[Misuse,Time]
“Well how unexpected, an apprentice that actually comes to work.”
“I said I was sorry yesterday, first I had to deal with the sick child, then I kind of fell down a rabbit hole watching movies.”
“Well speaking of rabbit holes, have Doug show you the 2010 Alice in Wonderland, the story might not be as great as the book but the visuals make up for it. Now let's get down to business. First the story you gave me the other day, was very clever the way it subverted exactly what I asked for. I understand now the reason you did. You thought I was asking for gratuitous nudity for the male gaze and you were not going to provide it. Right.”
“Strickly speaking yes I did think that and I would have used nudity as Scarlett is most anxious to show her assets to any and all who’d look. If I thought it’d enhance the story, while writing I was thinking that teasing the audience would be much more titillating then stripping off her top and bouncing around the stage.”
“Yes, and you were correct. Scarlett was much more desirable in the gown, then in the body suit. So kudos on that but I also asked for a tragedy. Now in my mind's eye I saw Sophia carving Scarlett’s heart from her body. Only to learn that a heart of gold, means a kind hearted person. A tragedy, a kind, beautiful woman is murdered for her kind heart. The murderer is doubly denied, he loses the love of her life, and is denied a financial reward as well. It may not be the Merchant of Venice, but I thought it a story worth telling. You have to admit Shakespearean tragedies are worth reading and if he’d never written any of them his reputation as an author would be severely diminished. And besides they are well worth reading. Don’t you agree?”
“Of course I agree. Why do I get the feeling that I’m walking into a trap, that you’ve taken a few days to devise.”
“It’s not a trap, but I did think about this for a few days. I’m going to ask you to write something beautiful but tragic. I don’t want you to subvert the tragic part. Listen I’m trying to make you into the most powerful Bibliomancer to emerge in thousands of years. Now I’m going to tell you why. It’s not because you are clever, although that writing assignment proves that you are. It’s not because you write beautiful prose. As you write more and more, your prose will get better and better. Only time and experience by writing can do that. The reason I want you to be the most powerful Bibliomancer is because I believe fundamentally you are at your core good. Sometimes lawful, sometimes chaotic, sometimes neutral but always good. Goodness is your north star. That’s why I want you to be the most powerful because someday you may need to stand against a Bibliomancer who rejects your core values and would impose his on the world. An evil Bibliomancer would be the ultimate evil, but the strongest Bibliomancer who happens to be evil would be many many magnitudes worse. When I was your age I thought that I was going to be that Bibliomancer to take a stand against evil in all its forms. But in my hubris I did something unforgivable. But now I see you as my redemption story, that’s not fair to you. But I also know that you want to protect your friends and innocents no matter what worlds they occupy, you’ll only be able to do that if you’re the strongest. Do you understand?”
“Um, Yes, Sparky.”
“Good, let’s have you write a science fiction tragedy. For characters, I want to hear about your interview with Sophia. You weren’t planning on using her in any stories were you?”
“No I wasn’t. I thought she’d had a very hard life, poor, with parents that not only encouraged crime but demanded it. I don’t think she is an evil person but she has only one goal: a mansion. She’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. I’m not sure whether or not she’d kill to achieve it. I was very careful with wording around her. I was explicit that killing was off the table, offering swift life long punishment. I tried to move her around like a chess piece that had full autonomy. She agreed to every scene we discussed and then agreed. In the end I’d hope that she would outright reject the gold heart and choose Scarlett. But poverty and her upbringing have damaged her to the point that she couldn’t ever consider not taking the gold heart. I had to pivot, to cheat and give her both.”
“Very good, Rose. I think you completely understand her as a character. Such a morally complex character will work perfectly in our science fiction tragedy. Now let’s hear about Scarlett.”
“OK Scarlett has had a number of assistants to ‘entertainers’ jobs. From watching her former employers she decided that it’d be better to be an entertainer than an assistant. Even if it required you to die, it’d still be preferable, as long as the corpse is not desecrated. She’s very free spirited, will do whatever the role demands. She also has very low self esteem stating her greatest talent is touching the tip of her nose with the tip of her tongue. She proudly stated that her boyfriend had complemented her tongue. I believe that she just misread when he was actually being salacious. I had no plan to use her as a character until you gave me the assignment. She definitely isn’t evil, but she’ll do just about anything to be a ‘star’. She gave me zero push back when we made the story with Sophia, if she was unhappy about anything it might be that she was forced to wear a body suit. She seemed to love the gown which left very little to the imagination and apparently was so tight you couldn’t wear underwear under it.”
“Alright then let’s pair the two of them up again. Genre is a tragic science fiction, you have your two leads. But Rose I’m stressing here this has to be tragic no cute tricks. Right?”
“Yes I will deliver tragedy as you require. I suppose next it’ll be the scene that requires nudity.”
“Not at all Rose the only constraints are the two characters, who you now know well, after interviews with them and prior working experience and the genre a tragic science fiction tale. Any questions for me?”
“No, I can’t think of any.”
“Ok, get in the back and get writing.”
***
“Hello Sophia, hello Sophia.”
“What do you want, here to offer me another moral choice?”
“No Sophia, you out smarted me, I’m not here to trick you, though when you first hear the premise you might think so. I want you to star in a science fiction story with Scarlett. My last story with you was very popular and I could use the acclaim to raise more money. What do you say? I’ll pay you double the rate you got last time. Do we have a deal?”
“Double you say hmm, if you’ll pay double, I’d bet you’d pay more.”
“Come on Sophia, we’re friends aren’t we. You did pretty well for yourself last time. You cleaned up, got the richest person in Monaco, the most outrageous mansion, a solid gold heart. I could maybe do triple the pay. This one will take a little longer.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Hey if you don’t want to I understand and I hope we can still be friends. Besides I did find a younger con person to do it for minimum wage, just to get the role. I wanted you cuz we worked together before and you have more experience but I can always train the other one on your past performance in my story. Yeah she’ll be fine I think.”
“Wait I didn’t say no, did I. Give a girl a second to think. Triple you said right?”
“Yeah I can make triple work, I’ll just have to cut back the budget for CGI and sfx. But yeah, I’ll make it work to have on board again.”
“OK when do we start?”
“Hopefully later today, I have to line up more cast, it’s going to be pretty big. So I’ll call you back as soon as I have everyone set. Talk to you later.”
“Seeya.”
“Hello Scarlett, Scarlett, are you around?”
“Yeah, I’m here Rose. Do you have another part for me?”
“I could, I was thinking about someone a little younger for the part. But after I cast Sophia I was thinking maybe it’d be fun to get the old team back together. You enjoyed being in the last story didn’t you.”
“Yes, I loved it. It was so great to be the most desired woman on the coast of France. Now people recognize me all the time. You were right too, I have more people interested in my career, just by teasing them. Keeping my clothes on. Who knew? People are weird. But that’s not to say that if a scene artistically requires nudity, I’ll do it for you Rose because you’re not gratuitous.”
“Well thanks for that Scarlett, this one is going to be more serious than the last one. I'll really need you to do your very best. If you die in this one, same deal as last time. Good looking corpse?”
“Yes Rose, thanks for remembering.”
“OK Scarlett, I’ll call you later, plotting begins tonight. I have to gather the rest of the cast, and a setting still.
***
“Hello Scarlet”
“Yes I’m here Rose.”
“Great I still have to get Sophia
“Hello Sophia, are you ready.”
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“Yep I’m ready Rose, what’s the plan I assume you have one.”
“Yes indeed, this won’t have a happily ever after ending but I’m fairly sure that I have a strong story idea.”
“First off we have our setting, the Starship Poseidon. The Poseidon is setting off on its maiden voyage; the twist is the consortium that built the starship are the twenty five wealthiest people in the galaxy. In order to show the sheer decadence of the consortium, the trillion dollar ship will only be used once. It will launch from the space station circling Titan with one hundred guests. The twenty five consortium members and three guests each. To properly pamper the one hundred passengers, a crew of two thousand has been assembled. Everything from actors for live performances to zen monks to teach meditation. Sophia, you are Lieutenant Sophia Gallo the head of security, you have twenty five security officers under you.”
“Gods no, I’m no cop, and this time around you ain’t gonna make me one.”
“No, you're no cop, this is an elite private security force owned and operated by the consortium. You’ve worked for years to attain this position. For only one reason you plan to extort each and everyone of these trillionaire slime balls. For the past year you oversaw security while the starship was built. You picked the locations where the cameras and listening devices were installed, no one else even knows of their existence, especially your security force. Only you can review the footage, which is stored in three separate super intelligent computer systems. When these ‘guests’ start to act out, you’ll have blackmail footage galore and you’ll just have to choose how much to charge for each outrageous act. The best thing is that the computers contain all the footage, they contact the victim, make the demands and if you don’t stop them upon docking at Titan release all footage that blackmail has not been paid for. Hackers can’t hack them because the three super intelligence’s are magnitudes smarter than the best hackers ever. You control the computers because the consortium members didn’t trust their own members, they need a loyal lackey, trust like you have been building for the last nine years. Sophia, do you have any suggestions or questions?”
“Do I get to keep this money?”
“Absolutely, and you can even make more. The three computers aren’t happy that they’ll be scrapped along with the ship. So if at the end of the voyage you can manage to steal the ship, thereby saving the computers. Whatever profits you earn from extortion the computers will double. Do you have any suggestions to make it more profitable or easier to pull off?”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around blackmailing the richest people in the world because they gave me the keys.”
“I thought you might like that touch.”
“OK, Scarlett, I didn't forget about you. I think you’ll like what I have in store for you. You are the second richest woman in the galaxy and part of the consortium. You made this immense fortune with a software chip but before the chip you were the foremost star of virtual reality movies. These movies allowed the user to enter the video with you. If the movie was an action adventure the user becomes the hero, you usually play the prize that needs to be saved. For the romance the user enters and tries to win your hand. You made hundreds of these all very popular. But that was nothing compared to the chip. You paid for the development of the chip on the advice of your financial planner. You were scanned in every possible way, not a hair nor mole was missed. Every line of dialogue, every costume, every setting you appeared in were all uploaded to the chip, add in your scent, and what you feel like over every inch of your skin, virtually the only thing not added was your free will. When the user plugs this chip into his skull, they are in a setting they choose from the hundreds available with you. The user gets to choose what you both do; they can make up new adventures, travel the galaxy whatever they choose to do with you. Your financial planner was very far sighted, with a patented chip that no one else in the galaxy had access to, you were the only performer allowed to make software for the chip. So every chip, every piece of software, each new smell, taste, sensation, each and every one was pure profit for you and you alone. Seventy years ago you had nanobots begin circulating throughout your bloodstream, repairing minor damage, cosmetic repairs you've looked twenty two for the past seventy years. But now the damage is starting to occur faster than even the nanobots can repair it, and the patent on the chip expires next year. So after seventy years of fame, infamy, and being the most desired woman in the history of the galaxy the clock has started ticking again. But for the next six months you’ll still be the pinnacle of desire. Do you have any questions or suggestions?”
“What’s the difference between virtual reality and the chip?”
“Virtual reality is still very much like a movie strapped to your head, the chip plugs directly into your head so it’s very much like life, anything you do in the chip is stored in the brain as a memory of something you did, not the memory of something you played. Also Virtual reality is constrained by the software. If you buy a virtual reality of sky diving, that’s pretty much all you can do. Maybe in every location on earth you can sky dive but you’re still limited to sky diving. With your chip the user can do whatever he wants with you, you’re not constrained. That’s why many religions have denounced the chip and you. But each time they denounce you the chip sales just increase. One conspiracy theorist even accused you of paying churches to denounce you. I do have an idea about how we might extend both your popularity and looks, but I haven’t worked out all the details yet. Anything else Scarlett?”
“No I can’t think of anything and at least I know about Sophie so I won’t be getting blackmailed at least.”
“That’s right, don't do anything that you might get blackmailed for unless you’re doing it with Sophie. It’s not like she’s going to blackmail herself right.”
All right let’s get started. Scarlett arrives at the ship she helped build but in fact has never seen. She enters the atrium and sees it bustling with crew either manning shops or carrying guests luggage. She has no idea how high the atrium goes and it gets lost in darkness. She stands on the black and white marble floor and looks to the two twenty foot wide staircases flanking the atrium. But what surprises her the most is the nude statue of herself in the very center of the space. She can smell coffee brewing in a small cafe on her left and a bartender in a small bar to her right shakes a martini to the rhythm of the maraca song being played, the clink of the ice makes her want to dance. This is going to be a glorious trip. Her last glorious trip ever.
“Ding, Ding, Ding This is your captain speaking, welcome one and all to the Starship Poseidon we are now departing Titan for Sagittarius A* the largest black hole in the very center of our galaxy. I hope you enjoy your trip. Anything you want or need, just say a word to a staff member, it will be provided.
Scarlett is seated to the right of the captain. The captain has ordered both the social hostess and the hotel director that Scarlett is to have this seat nightly for the duration of the cruise. There are richer people on board who may want this seat, but it matters not to the captain for he is a fan. He has spent so many nights with her chip plugged into his head, he would have captained this cruise for free just for the chance to sit with her.
Scarlett tries to look interested, but the captain keeps droning on and on about the ship, at least the food is good, the lobster and butter sauce taste almost real. Perhaps they are considering all that she’s paid for this. But if those nanobots can’t keep up, she’ll never be able to appear in public, not with fading looks. Not with all those twenty year old starlets getting scanned, sniffed, tasted and touched for insertion into a public domain chip. Scarlett desperately wants to keep thoughts like this out of her head, so when the bald headed captain asks if she’d like a tour of the ship, she agrees. They rise up and leave the dining room.
How can a man who captains a Starship be so boring, if it wasn’t for that nasally scritch to his voice, she’d have fallen asleep at the table. Engine room boring, Communications boring, kitchens boring, boring. They finally made it to the bridge, the first non boring room on the tour. The crew scuttled from one station to another, one very attractive woman sat at the seat in the center of the room, quietly issuing orders. From the viewer in the front of the room I could see stars zip by. This is the first time since we departed that it appears we are actually moving. There is a console right in front of the viewer with a large red button covered by a plastic cover.
“What’s the big button for, captain?”
“That ejects the warp core, it prevents us from exploding in the case of a cascade failure. Don’t worry we’ll never have to press that. This is the greatest ship ever made, we wouldn’t have to push that button for a hundred years and this ship is a one use.”
“Are you ready to take over captain, I have security duties that need to be attended to.” said the beautiful woman in the black uniform sitting in the center chair.”
Scarlet took this as an excuse to escape the boring little man.
“Thank you so much captain, your tour was so interesting, and informative, I can see why you are the captain.”
He preened his uniform and Scarlet escaped the room. But she didn’t go far, she wanted to talk to the Security officer in the skin tight uniform. The door wooshed open and Sophia strode out.
“Excuse me security officer, I’m a little lost could you please escort me back to my cabin, I’m Scarlett by the way.”
“Everybody in the galaxy knows who you are, Scarlett, my name is Sophia. I’m the head of security so it’d be my honor to guard you on your back to the cabin.”
“I love your uniform Sophia. Everything is so tight. Thank you for speaking up on the bridge, that boring man dragged me from one end of the ship to the other, but he never showed me your office.”
“My office is small and cramped, we’d barely fit in there.”
“Well, it might be fun trying.”
“Scarlett, are you flirting with me?”
“Not very well if you’ve got to ask Sophia.”
“Well, I just couldn’t believe my luck, small cramped office it is.”
***
Sophia couldn’t believe how much money she’d already extorted. Two assaults, three sexual assaults and a murder, and it was only the first day. She’d been planning this for more than ten years.
The only thing she hadn’t planned on was Scarlett. They’d spent nearly every minute she was off duty and lots of time she was on duty with Scarlett. Sophia didn’t get it, she’d had the Scarlett chip for years and had done everything in the world with and to Scarlett. But being with her now is even better than the ever compliant chip version.
It felt like there was so much more intensity, nothing else mattered then keeping Scarlett happy and seeing that smile. It really didn’t seem to take much to please her, a little attention. She was as pampered as pampered could be. Her stateroom was twice the size of the bridge. She had a hot tub and infinity pool in the bathroom, a full bar in the sitting area. But Scarlett seemed just as happy fumbling around in Sophia’s crowded little office. Her security staff had taken to knocking before entering to avoid seeing something they shouldn’t have.
***
Scarlett reread the message, we lost the lawsuit to stop public domain release next year. New chips and starlets will flood the market January 1st. Advise we sell everything now while we can still get pennies on the dollar. Dr Zellar claims, more or newer nanobots will not change the fact that my body is breaking down faster than it can be repaired.
The second message. Scarlett, here’s the plan you asked for with detailed instructions, just make real sure this is what you want.
***
This is the Captain we have begun our orbit of Sagittarius A*, if you look out your portholes you’ll see the event horizon as we continue to orbit for another thirty six hours.
Scarlett skipped the captain’s dinner and instead made her way to the bridge. Sophia sat in the captain’s chair. Scarlett whispered into Sophia’s ear.
“Please clear the bridge.”
The bridge crew quietly and rapidly obeyed Sophia's order.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do Scarlett.”
“Yes, I’m positive. Will you do it with me?”
“Yes of course, I’d do anything to make you happy Scarlett, especially if it makes you happy forever.”
Then there it was that big Scarlett smile that lit up my life like a shooting star. I flipped up the plastic cover. Scarlett pushed the button.
The end
“Well Sparky, what do you think? Should I explain about the event horizon or would science fiction fans realize that an object falling into a black appears to hang there forever while approaching the event horizon. Thus Scarlett’s beauty is forever preserved? Well say something.”
“Your Machiavellian.”
“What’s that mean, is that a good thing? You said tragedy, it doesn’t get any more tragic than that does it?”
