WorldCrafter's "Essence of Story"

FINAL EXAM

(Beginner Level)

by A. Robin Bausman

III. BOOK SKELETON, BEGINNER’S BEARTRAP:

Beginning: Aimless Protag inadvertently trespasses and as a result ends up in the middle of a Situation.

Quarter Point: Antag captures Protag, takes advantage of the disrupted Situation, and implements plan to use Protag to achieve Antag’s evil goals. Horrified at Antag’s efforts, Protag escapes, trying desperately to find the way back.

Middle Point: Although free, Protag cannot go back.

Turning Point: Protag commits to stopping Antag and allies with Friends against bad guys.

Ending: Protag trespasses again (intentionally this time), defeats Antag, and "makes a difference".

Extra Credit: Inactive Companion Terin Sayer enjoys her quiet, ordered life translating dusty "Ancient" texts written when Humanity was one; cast adrift in time and place, can she resurrect those Companion skills, so long disdained, to save herself and one small band of survivors as she lives through that nightmare time, the sundering of Humanity in two – into Gen, like Terin, who produce the energy of life, selyn, and into Sime, who need but do not produce that energy?

Extra Credit: Various styles, because variety is the spice of life.

V. OPENING SCENES:

1.    "You could be a top level Companion, a TN1, if you wanted – "
2.    "That is the operative phrase, isn’t it?" Terin broke in. "If I wanted. I don’t. Leave it, Eric, ok? Let’s not argue again; I don’t have much vacation left." She looked out the car’s window at the passing trees, the forest a dark cloak shielding the mountains from foreign eyes. The crisp autumn sun had almost burned the morning’s mist away. Home, she thought. If I wanted…
3.    Eric’s lips thinned and his Sime tentacles tightened on the wheel. "This demonstration is important to us; Geff’s work – "
4.    "Is the break Dandri needs!" Terin interrupted again. Her gaze cut back to Eric. "I’m here, aren’t I? I promise I’ll be a good, supportive little Householder." She was not being fair to her cousin. Powers knew that, as Sectuib, he had enough leading tiny Householding Dandri into economic solvency without her adding to his troubles. She was almost sorry enough to apologize when she got out of the car. Almost.
5.    Terin took a deep breath, focused her eyes on the cool mountains for calm, and smoothed the edges of her nager, the energy field that surrounded all Gens. Time to make nice, she thought. My mistake, but I did promise. Eric had parked the car among others crowded behind the shed where Geff’s precious machine rested. To the right, chairs awaited the various dignitaries chatting among themselves and skeptically watching the bustling Householders.
6.    Controller Zandidge from Ashil, the nearest large, Out-Territory city, waved a greeting. She stifled a groan. If she did not manage to avoid him, she’d get another long lecture about wasting her potential, not "doing something" with her life. Well, important or not, her work translating Ancient texts at Ashil’s main library was her choice. Her life. She had left the Householding life, and Tecton politics, behind. Except on vacation home, when I let old memories and fast-talking cousins talk me into – this. Terin pasted a smile on her face as Eric came to her side. "Shall we go in?"
7.    The ceremony was everything she hated about the Tecton – speeches, hidden agendas, political maneuverings, jockeying for alliances. As the meeting broke up, delegates drifted toward Geff, who was deep into a technical explanation that already had one delegate glaze-eyed with incomprehension. Not that that would dampen Geff’s enthusiasm. In spite of it all, she felt a warm pride in Geff’s accomplishment and his commitment to Dandri. She felt a little guilty as she slipped behind the shed, intent on escaping another round of tedious politicking.
8.    Geff’s words were audible over the hum of the machine. "Stay behind the line, please." His laugh was nervous with excitement. "We don’t want any stray nagers ruining the alignment." The hum became louder as the demonstration proceeded. "This will revolutionize transportation! We’ve isolated frequencies that most distress Simes at speed…" Terin stopped a moment to listen, her brow knitting as the hum deepened into a vibration echoed in her own nager. Alarmed, she tried to move away, but the world dissolved around her...
9.    Sensation preceded sense. A cold wind buffeted her, and she stumbled in the darkness. Cold? Dark? It was a sunny autumn day! Flailing hands found support on rough tree bark; she clung unsteadily but kept her feet in spite of spinning senses and nauseating vertigo. I will never, ever, tease Eric about psychospatial disorientation again! Terin vowed. Confused shouting assaulted her ears, but she could not comprehend the words. A piercing light blinded what sight she had regained, and the shouting grew nearer.
10.    "Over here, Colonel!" an excited voice called. Rough hands grabbed her; the voice gabbled words that almost made sense. She did not resist as the hands dragged her toward the light. "Who are you? Where are the others?"
11.    Blinking desperately, she focused on the figure stepping out of the shadows. Familiar face? "Controller Za-", her voice stumbled to a halt. It wasn’t Zandidge, not that scarred visage. "Who…?" Again her question broke, this time at the sight of the two flanking the man before her. The two men with guns. Large guns. She spun, belated in her panic, and tried to run, but the man holding her merely turned her on around to again face the scarred man.
12.    "So why don’t you tell us who you are?" he asked. And the words clicked. Almost English, the Gen language. Not quite. ANCIENT English.

VI. MY STORY'S OUTLINE:

Beginning: Terin Sayer, TN2 Companion whether she likes it or not, reluctantly accompanies her cousin, Sectuib of small Householding Dandri, in a public display of Householding and familial unity at a demonstration of new selyn-based technology. Slipping away from the ceremony, Terin strays into the machine’s nageric field; Terin’s field gradient triggers an unforeseen reaction that sends her back in time to a similar, resonating nageric field.

Quarter Point: Colonel Zachary Wright has been assigned to "clean up" a research lab and "contain" some escaped mutant humans, called "SIMEs", that the lab had been studying. Frantic to escape the fanatic Colonel and find her way back to her own time/place, Terin escapes, is chased by the mutants, and ends up in the besieged lab where she warns the scientists there of Wright’s plans.

Middle Point: Terin is high field, and she "Gen slams" the mutants so that she and the scientists can leave. The "slam" overloads and shorts out the lab machinery that had created the resonating field that brought Terin here/now, destroying any hope Terin had of returning to her own time/place. Terin and the scientists evade the soldiers in the ensuing chaos, but Colonel Wright’s squad takes possession of what is left of the lab after a fierce battle with the now frenzied mutants.

Three-Quarter Point: Terin and the scientists take refuge in a nearby cave. Knowing the Ages of Chaos that are probably to come, Terin urges the scientists not to leave Wright in possession of the lab and its contents. Together, they plan to finish destroying the lab.

Ending: Terin leads the successful assault on the lab, but televised news of erupting chaos worldwide tells them that Colonel and scientists alike are too late – the mutation, how/wherever it originated, was already spread beyond anyone’s ability to contain. Terin provides selyn, the energy of life, to a mutant - a Sime - that Wright had captured alive, and she begins teaching them to live without killing, as best she can without any Channels. The small group withdraws and, hidden away in the verdant mountain depths, they will try to maintain a kernel of sanity and life as civilization at large collapses.

[Author’s note: this is set in the Sime~Gen universe and opens at a time when selyn-based technology is begun but is not yet advanced or well understood. Householdings taught Simes and Gens to live together again in peace, but people no longer look there for guidance – Householding importance wanes now that the Tecton World Controllers manage all selyn exchange... For those unfamiliar with Sime~Gen, explore the website (and enjoy the free fiction! J ) http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/welcommittee/index.html.]

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