| A Clockwork Tomato | 11-05-2003 09:38 PM |
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the first episode of my 13-episode(!) fan-fiction Season 3. I wrote this after one person too many said, "After Act 26, a season 3 is impossible!" Hope you like it!
This episode is in five parts. There are a number of replies separating some of the parts, so keep scrolling!
If you aren't sure you really want to read all thirteen episodes after you read this one, skip to Act 30: Dori, Dorothy. If that doesn't hook you, nothing will.
I have also started on a Season 4, starting with Act 40: The Return of Alan Gabriel.
-- A Clockwork Tomato]
ACT 27
Roger finished his appeal to Angel and stepped through from Big O’s cockpit into Angel’s control room. Dorothy was right behind him. He put his hand on Angel’s shoulder. Dorothy said, “Roger the negotiator.” The lights dimmed.
A moment later he could make out his dimly lit surroundings. He was in the middle of an underground chamber, similar to the one where he had found Gordon, Angel, and Vera earlier in the day. Most of the overhead lights were off. There was no control room. There were no cameras. There was no set. The room was empty. An exit sign glowed in the distance.
“Is it over?” Roger asked. “Did it work?”
Angel said nothing, but sank slowly to the floor, where she sat with her head bowed.
“Call Norman,” said Dorothy. Roger triggered his watch.
Norman answered immediately. “Ah, Master Roger. The repair crew has just finished. Big O is ready for action. But I do not believe he will be needed. We have just received word that there was an explosion in Big Fau’s hangar. Apparently there was a malfunction. Alex Rosewater was killed. Also, an enormous Megadeus burst through the street, but was immediately destroyed; no one knows how. The city is quiet.”
“That’s good,” said Roger.
“But Miss Dorothy is missing.”
“She’s with me, Norman. Thanks. I’ll explain when I get there.”
He turned to Dorothy, jubilant. “Angel did it! It worked!” He swept her into his arms, then paused. “Let me see your hairband.”
Dorothy obediently popped off the imitation hairband and reveled the empty slot which had once contained much of her memory circuitry. She said, “I’m the same as before. This outfit just came with a decorative cover.”
“Whew! For a minute there I was afraid Angel had turned you into a human.” He hugged her.
“No. I’m still me. Besides, Angel would have been better off turning herself into an android,” said Dorothy in a matter-of-fact voice. “Because…”
But her words were cut off by his passionate kiss.
When the kiss ended, her eyes were closed and she was swaying slightly, but she continued in the same voice as before, “Because once a human has tasted android love, there’s no going back.”
“You made that up.”
“I am making a prediction.”
They were interrupted by a sob from Angel. They turned. She was still sitting on the floor, her eyes shut tight, tears streaming down her face.
“Angel,” said Roger, “Are you all right?”
“It was horrible,” said Angel in a quiet, broken voice. “The fate of the world was put into my hands. How could anyone put the fate of the world into my hands? I don’t know how to be a god, I don’t even know how to be a human being! I had all this power, and I didn’t know what to do! I’m so unworthy, so unready, how could they have done it? I was raised to be filled with hatred and it was all just lies, I don’t even know if I was ever a little girl at all, how could anyone have trusted me?” As she spoke, she became more and more hysterical.
Roger hoisted her to her feet and took her into his arms. “It’s over now, Angel. It’s over. You’re human now. You won’t ever have to do it again.”
She clung to him but seemed not to hear. “I didn’t know what to do, Roger. I had to make the world over again, and I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t know what I wanted. I don’t know how to make a better world! All I was ever taught was to destroy. I’ve never been so frightened, and I felt so guilty! Then you spoke to me and I knew that I didn’t have to tear it down at all. I could keep it going, just the way it was, except that I could rewind time just a little bit to avoid all the destruction, so nobody would have to die. Except for that swine Alex Rosewater. What kind of idiot wants to be a god? And Vera, too. So they’re gone, and may they rot in hell! But I put the rest back, just like it was. I was afraid to try to make anything better. I didn’t know what I was doing, Roger!” And she began to sob quietly against his shoulder.
Dorothy said, “You did it just right, Angel.”
Roger said, “Yeah, you did great, Angel. We’re proud of you.” He looked over Angel’s shoulder at Dorothy, who nodded fractionally. He lifted Angel’s chin and kissed her gently on the mouth. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Angel forced a smile. “You always were a sweet-talker, Mr. Negotiator.” She let go of him and staggered for a couple of steps.
“She’s bleeding,” said Dorothy. “There are eight bloodstains on her back.”
Roger looked. Sure enough, there were eight round bloodstains soaking through her suit. “How did that happen?” he asked.
Dorothy replied, “They’re from the probe cables of Big Venus.”
“But I was never in Big Venus!” wailed Angel. “I was in a control room! Here! Underground!”
“First aid first,” said Dorothy. “Metaphysics later. Roger, do you know where we are?”
“I think so. We’re not far from the house.”
“Lead the way. I will help Angel.” And with this, Dorothy picked Angel up in her arms with no apparent effort. To Angel, she said, “You will be relieved to hear that the rate of bleeding seems quite moderate. Norman has a well-stocked dispensary, and no doubt a doctor can be summoned.”
Roger snorted. “Every doctor in the city is already overloaded with casualties…no, wait, that’s not right, is it?”
He called Norman and warned him of Angel’s injuries.
Soon they reached a corridor that Roger felt was definitely familiar, and a few minutes later they reached the private elevator into the mansion. It was choked with rubble at ground level, so they went around to a street-level exit. Angel shook off Dorothy’s assistance and walked the remaining distance. She had stopped crying but seemed dazed.
Norman ushered them inside before they could knock and led them to a parlor where a doctor was already waiting. As Angel’s suit was being removed, Roger excused himself and went to visit Big O.
There he was, as good as new. It was a strange feeling. “How does it feel to you, Big O?” asked Roger as he took the elevator up to the cockpit. Even before he reached the cockpit, he could tell that Big O felt…smug.
He climbed into the cockpit, and it was just as it had been before the fight. All in good repair, with the usual controls in evidence, the others out of sight. So strange…
And then, behind his chair, he saw a puddle of water, a discarded wet suit, and a crumpled scuba tank. Roger touched them, hardly believing that they were real.
“If anything, this makes even less sense than before,” he said. Big O’s feeling of smugness was unabated.
“You know, Big O,” he said. “I think that the people who direct this world are very sloppy about their props. There’s stuff lying around from old productions that nobody has ever bothered to clear away. There are leftover memories lying around, too. That’s what I think. So whatever the people – if they are people – running this world are trying to do, the evidence is confused by their slapdash methods.” He poked around a little more. “Well, I don’t suppose everyone can have Norman keeping things spick and span.”
“Dorothy’s going to need a chair in here, too,” he said. “I’ll go tell Norman.”
When he returned to the parlor, Angel had been put to bed, lightly sedated, in one of the guest rooms. Dorothy was with her. Norman took Roger aside and said, “Master Roger, the doctor said that her wounds are not dangerous, but they are rather deep and will bear watching. He will be back again in three days. Also, they almost but not quite line up with the pattern of old scars on her back.”
“Thank you, Norman.”
“There is one other thing, Master Roger. This morning, I had a sudden vision of a terrifying bombing of the city and a battle between Big O and Big Fau, which included Miss Dorothy waking up and rushing off to rescue you. But what really happened was that Big Fau blew up before any damage could be done. I have asked several other people, and they said they had the same hallucination, in many cases even encompassing their own deaths.”
“It really happened, Norman. But Angel, Dorothy and I – mostly Angel – made it unhappen.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Tomorrow we’ll want to call up Dastun and get him to rescind the order for Angel’s arrest.”
“Very good, sir.”
“And also the order calling for Beck’s execution.”
“Indeed, sir? Ah, yes. I remember now.”
“That was good work that Angel did, Norman. She made it so today’s events didn’t happen, but she left people’s memories of it. I don’t think anyone could have done better.”
“Yes, indeed, sir.”
“And then we need to get our hands on a flying machine. Schwarzwald’s the only person who’s seen the superstructure above Paradigm up close, and maybe it has some clues for us.”
“Very good, sir.”
[To Be Continued in Part 2, below (keep scrolling!)]
This episode is in five parts. There are a number of replies separating some of the parts, so keep scrolling!
If you aren't sure you really want to read all thirteen episodes after you read this one, skip to Act 30: Dori, Dorothy. If that doesn't hook you, nothing will.
I have also started on a Season 4, starting with Act 40: The Return of Alan Gabriel.
-- A Clockwork Tomato]
ACT 27
Roger finished his appeal to Angel and stepped through from Big O’s cockpit into Angel’s control room. Dorothy was right behind him. He put his hand on Angel’s shoulder. Dorothy said, “Roger the negotiator.” The lights dimmed.
A moment later he could make out his dimly lit surroundings. He was in the middle of an underground chamber, similar to the one where he had found Gordon, Angel, and Vera earlier in the day. Most of the overhead lights were off. There was no control room. There were no cameras. There was no set. The room was empty. An exit sign glowed in the distance.
“Is it over?” Roger asked. “Did it work?”
Angel said nothing, but sank slowly to the floor, where she sat with her head bowed.
“Call Norman,” said Dorothy. Roger triggered his watch.
Norman answered immediately. “Ah, Master Roger. The repair crew has just finished. Big O is ready for action. But I do not believe he will be needed. We have just received word that there was an explosion in Big Fau’s hangar. Apparently there was a malfunction. Alex Rosewater was killed. Also, an enormous Megadeus burst through the street, but was immediately destroyed; no one knows how. The city is quiet.”
“That’s good,” said Roger.
“But Miss Dorothy is missing.”
“She’s with me, Norman. Thanks. I’ll explain when I get there.”
He turned to Dorothy, jubilant. “Angel did it! It worked!” He swept her into his arms, then paused. “Let me see your hairband.”
Dorothy obediently popped off the imitation hairband and reveled the empty slot which had once contained much of her memory circuitry. She said, “I’m the same as before. This outfit just came with a decorative cover.”
“Whew! For a minute there I was afraid Angel had turned you into a human.” He hugged her.
“No. I’m still me. Besides, Angel would have been better off turning herself into an android,” said Dorothy in a matter-of-fact voice. “Because…”
But her words were cut off by his passionate kiss.
When the kiss ended, her eyes were closed and she was swaying slightly, but she continued in the same voice as before, “Because once a human has tasted android love, there’s no going back.”
“You made that up.”
“I am making a prediction.”
They were interrupted by a sob from Angel. They turned. She was still sitting on the floor, her eyes shut tight, tears streaming down her face.
“Angel,” said Roger, “Are you all right?”
“It was horrible,” said Angel in a quiet, broken voice. “The fate of the world was put into my hands. How could anyone put the fate of the world into my hands? I don’t know how to be a god, I don’t even know how to be a human being! I had all this power, and I didn’t know what to do! I’m so unworthy, so unready, how could they have done it? I was raised to be filled with hatred and it was all just lies, I don’t even know if I was ever a little girl at all, how could anyone have trusted me?” As she spoke, she became more and more hysterical.
Roger hoisted her to her feet and took her into his arms. “It’s over now, Angel. It’s over. You’re human now. You won’t ever have to do it again.”
She clung to him but seemed not to hear. “I didn’t know what to do, Roger. I had to make the world over again, and I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t know what I wanted. I don’t know how to make a better world! All I was ever taught was to destroy. I’ve never been so frightened, and I felt so guilty! Then you spoke to me and I knew that I didn’t have to tear it down at all. I could keep it going, just the way it was, except that I could rewind time just a little bit to avoid all the destruction, so nobody would have to die. Except for that swine Alex Rosewater. What kind of idiot wants to be a god? And Vera, too. So they’re gone, and may they rot in hell! But I put the rest back, just like it was. I was afraid to try to make anything better. I didn’t know what I was doing, Roger!” And she began to sob quietly against his shoulder.
Dorothy said, “You did it just right, Angel.”
Roger said, “Yeah, you did great, Angel. We’re proud of you.” He looked over Angel’s shoulder at Dorothy, who nodded fractionally. He lifted Angel’s chin and kissed her gently on the mouth. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Angel forced a smile. “You always were a sweet-talker, Mr. Negotiator.” She let go of him and staggered for a couple of steps.
“She’s bleeding,” said Dorothy. “There are eight bloodstains on her back.”
Roger looked. Sure enough, there were eight round bloodstains soaking through her suit. “How did that happen?” he asked.
Dorothy replied, “They’re from the probe cables of Big Venus.”
“But I was never in Big Venus!” wailed Angel. “I was in a control room! Here! Underground!”
“First aid first,” said Dorothy. “Metaphysics later. Roger, do you know where we are?”
“I think so. We’re not far from the house.”
“Lead the way. I will help Angel.” And with this, Dorothy picked Angel up in her arms with no apparent effort. To Angel, she said, “You will be relieved to hear that the rate of bleeding seems quite moderate. Norman has a well-stocked dispensary, and no doubt a doctor can be summoned.”
Roger snorted. “Every doctor in the city is already overloaded with casualties…no, wait, that’s not right, is it?”
He called Norman and warned him of Angel’s injuries.
Soon they reached a corridor that Roger felt was definitely familiar, and a few minutes later they reached the private elevator into the mansion. It was choked with rubble at ground level, so they went around to a street-level exit. Angel shook off Dorothy’s assistance and walked the remaining distance. She had stopped crying but seemed dazed.
Norman ushered them inside before they could knock and led them to a parlor where a doctor was already waiting. As Angel’s suit was being removed, Roger excused himself and went to visit Big O.
There he was, as good as new. It was a strange feeling. “How does it feel to you, Big O?” asked Roger as he took the elevator up to the cockpit. Even before he reached the cockpit, he could tell that Big O felt…smug.
He climbed into the cockpit, and it was just as it had been before the fight. All in good repair, with the usual controls in evidence, the others out of sight. So strange…
And then, behind his chair, he saw a puddle of water, a discarded wet suit, and a crumpled scuba tank. Roger touched them, hardly believing that they were real.
“If anything, this makes even less sense than before,” he said. Big O’s feeling of smugness was unabated.
“You know, Big O,” he said. “I think that the people who direct this world are very sloppy about their props. There’s stuff lying around from old productions that nobody has ever bothered to clear away. There are leftover memories lying around, too. That’s what I think. So whatever the people – if they are people – running this world are trying to do, the evidence is confused by their slapdash methods.” He poked around a little more. “Well, I don’t suppose everyone can have Norman keeping things spick and span.”
“Dorothy’s going to need a chair in here, too,” he said. “I’ll go tell Norman.”
When he returned to the parlor, Angel had been put to bed, lightly sedated, in one of the guest rooms. Dorothy was with her. Norman took Roger aside and said, “Master Roger, the doctor said that her wounds are not dangerous, but they are rather deep and will bear watching. He will be back again in three days. Also, they almost but not quite line up with the pattern of old scars on her back.”
“Thank you, Norman.”
“There is one other thing, Master Roger. This morning, I had a sudden vision of a terrifying bombing of the city and a battle between Big O and Big Fau, which included Miss Dorothy waking up and rushing off to rescue you. But what really happened was that Big Fau blew up before any damage could be done. I have asked several other people, and they said they had the same hallucination, in many cases even encompassing their own deaths.”
“It really happened, Norman. But Angel, Dorothy and I – mostly Angel – made it unhappen.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Tomorrow we’ll want to call up Dastun and get him to rescind the order for Angel’s arrest.”
“Very good, sir.”
“And also the order calling for Beck’s execution.”
“Indeed, sir? Ah, yes. I remember now.”
“That was good work that Angel did, Norman. She made it so today’s events didn’t happen, but she left people’s memories of it. I don’t think anyone could have done better.”
“Yes, indeed, sir.”
“And then we need to get our hands on a flying machine. Schwarzwald’s the only person who’s seen the superstructure above Paradigm up close, and maybe it has some clues for us.”
“Very good, sir.”
[To Be Continued in Part 2, below (keep scrolling!)]
Heck, it's better then nice, it's fantastic! As i read it i could see it happening on the tv! Great job Clockwork! Can't wait for part 3!!! 
)
can't wait for part 4