Valorie Lennox

vlennox@saltspring.com

Assignment 3

Beginner

Her name is Jade. Four letters, nothing more. Were she an aristo there would certainly be more: a double-jointed surname proclaiming her parentage; an age backed by an 11-year-old record of birth; an address attached to a home; and a neat uniform identifying both her school and how much her parents spent on tuition. The unruly chestnut curls would be clean, combed and braided, the grey eyes still innocent and no one, seeing her, would mutter "dregs" and brush past her like she didn't exist.

Jade wants more. No matter how hard it will be, she is determined to climb out of the slums and seize a better life for herself and for all those oppressed by the aristos.

But Jade has no home, no parents, no money and no idea how to right the wrongs of her world.

She joins the Morningstar Collective, one of the revolutionary groups which flourish among the dregs. She gains a temporary home, a pseudo-family and a chance to combat the oppressors as a scout for the group's successful attack on a mercenary security force known as L'Agence.

L'Agence responds by sending its highly-trained agents into the slums to track down those responsible for the attack.

An informer betrays the location of one of the Morningstar Collective's cells to a L'Agence agent. One of the Morningstar Collective members is killed and two members are captured, including one of the leaders who had originally befriended Jade and allowed her to join the group.

Jade joins in an attempt to rescue the captured Collective members from L'Agence before they are forced to reveal links to surviving cells and then executed. The rescue fails.

L'Agence is able to physically identify some of those involved in the rescue attempt, including Jade, and begins searching specifically for them.

Oops! Being a coward, writer decamps before it gets messy.

Instructors Comments