Story – Drip Torch Press

December 14, 2022 driptorchpress Sci-fi, Story, Writing

“Document 13” A Dystopian Tale: Part 15

Welcome to Part 15 of “Document 13”, a dystopian graphic novel I’m creating with my daughter.

If you want to read the rest first, see the links below the post to catch up.

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The year is 2074, the world has been plunged into darkness. One girl, Sarah Doe, will learn the secrets of the dark forces that run the ruined world. With the help of a few friends, her family, and her own powers she will fight to return the world to an order not known since well before her birth. Will she succeed? Read to find out!

If you haven’t read the other parts, go back and read them first! (Links are at the bottom).

———————————–—————
**Scene:**
*Dr. Bureau’s office. Headmistress Matthews is impatiently tapping on the desk.*

HM: I gave you a month, what do you have to show?

Dr: I used Sarah’s DNA to track down her mother… At least I discovered that she is not in the clouds anymore. She could be dead or she could be unregistered. It doesn’t really matter but it did prove my hypothesis…

HM: Which is?

Dr: Sarah is a super soldier. She was bred in a lab by Party scientists.

HM: I remember your conspiracy theories about that program… Anyway, she’s a nightmare, having a super soldier does nothing for me if she’s impossible to discipline, and worse yet, impossible to kill.

Dr: I may be able to transfer it. I have isolated the sequences, I just need a few subjects.

HM: Transfer it? To anyone?

Dr: I don’t know for sure. You have a steady supply of orphans though. I’m sure you could spare a few. Females… I know your males are much too valuable.

HM: I do have a few troublemakers I could spare. But what do I get in return?

Dr: If I can transfer the powers to younger subjects there is a chance I could give it to older subjects as well.

HM: Ah, so I’ll be your guinea pig eventually. Will I be immortal?

Dr: That doesn’t appear to be the case. As I said during our last meeting, Sarah could burn or be shredded, or melted in acid. It is possible to die permanently. Sarah is aging normally, though it seems she reverted back to an earlier age when she died, so it’s possible her life span is virtually infinite. She could die of old age. The only way to know some of these things is to test. And I’d much rather test children first than you my dear benefactor.

HM: How long will these tests take?

Dr: Months? I should be able to see transfer results within weeks but it may take a while to determine if it creates real immortality… a whole lifetime, maybe more. With some disposable subjects I should at least be able to determine whether the regeneration and revival powers are transferrable.

HM: Fine, I’ll have some girls brought over in the morning. But if you aren’t ready in two months I’m taking back what’s left and you can dispose of Sarah however you can.

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December 13, 2022 driptorchpress Sci-fi, Story, Writing

“Document 13” A Dystopian Tale: Part 14

Welcome to Part 14 of “Document 13”, a dystopian graphic novel I’m creating with my daughter.

This is a considerably longer post than the usual so hang in there,
———————————————

The year is 2074, the world has been plunged into darkness. One girl, Sarah Doe, will learn the secrets of the dark forces that run the ruined world. With the help of a few friends, her family, and her own powers she will fight to return the world to an order not known since well before her birth. Will she succeed? Read to find out!

If you haven’t read the other parts, go back and read them first! (Links are at the bottom).

———————————–—————
**Scene:**

*Interior of Dr. Bureau’s office. He is leaning over a laptop, squinting at charts and murmuring to himself.*

Dr:… Was I right? So many years ago… I must examine her DNA.

*He exits the office and walks down the wide hallway to the lab.*
*When he enters we see Sarah, asleep on the gurney, with wires attached to various points on her body.*

*He goes to a computer and starts looking through data.*

Dr: She’s 14… 2060… We were still implementing protocols then….how did she slip through?

*He continues clacking away at the computer. Sarah starts to stir.*

Dr: … list of program escapees…. Only six that year, this should be easy to narrow down…. Find DNA records of escaped subjects….

Sarah speaks softly from the gurney: Where am I?

Dr: Oh, you’re awake! You’re in my lab, I’m Dr. Bureau. I worked with your mother at one time. Now I just have to figure out who she was.

Sarah: How do you know my mother? I was orphaned. No one knows my mother…

Dr: It’s a long story. In 2060 I was working with a Progressive Salvation Party team to create super soldiers….

S: Progressive what? Super soldiers?

Dr: Yes. The Party believed the only way to reunite the world was to overpower all the other world alliances. We wanted an entire army of super humans who could destroy the Eastern Empire. Our team hoped to take advantage of genetic mutations noticed in children born in the late 2020’s. I won’t bore you with details.
Well… maybe a few. It’s been awhile since I had anyone to tell about it…
So. The Party only wanted men for soldiers, neglecting the fact that the positive genetic effects were noted most prominently in females. Needless to say we failed. Or at least we thought we did. I always told my colleagues that I believed the necessary traits would only activate between two x chromosomes, but they didn’t listen.
We engineered the conceptions to result in male children, but sometimes a female would slip through. We terminated when we could but some women escaped when they found out that they were carrying girls. It seems your mother was one of the ones who got away. Due to funding, no one tracked the mothers or the girls born to them, but I guess I know where one ended up….

S: What are you telling me? I’m a mutant?

Dr: (chuckling) Well, sort of. We never got to study the genes of positive outcomes. We didn’t have any. All the girls were aborted, save for the escapees, but we didn’t have the resources to chase them down. The program was mothballed in 2066 and the Party settled for having superiority in cloud cities. I wasn’t one of the lucky few to keep a position in the party. Thankfully I kept my life…

S: Why did the Headmistress bring me here?

Dr: She and I go back a long time. She was a Party member too, though she was working on different projects. We were purged about the same time….

S: Purged?

Dr: Yeah, there was a shift around the time you were born. The Eastern Empire collapsed and the government shifted focus from military projects to social change. I was moved to the same department as Headmistress Matthews, but after a few months they decided we were expendable. Our minds were no longer needed. Many Party members were killed but we escaped the Clouds and began our own “businesses” down here. As long as we don’t make too many waves they aren’t interested in pursuing us.

S: OK, but why did she bring me here?

Dr: Initially Matthews was frustrated that she couldn’t kill you. She brings me a lot of her problem children to work on. Usually I just pass them back after a little tweaking, usually it just takes a few pills to calm them down, but you were different. I need a bit more time with you, so I told her I can share your powers….

S: You think you can share this? (In a hopeful tone) Will it kill me?

Dr: No, Miss Deathwish, you’ll live for a long time if I get my way. Quite the opposite, you will be the progenitor of a whole race of your kind! I’m going to isolate the cause of the mutation and transfer it via mRNA encoding. If I am successful there will be many like you, and perhaps the Party will rehire me. Everyone wins.

S: What does Headmistress Matthews know?

Dr: Nothing beyond your virtual invincibility. Very few people outside of my department knew about the program. I tried to tell her about it once but she didn’t believe me. She is dumbfounded but she’s always looking for a way to keep her youth. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince her of your value.

S: Do you think my mother is still alive?

Dr: I have to reference your DNA with the subject database and then cross reference that with the census. If she’s in the clouds we’ll find her. Otherwise, who knows. A lot of them fled outside.

S: Outside? (In the safe havens?)

Dr: Yeah, not many people survived outside the cities during the ’36 eruption or the resulting famines. But some people think there’s safety out there. Didn’t they teach you anything at the orphanage?

S: No, just how to run errands and grow plants. And the boys do philanthropy duty, at least until they tried to get me to….

Dr: (laughing) Yes, I was told.

S : (Maybe I shouldn’t try to die. Ruby wanted me to get outside, maybe she knew my mother….)

Dr: I need to run tests, sit still.

*He cuts her arm with a scalpel.*

S: Ow!! What are you doing?

Dr: Just wait. How many times have you been cut in life?

S: Not many, we always had suits outside. And there wasn’t much to get cut on in the orphanage.

Dr: And how quickly did you heal?

S: I was always bandaged. If it healed quicker than average I wouldn’t have noticed.

*They both watch as the wound heals, not instantly, but over several minutes the cut disappears and leaves a slight scar.*

Dr: Curious… tell me, what’s your tolerance for the air outside? Matthews says you survived it.

S: I had my mask rip off once for a minute, I panicked and put it back on. When I was thrown out with Ruby I lasted longer than her but not more than 30 seconds.

Dr: And what happens when you die? How does that feel?

S: Pain. Then nothing. I see flashes of my life. And then darkness.

Dr: And when you wake up?

S: Excruciating pain. Then euphoria. I feel like I am completely new. Hard to describe…. I’ve only died a few times that I know of…

Dr: Fascinating…. And how are you so eloquent?

S: Ruby…. (she tears up)

Dr: I’m sorry. The cook… How long did you have together?

S: Just a month or so, it’s hard to tell in the safe room. But she taught me to read. I loved it. There was an old library at the orphanage and she would sneak me books. She said I was some sort of prodigy. I don’t know about that….

Dr: It’s possible, with your genes. Have you noticed you are better at physical activity than others?

S: I was the best fundraiser for the orphanage. Until the damn dogs… (she remembers Robin and begins to cry)

Dr: You have been through a lot. Let me give you a little something to help you rest….

———————————–—————

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December 9, 2022December 9, 2022 driptorchpress Sci-fi, Story, Writing

“Document 13” A Dystopian Tale, Part 12

Welcome to Part 12 of “Document 13”, a dystopian graphic novel I’m creating with my daughter. I finally started writing again, so maybe I will stay ahead of the curve for awhile more.

—————————————————
The year is 2074, the world has been plunged into darkness. One girl, Sarah Doe, will learn the secrets of the dark forces that run the ruined world. With the help of a few friends, her family, and her own powers she will fight to return the world to an order not known since well before her birth. Will she succeed? Read to find out!

If you haven’t read the other parts, go back and read them first!
———————————–—————
**Scene:**

*Interior of a small cell. There is a metal slab serving as a bed, and a toilet in the corner. The room is completely empty and unembellished otherwise.*

*Sarah sits on the slab. She is wearing only a hospital gown and is softly sobbing.*

S: (I’m so sorry Ruby. Why can’t I save anyone? If I get out of here I will avenge you. You wanted me to survive, so that is what I’m going to do.)

*Two men wearing scrubs come in. Sarah attempts to resist them but they inject her and lay her on a wheeled gurney. They proceed to wheel her down a long hallway. At the end of the hall is a room with a small faded plaque reading “Dr. Stephen Bureau, Genetic Perfection Research Laboratory”. They take her inside.*

**Scene:**
*Interior of Dr. Bureau’s lab. It is poorly lit and filled with old equipment, mostly electronics which are left unpowered and some have been cannibalized. There are some pieces of newer looking equipment, mostly for phlebotomy. In the center is a small slab with a light over it.*

*Dr. Bureau is looking at a computer screen when the two men enter with Sarah. He is a stout man, with square framed glasses which contrast in a silly way with his round face. He is wearing a lab coat over a shabby beige shirt with a brown tie. His slacks are just a tad short for him.*

Dr: Put her there.

*They move Sarah to the gurney and strap down her hands and feet.*

*Dr: Leave her for now, I’ll call you when I need you. And tell Headmistress Matthews to wait for a call. No sense in having her nosing around in here before I know what I’m looking at.*

Men: Yes, sir.

*They leave the room.*

Dr.: Well Miss Doe, let’s see if you are what I think you are.

*He draws Sarah’s blood and begins testing it.*

October 11, 2022 driptorchpress Art, Sci-fi, Story

Document 13: A Dystopian Tale, Part 11

Here is Part 11 of “Document 13”, a dystopian graphic novel I’m creating with my daughter. This week: It moved!

Love it? Hate it? I welcome any and all feedback!

The year is 2074, the world has been plunged into darkness. One girl, Sarah Doe, will learn the secrets of the dark forces that run the ruined world. With the help of a few friends, her family, and her own powers she will fight to return the world to an order not known since well before her birth. Will she succeed? Read to find out!

———————————–—————

Scene: Interior hallway. The orderlies are pushing two gurneys towards a large door.

O1: It’s been awhile since we fired this up. We don’t have much time before morning, let’s hope it works still.

He switches on the incinerator.

O1: Alright, just a few minutes and it should be hot enough.

One of the sheets on a gurney moves.

O2: Did you see that?

O1: See what?

O2: It moved!

O1: You’re nuts. They’re dead.

O2: We gotta push them in, bodies creep me out…

O1: Alright, let’s go.

One of the sheets moves again. Sarah moans.

O1: Shit ! What the hell? No one survives outside! We gotta push her in the oven first.

They push the gurney to the oven opening and open the door.
Sarah sits up. She sees what they are about to do. She quickly rolls off the gurney and struggles with the orderlies, knocking one of them towards the incinerator door. His hand goes into the fire.

O1: Aggghh!!!

S: Get off of me!!

O2 lets go of Sarah and rushes to 01. Sarah runs away.

O1: Get her! My arm is not as important as my life!

O2 runs after Sarah.

She manages to make it outside the building but trips and falls just before the airlock door. Orderly 2 catches up and they struggle. The headmistress appears.

HM: What is this?! I thought I told you to dispose of her !

O2: I don’t know, she woke up!

HM: I don’t know what is going on, but you’ve become a real liability around here, Sarah. I may have one last option. Orderly, load her in the transport and take her to the lab.

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October 4, 2022October 4, 2022 driptorchpress Sci-fi, Story, Uncategorized

“Document 13” A Dystopian Tale: Part 10

Welcome to part 10 of “Document 13”, a dystopian graphic novel I’m creating with my daughter. This week: an escape.

The year is 2074, the world has been plunged into darkness. One girl, Sarah Doe, will learn the secrets of the dark forces that run the ruined world. With the help of a few friends, her family, and her own powers she will fight to return the world to an order not known since well before her birth. Will she succeed? Read to find out!

If you haven’t read the other parts, go back and read them first!
———————————–—————
**Scene:** Just outside the secret hiding spot in the pantry. Sarah is zipping up a bag while Ruby waits.

R: You have everythin’?

S: I think so. You sure I can read well enough to understand your directions?

R: Girl, you read better than I do. You’re some kind of super genius or somethin’. You remember the signal?

S: Yeah. Stay behind you in the shadows until you put your hand behind your back.

*They walk out cautiously and Sarah lags behind a bit.*

**Scene:** Night time in the compound. All the orphans are asleep and aside from a few lights around the perimeter, everything is dark. Ruby is seen walking towards the suit room.

Orderly 2: What do you need?

R: I received a message that one of my family is hurt. I need a suit to see him.

O2: You know you have to get permission from the Headmistress to get a suit. Do you have it?

R: No, sir… I’m in a hurry, can we skip the formality just this once?

O2: Tell you what, the shift’s almost over, no one has been near this room for a month anyway, I’ll go with you and get her permission.

R: But sir, that will take too….

O2: Shutup! I’m not losing my job over you!

R: OK…

*She puts her hand behind her back and follows the orderly towards the office.*

*Sarah sneaks out of the shadows and approaches the suit room. Just as she gets in she hears a voice behind her.*

Orderly 1: So there you are! I knew if we gave it enough time you’d appear.

*The headmistress appears with Ruby and orderly 2.*

Hm: Send them outside. No suits.

Sarah: Kill me! Not her!

Hm: I can’t have any insubordination, both or none. I can always replace a cook…

Ruby: Girl, shh.

*The two orderlies shuffle them into the airlock.*

S: I’m sorry, Ruby! You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me. I should have just been obedient and left before!

R: No Sarah, you are here for a reason. The good Lord wanted me to find you. I don’t believe He’s gonna let you die, even if I do. You are special and if a noose didn’t kill you, nothin’ will. None of this is in vain. I’m not their slave, I can die with my head held high. I love you.

*The airlock opens, both women struggle to breathe, holding onto each other and finally falling still.*

Hm: Retrieve the bodies and dispose of them in the incinerator. Don’t mention this to any of the other orderlies. Do it quickly!

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September 28, 2022September 28, 2022 driptorchpress Sci-fi, Story, Uncategorized, Writing

“Document 13” A Dystopian Tale: Part 9

Welcome to part 9 of “Document 13”, a dystopian graphic novel I’m creating with my daughter.

If you have missed it so far, check it out on my Drip Torch Studio page.

Love it? Hate it? I welcome any and all feedback!

The year is 2074, the world has been plunged into darkness. One girl, Sarah Doe, will learn the secrets of the dark forces that run the ruined world. With the help of a few friends, her family, and her own powers she will fight to return the world to an order not known since well before her birth. Will she succeed? Read to find out!
———————————–—————

Scene: One month later in the pantry. Ruby enters and shuts the false wall. Sarah has several books now. She also has a pencil and is tracing letters when Ruby comes in.

R: It’s gettin’ harder to keep you. The orderlies have been askin’ harder and harder questions, which is sayin’ a lot for them. I think they have their suspicions. I love you girl, but it’s gettin’ time for you to leave the nest.

S: But how? You said they are guarding the suits. Robin died without a…

R: They only have two guards. And they are dumber than bricks. You should hear the questions they’ve been askin’. Sure, they’ve gotten tougher, but when the early questions were softball questions…

S: What are we going to do?

R: They switch shifts every twelve hours. The next switch is in two hours. Gather your things. I brought you some extra rations and directions to the outside.

S: The outside?

R: Now, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten everything I taught you. The safe-haven outside the city. My friends work in a factory supplyin’ shoes to the floatin’ city, but they have connections to the safe-haven. I’ve managed to smuggle out a message to them with one of the other orphans so they’ll know you’re comin’. She had no idea what she was deliverin’ but I’m sure she got it on the right bot. I hope anyway… When the guards are switchin’, I’ll distract them and you sneak out. Do you remember where to go?

S: The library in the Northwest Quadrant. Stick to the safety corridors away from dogs.

R: Yes, they will meet you there and take you to the safe haven.

Scene: HM office, one week earlier. One of the orphans is standing in front of the hm desk. The hm is reading a note.

Hm: Thank you my dear one. You said the cook gave this to you, correct?

Orphan: Yes, ma’am. She said to hide it in bot Q105.

Hm (taking notes): Q105? That’s a shoe factory bot… thank you again, you’re dismissed.

The orphan leaves.

HM (picking up the phone): I think we found her. I have a plan.

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September 21, 2022September 22, 2022 driptorchpress Horror, Sci-fi, Story

The Curse of Time

Tick tock.

Emma stared at the watch her father left her ten years ago. Despite its age, it was still ticking away, ten years now since the owner departed from this world. Well, the second owner anyway. It has been twenty years since the first owner passed away. That owner was Emma’s grandfather.

Tick tock.

Both men had owned this very watch. Both died young and sudden. Ten years apart to the minute exactly. Emma knew the stories well, but they didn’t spook her. She didn’t believe in superstitious nonsense. It was just a watch after all. A watch could not *kill* someone. It’s not a completely inanimate object, but it is not alive.

Tick tock.

Even so, today Emma is slightly worried. Today is exactly ten years since her father died in a most random way. He had fallen down three flights of stairs while checking the time on this very watch. Her grandfather had died ten years before that by stepping straight in front of a bus. Witness accounts testified that he had been staring at his wrist, and despite the honk of the bus horn and the screeching of tires he didn’t even look up to see what hit him.

Tick tock.

Both had died at exactly 6:53 PM. Despite the violence inherent in their deaths, the watch remained unharmed. It was a curiosity that fed the family rumors that the watch was cursed. No one wanted it when her father died, but Emma remembered admiring it all of her childhood, so she gladly took it. It wasn’t ornate or anything, just a simple numbered face and a bland black band. But to Emma it represented her father, and since he wasn’t a very rich man, he didn’t leave much else in his will.

Tick tock.

In Emma’s room, the time on both her phone and the watch said 6:45 PM. Despite her agnostic attitude about curses and killer objects, Emma is not going to take a chance near any staircases or busy city streets. She sits on her floor, snacking away on chips and scrolling her phone. Only occasionally does she glance at the watch, which is laying on the floor next to her.

Tick tock.

6:46. She doesn’t feel different. Surely a curse would create *some* feelings of lingering doom in the accursed. Even so, she insists on sitting still until the wretched anniversary passes. She’s not convinced, but she will be cautious. If anything it will prove to her relatives that they are paranoid and need to give up on such fables. When they call her later this evening it will feel so great to gloat. Despite her urging them to stick around for what would be, in her mind, an uneventful evening, none of them wanted to be around for, in their minds, an impending disaster. They weren’t taking any chances. Instead, they agreed to call her and check in right after the fateful minute.

Tick tock.

6:47. Emma plays a round of Candy Crush. Her mind is focused on getting just a few more lines matched. Success! Before the next round can start, she takes a long look at the watch and remembers her father. She sets down the phone and picks up the watch. Even though it was ten years ago, the trauma still turns her insides. She was the one who found his lifeless body. At ten years old she had never seen a body. Her father’s body had the dubious honor of being the first. To be honest, it was the last also. Death is a concept that resides far from our modern minds. She hasn’t known anyone else who died in the intervening years.

Tick tock.

6:48. Emma watches the second hand tick tick tick around the face of the watch. She ponders the seconds her father spent wearing this watch everywhere he went. She never saw him take it off. To him it was a memory of his father, a man Emma had never met. He didn’t think it was cursed. It wasn’t until his death that her relatives noticed the coincidental circumstances of both of their deaths. Both stared into this very watch face as they died. Both died ten years apart to the minute.

Tick tock.

6:49. What did they see? Emma wondered. It was just a watch. Nothing special. Three hands: a second, a minute, and an hour hand, each gliding across a black and white numbered face. Emma thought about time. None of us know when we will die. How many times will those hands drift around that perfect circle during our short lifetimes?

Tick tock.

6:50. Emma was beginning to drift. She couldn’t stop staring at the timepiece. The rest of the world fell away. She could see her father wearing it, swinging her in the yard as a child. He loved his only daughter. The memories made her feel warm. She wished he could have seen her grow into the young woman she is today.

Tick tock.

6:51. The hands move on and on. Around and around. There is nothing else in the world to Emma now. She can hear her father’s laugh, his voice, she can see his smile. He was a good man. How many hours did he play with her? Why did she not appreciate the seconds and minutes of his life? Time is short she thinks.

Tick tock.

6:52. Emma’s mind melts into a melancholic haze. Her eyes bore a hole into the watch. She can’t take her eyes away. Visions of her father fill her head. The second hand ticks away. One, two, three, four, five… She counts the movements. There is no watch now. Only a circle. Only hands spinning on a dial. Only numbers representing the abstract concept of moments… How many of those moments constitute a lifetime? How do we not see them fly by except when we look at our wrists? How can we be so blind and not appreciate every second of this thing we call life? So many questions. The power of time overwhelms her…. She feels as though she is falling….

Tick tock.

6:53. Emma’s body slams into the roof of a car. Pedestrians on the sidewalk scream. One of them had called out to the girl in the sixth story window only a minute before. He watched helplessly as she stared at something in her hand, completely unaware of his voice or of the danger she had put herself in. She seemed in a daze. He called out several times before that girl leapt. Or fell, depending on which witness you asked. They all agree on one thing: She never took her eyes off that watch. On the car’s rooftop, her body lay mangled, the watch clenched firmly in her lifeless hand, in the gaze of her glassy open eyes.

Tick tock.

6:54. Emma’s phone rings in her now empty apartment. Her family wanted to believe her, the watch wasn’t cursed, they were crazy for imagining it. It was a coincidence, right? Sadly, she never answers, and they know the watch has claimed another victim.

Tick tock.