Sage – aged 18.
Sage is a character I've been developing for a while now. I keep coming back to her and I suspect she has some stories to share. But she's proved hard to pin down and write until now.
Now the final Portal series book is finished and released I think I may return to Sage and try to sort out her story. So, for Twitter's #samplesunday this week I've dug out some Sage for you.
Let me know what you think.
In this extract Sage is 18 years old and has just rolled a stolen car, almost killing herself in the process.
Sage found her hearing came back first.
"Calibrated?" The voice was male, reasonably deep but not a rumble, cultured and came from Sage's left.
A pause.
"Yes. Calibrated, compatible and interfacing adequately. I assume it'll settle in time." A female voice, from the same side.
Another pause and footsteps close by, pacing back and forth.
"How long until she regains full consciousness?" The man again.
A low chuckle.
"About now, judging by these readings."
"Out." Softer footsteps, a sound that could have been a door sliding open and then closed. "You can open your eyes, it's quite safe."
She eased her eyes open, blinking at the stickiness she felt gluing her eyelids shut. She reached a hand up to wipe her eyes to find both wrists pinned.
"Don't try to move, give yourself a moment." Sage's vision was blurred and she felt the panic rising as she couldn't see properly and she found herself unable to move. "Here." A cool, damp cloth wiped across her face, removing the stickiness from her eyes and slowly her sight cleared.
He was tall, wearing a sharply pressed uniform and a frown. She was short, stocky, somehow wrong… Sage stared, swallowed with a dry throat.
"You crashed your car." He said.
"It wasn't my car." Sage told him. "Who are you?" She flicked a glance to him but her eyes went back to staring at the woman. She wore simple, loose fitting clothes. Trousers and what looked like a tracksuit top. Her shoulders were ridiculously broad with a truncated body and limbs. She looked like she'd been squashed. With white hair and pale skin she could have been albino, but her eyes were so dark they were almost black. It was her hand that held the cloth. Sage couldn't tear her gaze away.
His face twitched into a smile. "Yes, the fiesta was stolen, crashed and found abandoned with no trace of whoever might have taken it. A young man named Zachary Hickman was found by the roadside and charged with possession of a tiny amount of cannabis, and with being drunk and disorderly. Although I struggle to see how being passed out can be classed disorderly. He was cautioned and released. My name is McKinnon and you shouldn't be here."
