Author:
Audience Rating:
Publication:
Genre:
Character Age:
TG Themes:
Permission:
A
StoryChapter 2 - Connections
by Saless
Marvin dropped the camcorder off with a tech he knew to have it checked out. Afterwards he spent the rest of the day finding out everything there was to know about the late John Green. He wasn't remarkable, other than being universally disliked by just about everyone who ever knew him. He was the kind of guy who you might expect to die from multiple stab rooms in a room full of people without anyone seeing anything.
Other than that, the only thing of note was the fact he'd been fired for threatening a co-worker. A transgendered woman whom he later tried to rape. It was during the attempt he'd received the wound which killed him. The only person who seemed to have a particular gripe against him was the co-worker, but he couldn't see any way she could have done it. Even so, he decided to take a closer look at her. He started in the hospital by asking Mark. After some asking around Mark told him that her name was Sarah Kinsley, although her legal name was Sean, and she'd confused the doctors because she appeared completely female.
Further research revealed that she'd only been living as a woman for a few weeks and had started work as Sarah suddenly and without warning. How does one go from an apparently normal looking guy to a normal looking woman overnight, complete with a sex change? he wondered. He couldn't find any record of her going anywhere for surgery and there certainly wasn't any indication she'd had it done locally.
He decided to watch her while he waited to get word on the recording. He went to the hospital first thing in the morning and found she was being visited by three other people about the same age. He waited until she was released and then followed them out. Once he'd identified which car belonged to her friends he got in his own car and followed them home. He drove past once they'd parked and so didn't see Sarah disappear through her portal. He parked his car as far from where they'd parked as he could and still see them, and then used his binoculars. They were already inside the apartment at this point so he settled down to wait.
Shortly after he got settled the only male of the group came out and walked to a different apartment. A few minutes later the two female friends ran out in the same direction. He was in luck, in that he could see both apartments from where he was parked. They ran inside the apartment and didn't come back out for some time. When they did come out it was all four of them. He was just about to go when he noticed the door open again and a shadowy figure come out and lock the door before hurrying away. He quickly lost site of them and went to check on the license plate numbers on the car they'd arrived in and the car they'd left in.
He was looking over that information when he got a call from the tech who was checking out the recording. "Marvin, where did you get this?" the tech, James, asked excitedly.
"You know I'm not going to tell you that." Marvin replied.
James chuckled and said, "Okay, but wherever you got it from, it hasn't been tampered with. It's real!"
Marvin frowned and said, "You mean it's a real recording of a trick, right?"
"Maybe, or maybe not. Weirder stuff has happened lately." James replied.
"What do you mean?" Marvin asked.
"Oh come on, you must have heard?! There was that weird explosion or whatever that was on TV the other day. You know, melted, blasted hills? But that's just the most obvious thing. There's been all kinds of weird rumors lately, and I've heard that some psychics have suddenly gotten a whole lot more accurate! Some even got arrested, because the police thought they were involved in the crimes they were helping them with, but they were later proven to be innocent." James said.
"What does that have to do with some faked recording of someone turning to ash?" Marvin said.
"I'm just saying, it might not be faked!" James replied.
"Sure, James, and Bigfoot is real!" Marvin said with a laugh.
"Go ahead and laugh, but there's some weird stuff going on." James said.
"Whatever. You're sure the tape wasn't altered?" Marvin said.
"Yeah, I'm sure." James said.
"Okay, thanks James." Marvin said.
"Sure, Marvin." James said grumpily, and hung up. Marvin then called up for someone to retrieve the ashes of John Green for analysis. I don't believe in psychics, but there is something going on, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it! he thought.
To Be Continued…
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos!
Click the Thumbs Up! button below to leave the author a kudos:
And please, remember to comment, too! Thanks.
Comments
What'd they say?
Having the only telepath in the world on your side is handy? Not the only one, not anymore!
Okay, Saless, 'fess up! Apparently, your Chronicles of Mana storyline will describe how a whole lot of worlds had their magic awakened, among other things. You have already established POWYHL and CoM being in the same continuity as VC, although CoM is told to be taking place eatrier in the multiversal timeline. While KittyHawk is not yet added to this continuity in an obvious manner, I rather doubt it will stay a standalone universe. So, a few questions:
1)Was Ann truly a self-awakened person like Jean, or their awakening was made possible by CoM storyline results?
2)Is KittyHawk indeed a part of the same continuity as your other stories? If yes, then:
3)When does it take place in the multiversal timeline? Earlier than CoM, during CoM, after CoM but before VC and POWYHL, at the same time as VC and POWYHL, or after VC and POWYHL? If after CoM, then:
4)Is Catherine also an awakened person, with her mind-reading bit?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Faraway
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Okay, I'll see what I can
Okay, I'll see what I can say without giving away too much...
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
I.m impressed!
telling the same story from three different angles takes some doing, Especially when you have readers and commentors ready to pull you up if you make a mistake!....And no i have'nt found a mistake, I really do think you deserve all the compliments you get.
Kirri
Thanks Kirri! It does keep
Thanks Kirri! It does keep me on my toes, making sure I don't contradict myself between them!
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Could Marvin Possibly Be
Some sort of magical scout, capable of tracking anything? That'd explain him being a Watcher.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
I have to say
..that I am enjoying your threaded story lines. I wasn't into it at the beginning with the Dreamer episodes, but I've come to relish the side stories as they interact with the main plot. One benefit of telling it like this, which others may or may not agree with, is that it does not interrupt the narrative flow as much, in my mind. Even though I try to catch each episode as you post, I find that the simple act of clicking on the embedded link to the next parallel line to be enough to "reset" my mental focus. This certainly can work in a structured hard copy, but I find the freedom of this electronic method of expression adds a little to my overall enjoyment. It will be good to have Tiffany join the main story (for everyone's sake) when it finally happens but I will miss her Shadow chapters.
Keep writing, dear. I love what you have done!
SuZie
It helps that
I've had read hard cover books that had a similar style of writing, with chapters dedicated to different characters of a long-arching storyline. But yeah, it helps "reseting", as you put it.
Faraway
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Thanks Suzie! I've had some
Thanks Suzie! I've had some fun exploring the different options available here. ^_^
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
The Watcher - 2- Connections, by James Burke
-- cue carbon arc lamp and chorus --
Now you KNOW how old I am if I remember the PBS/BBC science series Connections. And I was in collage at the time it was first shown in the US -- as an undergrad. And Jimmy Carter was President, you know, that REALLY OLD former US President?
The cop noted but failed to wonder how four left Jill's house when only three went in there and one of the four was never seen entering that house but was seen entering her own house earlier. And he refuses to believe the untampered video. Who did he think made it, Steven Spielberg?
Testing the ashes was smart but will it help? If the blade is cursed or magic, even the ashes might quickly decay to nothing.
He did sort of see Tiffany in her shadowkin mode but could not ID her.
Will he eventually NOT be clueless? Will he be a threat or an eventual ally?
John in Wauwatosa
P.S. My guess is Kittyhawk and the mutations came first in your story universes. The mutations also sometimes tapped into the magic, call it an extra dimentional energy field, and powered the more extreme mutant powers, the lesser/basic powers are all from animal abilities in the DNA. The magic was always there but untapped. The mutations gradually led to people who could tap the magic directly.
Or I'm off in the boondocks again.
John in Wauwatos
John in Wauwatosa
The Watcher Watched?
With Vash, Jill, and now Sarah having some mental powers, it's only a matter of time until Marvin (his last name better not be Pentwater) is discovered. Then, the fun begins.
Can you say, "Wild goose chase?"
I knew you could.
POV violation
I started reading the story -- I mean, this triplet of connected stories -- from the beginning a couple of days ago, and I'm really enjoying it/them so far.
In this chapter, there's an abrupt change of POV, here:
>>He drove past once they'd parked and so didn't see Sarah disappear through her portal.
The rest of the chapter seems to be from Marvin's POV, with some exposition summarizing what he's learned from talking to Mark and others; but this one sentence jumps out to omniscient POV, and then back to focusing on Marvin's POV in the next sentence. Switching POV like that isn't absolutely unworkable, but to do it smoothly, you need more of a transition than you've got here. Or you could just write it strictly from Marvin's POV, and trust your readers to figure out why Marvin didn't see Sarah's use of the portal.
I think I may have noticed a couple of minor POV violations of this kind in the Tiffany-POV story, but overall you're doing pretty well with this weaving of three parallel stories. I look forward to catching up with the serials -- not so much to having to wait for the next chapter like everyone else.
---
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/trismegistusshandy
http://shifti.org/wiki/User:Trismegistus_Shandy
I'm glad you're enjoying
I'm glad you're enjoying them. As for the POV, it's all third person, with the focus on Marvin. So there's no POV violation (that I can see, anyway). The same goes for all the VC stories, they're all third person with the focus on a particular character. In VC it's Sarah, here it's Marvin, and in Sarah's Shadow it's Tiffany. But the only time anything goes directly from their perspective is in italicized thoughts. But if you see anything else that looks off, please let me know!
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America