifer has already slipped through the guards and out the front door to confront the priestly horde directly. Students start to scream and shout when they see her completely naked and walking into the crowd. Soon all the monitors in the school show her.

A few throw stones; she dodges them. A few try to beat her up; she hits them into other Shepherds, who fall into each other like dominoes. But most of them are confident in the deadly power of prayer alone. They crowd into her, chant and scream, twitch and babble in holy ecstasy—but still she walks through them like Moses parting the Red Sea, indifferently nude, untouched by their death magic. To the horror of the Student Council, Team Valiant, the principals, even Ross at headquarters, the Shepherds begin to panic.

And Jennifer laughs.

Some Shepherds scream as their magic backfires on them, some attempt to horde-attack the slippery nudefighter, some chant harder till their white faces turn red then blue and their voices give out.

All the people in the school building stare silently in shock and fascination. Jennifer Blair, hero of Blake Island, striding naked and untouched through the disintegrating crowd of screaming fanatics. And she laughs.

on to the next...

Back to Chapter 6 index...
Back to Chaos Angel Spanner table of contents...

Copyright © 2012 Dennis Jernberg. Some rights reserved.
Creative Commons License

[Revision 4 Final, 8/19/12: Replotted and expanded.]

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Spanner 6.3 R4: Throw the Gauntlet

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland
Part 3: Throw the Gauntlet (Final Revision)

weight room. When the pool was built, the athletes got their own weight room. This is not the one.

The fighters of Team Bremelo pair up and attack the weights. Colette was no fighter, no match for a Blade Knight. Whoever sent Bernkastel after her and Karen—Ross, Brinkman, or worse—will surely send more and worse, so they need keep prepared. They push their muscles to the limit and say nothing.

They stretch afterward. Martial artists must be as limber as gymnasts. They help each other stretch out the pain and tension. Only big Kio doesn’t join them; that’s not his style. He wanders out in a daze, still half expecting to see Colette in the hallway.

They head off to the showers and say nothing. They understand each other enough that right now they do not need words. They will get the chance to speak out soon enough.

lunch. As soon as he spots Shira, Team Valiant’s Number Two, Beck Skeever, tries to force her to fight. “Champion of Team Bremelo! I call Gang Rules!

Shira smiles at him contemptuously over her shoulder. “Cut the baka, Becky. Everybody knows I don’t do gang.”

Beck points at her and spits hysterically, “You are gang, you Godless liberal mudblood! You belong to the Evil Liberal Communist Traitor Conspiracy led by Satan!”

She laughs at him. “Becky, you sound like one of Jack Chick’s most hysterical tracts!”

He screams and launches himself at her. “Don’t call me Becky, you bitch!” He tries to tackle her, but she knees his sternum to knock out his breath and unleashes a roundhouse to knock him down. She looks down at him as he dizzily writhes. Just a wrestler. Figures.

“Baka Becky,” she says as she kicks his head to knock him out. Shira looks to the side and finds Brandi Quinn watching her once again.

Number Three, Rex Corson, tries to ambush her from behind. In one smooth motion she ducks his grab and takes him out with a roundhouse kick.

Number Four, Lance Walker, tries to strangle Chuck the skatepunk girl from behind. Shira lands an elbow smash on his head; he lets go of Chuck, holds his head, howls in pain. “Yo!” taunts Shira. “Murder ain’t not allowed in school!” Lance roars and charges her; she knees his groin and follows with a hard kick to the ribs to send him flying backwards.

Dexter tries to dissuade her from fighting the Tournament Leaders. “Shira, don’t do this. You’re scarin’ me, girl.”

Shira kisses him. “Aw, don’t worry about me. I own their style.” She winks.

“How do you do it?” asks an astonished Polly.

Shira blithely shrugs. “Dojo sim.”
virtual reality. In the “Israeli Commando Assault” simulator, Sagramat 12 simulants rush Shira, Jennifer, and Cory. Shira threads through her attackers, dodges and evades, grabs sims by the arm or leg, tricks them into attacking each other, launches flying kicks to take them out. Her fighting style: Street Capoeira.

Cory leaps, flies, and spins on the ground, hits them with what seems to be killer dance moves. His style is classical capoeira.

In the dojo, the virtual instructor attacks Jennifer using any of the various krav maga styles taught by the Church of America. She elegantly dodges, grabs, throws, and counterstrikes. Whenever she finds herself taking a blow, she rewinds the simulation and redoes that particular attack as many times as it takes until she masters the countermoves. Her style: Combat Sambo.
“If you belong to the Church of America, you’re required to attend fighting classes to learn krav maga from Israeli military instructors. That’s why they’ve got a Tournament. The way they teach it, you fight one, you’ve fought ’em all.”

“Now you’re really scarin’ me.”

Head Boy Bart Green does not Challenge her. Gang Rules do not apply to the Tournament Champion; he has earned the right to refuse any challenge. Shira was not allowed to fight for Ranking, so she has not. Not yet. Still, Bart does not Challenge her.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Our Cyberpunk World: Your Brain Can Now Be Hacked

The article: Hackers backdoor the human brain, successfully extract sensitive data (Sebastian Anthony, ExtremeTech)

One technology that has become something of a cyberpunk cliché is the brain-computer interface. Recent developments have focused on sinister police uses. Now black-hat hackers have found a way to keep up with the secret police.

Yes, now the black hats can hack people's brains and even leave malware using BCIs. This will become especially dangerous in virtual reality. The defense is the same as that against interrogators and torturers: awareness, and refusal to give in.

Eventually I suspect enterprising programmers will start developing anti-malware systems for the brain...

Spanner 6.2 R4: First Day of Classes

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland
Part 2: First Day of Classes (Final Revision)

school lobby. The newly dubbed Team Bremelo brave the advotainment assault, which persists in mispronouncing Leila’s name “Leela.” Shira pushes her ahead. “Somebody needs to squash that bug stat.”

Bart, Charmian, and Kelly await them on the other side, backed by Team Valiant.

Shira crosses her arms. “What do you people want?”

Bart points at Shira and growls, “You’re defending the evil Fag Agenda!”

Kelly demands, “Are you supporting those dirty mudbloods too?”

Charmian gasps, “Is that true?

Shira casts an ironic look at them. “I thought I was the ‘dirty mudblood,’ Kelly darling.” She leans forward threateningly. “I know what you did to Colette last night.”

“How could we—”

Bart roars, “You lie!

Shira laughs at them. “Obviously you’ve never heard of the Law of Plausible Deniability, which states: If the Government denies anything, what it denies is true by definition. And since you, my friends, are the Government, the Law of Plausible Deniability applies to you.”

“You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Go ahead. Deny you’re in cahoots with a serial killer.”

The three stare at Shira in open-mouthed horror. Kelly grabs her by the scarf, pulls her uncomfortably close, and shrieks, “We’re the good guys!”

She stares mock-lasciviously into her eyes. “Ah, the ‘white hats.’ I’m told you people think it’s perfectly moral to beat up ‘gingers.’” Kelly looks at her strangely and lets go.

Charmian pokes her on the breastbone. “We know you are in cahoots with that traitorous Student Union.”

Shira puts her arms around Charmian and pulls her close, making her blush. “Charms darling, I love you to pieces, but I’m no wimpy liberal. I’m a heroic individualist, just like you.” She puts her mouth to Charmian’s neck to give her a hickey. Charmian struggles out of her arms in panic and slaps her as hard as she can. Shira holds her hand to her stricken cheek and chuckles. “Princess Charming loves me.” Beside Charmian, Bart looks ready to punch her.

Suddenly they find themselves surrounded by a small crowd of onlookers. Bart, Charmian, and Kelly look at each other, then glare at Shira. Bart points at Shira and shouts, “I swear to Jesus America, you’ll regret this!” Still glaring, they stalk off.

Mimi runs up to Shira in a panic, grabs her by the arm, and warns, “Uh-oh, Shira, you’re in really big trouble now.”

Shira hugs Mimi and flashes her a cockeyed smile. “Girlfriend, I am trouble.” She gives her a quick kiss on the lips.

Hidden around the corner, Brandi Quinn watches on. She winks her approval.

principal’s office. The guards slam the door behind Shira, Jennifer, and Leila. Karen cheerfully waves. Smirking Principal, glowering Falconer, leering Mobley, and stern Spiekerman glare down at them. She has the bearing of a drill instructor, which she was in the Marines, where she rose to the rank of Major. She prefers to be addressed by her military rank. They like to play Good Cop, Bad Cop with their unfortunate victims wayward students. Jennifer makes a call on her phone.

Principal says, “One of our teachers was murdered last night. You four were there.”

Shira replies, “Someone thought he knew too much and decided to shut his mouth. Permanently.”

“We have also heard rumors of a Student Union meeting. Surely you know something about that.”

“We weren’t there, so we wouldn’t know.”

Silence!” shrieks Falconer. “You’re here in this office because you’re committing insubordination! You’re supposed to do what we tell you to do and believe what we tell you to believe. That’s an order!

Jennifer finally gets through to Angela. Shira says, “Then you’d better throw just about every kid in this school into the Doghouse, Major, ’cuz they’re all shirking orders and making fun of your sponsored and censored so-called curriculum.”

Jennifer approaches the Principal and holds out her phone. “It’s for you.”

He takes the phone from her. “Hello?... Yes... Yes, yes, I do... Sorry.” Giggling nervously, he hands the phone back to Jennifer, then swivels his chair to look up at Falconer in amazement. “Major, it’s their lawyer from the Wilder Foundation. She said they said we need to leave these young ladies alone if we want to avoid a very costly lawsuit.” The other principals stare at Principal; he sweats nervously. Then all of them glare angrily at the girls.

The intercom rings. Spiekerman picks it up. “Hello? Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” He tells the girls, “Young ladies, you’re wanted in the back office.”

The girls trade looks. Shira and Leila silently question Karen; she nods. They stare at Spiekerman. He steps down and walks down the hall; the girls follow.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Spanner 6.1 R4: The Head and the Tail

...from previous

Chaos Angel Spanner — Chapter 6: Teenage Wasteland
Part 1: The Head and the Tail (Final Revision)

Youth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates.
Ernesto “Che” Guevara

I’ll be watching you...
The Police Lockheed Northrop Boeing Dynamics

3 september 2014.
telesphere.
The pretty yet empty talking heads of the MSM parrot the official spin. Let’s check ESPNBC:
Amanda: COPCO and the City of Bangor Parks Department have issued a press release stating that last night’s disturbance was a gang conflict that was quickly brought under control by the heroic actions of COPCO police agents. The death of a Bangor High School teacher was officially ruled the result of a domestic dispute. His remains have been claimed by his widow.

And now back to our top story: Lindsay Lohan has beaten up yet another ESPNBC reporter...
principal’s office. Principal, Falconer, Spiekerman, and Mobley stand before the plump stern unforgiving face of their boss, Peter Ross, glaring down on them from the big screen. “Tailism, my servants,” Ross warns. “You must not allow tailism to develop. I am the head and they are the tail, understood? I am the boss and you are my representatives, and as my representatives, you must be the head and not the tail.”

Principal manages to look grim without losing his perpetual smirk. “Easier said than done, boss. You see, our enemy has managed to infiltrate her own daughter into this very school.”

“My school!” wails Spiekerman. “Why did that bitch have to pick my school?”

“And that cheerleader cousin of hers,” Mobley adds, “she belongs to a whole cult of tailists, chanting even, ooga-chucka ooga-chucka.”

Falconer growls, “I’ll show no mercy to those little whores the second they get out of line.”

Ross says, “Rumors have reached me of a Student Union.”

The principals gasp in unison.

“The wild card remains Shira Thomas. Keep your eyes on her at all times. You cannot let her escape your sight. Do not let her make your tail run riot. Do not let her cut off your head. You are the head and not the tail. Am I understood?”

The principals reply in unison: “Yes, boss!”

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Spanner R4 - The Story So Far: School and the Single Slasher (Chapters 4-5, Interludes 3-4

Before I start posting the now complete Final Revision Chapter 6, here's the last in this week's "trilogy" of recaps, following up on the "pilot episode" and Chapters 2-3. So now, the totally revamped Revision 4 final versions of Chapters 4 and 5, getting us all the way to the beginning of the School Arc. As always, some parts contain NSFW material.

Chapter 4: Special Delivery Service (chapter index)
4.1: Public Service Announcement
The self-styled King of America and Emperor of the World, once known as the superhero Super Patriot, has a word with his three sons, the Becket brothers. FBI Director Radisson's televised message is hacked to reveal the revolutionary government's true belief and agenda. And the former Band with No Name lead guitarist who now runs pirate station KCUF pre-empts a Shira love moment with her mom to reveal a shocking MKULTRA-related secret behind the Conservative Revolution as Oliver's High Corporate father, the chairman of Biotron Corporation (makers of the Bioroid), singlehandedly foils an SRO terror attack.

4.2: She's Trouble
Shira's Touhou Online fan-MMO avatar ties up celebrity NPC Marisa and ends up catching a coveted Glitch mon before Marisa's angry BFF Reimu comes to rescue her. "Great Detective" Locke Holmes tries to pin the Spanner Incident on Shira yet again. Radisson faces the wrath of the corporations that make up the Media Industry Association of America (MIAA). The Becket brothers intimidate the chairman of COPCO. And introducing: the Style Underground, the Dictel Park Slasher, and the MIAA's most dangerous Intellectual Property Defender.

4.3: Last Day of Freedom
Shira and Hope discuss their personal strategy against the Seattle Public Education Corporation (SPEC) after what may be their last love moment. At Mudlark House (Willa's house), the Student Union organizers (including Shira and Jennifer) and Teachers Guild dissidents (led by Hope) their collective strategy against SPEC and the self-destruction of trade unionism. At a downtown Bremerton coffee house, two marketing evangelists Shira dubs "John Nike" interrupt a get-together with her friends, so she pranks them. And the future (as of 6.1) fight club "Team Bremelo" make their first tour of gang-infested Dictel Park and meet a couple freakish gang "fuhrers" they'll be messing with in the future...

4.4: The Hand-Off
Remember that Gnostic gospel Team Spanner stole back in Chapter 1? Shira's redheaded sister Desiree delivers it to the Beckets' stripe-haired nemesis, Ariel Shield, who gives her an affectionate reward...

4.5: New Pony Express
Shira's turn to deliver, as a hoverboard courier. She thinks she's delivering human eggs to the Biotron chairman. Little does she know she's delivering someone else's revenge...

4.6: So Much the Worse
Drusilla Becket holds a meeting at her cult headquarters for those most affected by the incident in 4.5, including of course Oliver. At Leila's house, her family try to work out a plan to disentangle her from the marriage arrangement to Oliver forced on her by their clan patriarchs. She remembers the Minty Fresh incident in 3.2 from her perspective. And at Bangor High, Shira has her first battle with the Dictel Park Slasher and rescues a girl, while foiling terrorist bombers...

Interlude 3: One Nation Under Copyright, All Rights Reserved
My first big style experiment since Chapter 1. And the story of two IP Defenders sent after one Rebel Styles, who gives them much more than they bargained for...

Chapter 5: I Lerned Alot In Skool (chapter index)
5.1: Sky Surfer Goes to School
The School Arc begins here! Shira drops in on her hoverboard for the first day of school at Bangor High. Sure enough, she and Jennifer fight their first bullies and meet Leila's twin brother Rob. Also introducing the black English girl named Brandi, who will play a major role later.

5.2: Meet Your Friends While You Still Can
First, Shira and the tutors have to face the condescending Principal Principal and his vice principals. Shira and Leila finally come together for the first time. And of course they meet their friends. Introducing the janitor, Zac Finney, who is much more than he seems...

5.3: The Grand Introduction
In Dictel Stadium, the Student Council are introduced as if they're sports celebrities. In the school's Nike Arena (yes, SPEC signed an exclusive contract with that company), the sports captains are introduced in a way that keeps the company as the star and celebrity — until its logo gets hacked into a scary roaring "Scream Gem", a prank that gets our heroines thrown into the "doghouse"...

5.4: You Think You're All That
The tutors' homeroom teacher is — the Dictel Park Slasher? He disses Leila for pronouncing her name the politically incorrect way ("Layla"), then tries to convince Shira to join him in the Conservative Revolution — but Shira counters that he got hacked. Jennifer confronts Student Council VP Debbie for the first time. Shira and new student Akane (a guy, despite the female Japanese name) duel with mons in the lobby in front of a big crowd. She and Jennifer meet their instant fanclubs. Rob and Connor (Jennifer's brother) flirt. And the Slasher-teacher makes a call to his old Special Forces commander — United Corporations boss Richard Becket...

5.5: The Battle of Dictel Park
In Chapter 5's big action climax, Shira hoverboards a pizza delivery to a mysterious woman with connections to her past — and the Slasher's. The Student Union meet for the first time in a downtown Bangor coffee shop run by anti-Caliphate exiles. The Slasher tries to stop it by brutally attacking its leader, Shira and Jennifer's cousin Karen, leaving her friend Colette in a coma — but she succeeds in luring him back to Dictel Park, where he faces all three cousins — and a deadly surprise...

5.6: In Too Deep
The aftermath of 5.5. Shira gets a major new piece of information from the Buzz. Colette's friends hold a vigil for her at the hospital. Shira takes Leila home for the night, shares a bath and a cigarette, and confesses her love. The villains lick their wounds and plot revenge. And Brandi makes a call of her own...

Interlude 4: The Rules of Tournament
Everything you need to know about the so-called "Law of Social Darwinism" and the Conservative Revolutionary institution or tradition called "Tournament". Cut to the school fighting tournament that created Team Valiant. But Shira is already working to ruin their rep, with the help of unscrupulous school gossips...

There! That brings us up to date. Tomorrow, Chapter 6 begins!

Copyright © 2012 Dennis Jernberg.
Some rights reserved. Creative Commons License