Monday, August 13, 2012

Spanner R4 - The Story So Far: The Pilot Episode (Intro, Chapter 1, Interlude 1)

For those new to Chaos Angel Spanner or who want to catch up/reread (and for blog subscribers who never got the new version of the story because I updated old posts), here's the complete rundown of the final version of Chapter 1, now not just expanded to "movie" length, but an experiment in storytelling and style. (Note: some parts contain NSFW material.)

Intro: Press the Reset Button
In the far future, sentient Corporations destroy Earth with nanorobotic "gray goo" bomb. The last human alive and her sentient spaceship realized there's only one thing that can be done: press the reset button.

Chapter 1: Spanner in the Works (chapter index)
1.1: The Beginning of the End
Back in the present day (or "twenty minutes into the future"): The Conservative Revolution is explained, and protagonist Shira Thomas announces her presence in a videoblog post.

1.2: I Can See For Miles
Leila Shelley is rescued by her family from a sinister halfway house, Shira battles along with disgruntled private cop J.T. Sparks against a pair of serial-killing mercenaries on an assassination mission, and Keenan Sasser gets bad news about the future from Shira and Sparks.

1.3: Escape to New York
Sexy reporter Amanda Currie resigns herself to being a cheery lamestream newsreader. Ariel Shield (the stripe-haired beauty last seen rescuing her niece Leila) battles politically powerful priestess Drusilla Becket to rescue the latter's granddaughter from her. Will Becket, the vampire super soldier who slew Osama bin Laden, interrogates one of the mercenary hitmen and gets more than he bargained for. Shira's blonde cousin (and childhood love) Jennifer Blair confronts Shira's terrorist half-sister and her friends on the plane to New York. In New York, major antagonist Henry Becket confronts the spectre of Chaos...

1.4: The Secret Meetings
Yesterday, Shira, Jennifer, and their mothers consummate their forbidden love and then gather friends for final planning of a mysterious operation. Today, the day of their mission, after Shira and Jennifer make love, they meet with their contacts for the final time — and invoke the mysterious figure known only as Spanner, who has vowed to put his tag on every subway car in New York...

1.5: The Lost Cause
Yesterday, Shira announces her intention to liberate Leila from an arranged marriage and claim her for her own. Today, the terrorists attempt to crash the mysterious Corporate meeting Henry Becket is guarding — and fail.

1.6: Stalking the Rotten Apple
Yesterday, the legendary hacker group known as the Wrecking Krewe assemble for the operation. Today, Spanner appears and takes his position, ready to strike...

1.7: Enter the Monkeywrench
The Wrecking Krewe make their final plans, sacrifice live iPhones to Eris, and remember the fallen. The United Corporations hold their secret meeting, with a surprising special guest. And Spanner takes out his spanner and strikes.

1.8: The Virus Has Been Spread
The chaotic aftermath.

Interlude 1: Rocket Ready
You are dreaming. Shira, Jennifer, and their friend Harumi have a rocket. Guess where it's going. The first "omaké".

Next: Chapters 2-3 and Interlude 2, followed by Chapters 4-5 and Interludes 3-4.

Revision 4 editing update: Chapter 6 has proved to be as difficult to edit as Chapter 5. It took me nearly a week to get halfway through. Chapter 7 shouldn't be quite so hard, since I did so much of the editing work during this year's NaNoEdMo. Since I've already put the former Interlude 5 ("The Law of Social Darwinism") into the final version of Interlude 3 ("The Rules of Tournament"), I'll need to come up with a completely new Interlude 5 pretty soon, and it'll have to be Leila-related. I will re-post Chapter 6 starting Thursday (8/16).

Copyright © 2012 Dennis Jernberg. Some rights reserved.
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