QK Round 2 Match 6: This Wasn't in the Job Contract vs. Love in the Time of Proscuitto
Title: Warpers
Entry Nickname: This Wasn’t in the Job ContractWord Count: 100kGenre: YA Scifi
Query:
There are three rules for time traveling:
1. Do not double warp.
2. Do not interact with people from the past.
3. Do not allow the past to catch up to the present.
Unfortunately, 18-year-old Galileo Matox is about to break them all. By accident, of course.
Galileo works for ScorpioCorp as a warper, traveling back in time to collect evidence of high-priority crimes. His latest mission? To identify a senator’s murderer. Seems simple enough.
But everything goes to shit before the mission even begins. Not only does the crew’s sabotaged warp drops them eight days prior to the murder, it also badly injures a teammate.
With his best friend quickly bleeding out, Galileo swaps his own warp suit for her damaged one and sends the team back to the present, initiating a (very illegal) warp within a warp. Now, Galileo’s stranded in the past—and in an alternate reality.
Enter Avaline, a gifted time-space scientist and daughter of the soon-to-be-dead senator. After negotiation (completely shattering Rule #2), Galileo and Avaline strike a deal: in return for fixing the warp suit, Avaline will get the chance to study ScorpioCorp’s highly coveted warp tech.
As the countdown to the senator’s assassination draws near, realities blur and timelines merge . . . and Galileo begins to realize he may be responsible for the murder. Except, Galileo’s not sure if he can bring himself to kill Avaline’s father, even if letting him live could result in an interstellar war. After all, sometimes it’s the smallest change that causes the biggest ripple.
If Galileo ever wants to see his team again, he must find a way to escape this alternate reality before the past merges with the present and unleashes chaos across the time-space fabric.
“Inception” meets “Minority Report” . . . in space, WARPERS is a YA sci-fi complete at 100,000 words with crossover potential.
First 250:
03:14:15
Temple City, Enora
Jumping back four days to watch a dog get hit by a hover car is a bloody waste of time. Unfortunately, that's my job.
I swallow an annoyed huff, miffed that Gamma team was assigned this joke of a mission. We could be solving that Leviathan kidnapping case, or figuring out who’s responsible for sabotaging the Interstellar Fleet’s dreadnoughts, or a million other crimes more important than identifying the license plate number of the asshole who ran over Senatori Gable’s pet dog.
Not saying said-asshole doesn’t deserve a dose of justice. But still—kidnapping case, or road rage mystery? One clearly carries more priority.
I wince as Takana’s too-loud voice crackles in my aud implant. “Hasn’t anyone told Senatori Gable live pets went out of style fifteen years ago? Droids are the newest rage. Especially droid horse racing—”
“Maybe some people prefer a living, breathing companion instead of a mass of circuits and synth-fur,” I reply, tracking the dog in question as it sprints back and forth upon the lawn of the senatori’s mansion. At precisely 03:25:00, the dog will leap over the shock fence, plant its furry butt in the middle of the road, and get run over by an incoming hover car.
Tilting my head, I can't figure out why the dog reminds me of something . . . something just beyond my recollection’s grasp. An echo of a half-forgotten memory. Doesn’t matter, though. I’m not interested in dredging up old memories right now.
VERSUS
Title: Time PassagesEntry Nickname: Love in the Time of ProsciuttoWord count: 79KGenre: YA FantasyQuery:
Sixteen-year-old Gemma DiMarco was sure she'd found her forever love in Ben Hartwell, but when her unbalanced ex-boyfriend murders Ben then kills himself, Gemma is left reliving the awful moment day after day. With support from her best friend and close-knit Italian family, Gemma finally begins to accept that Ben is truly gone. Death is forever, right? What’s done can’t be undone. Unless she could stop the tragedy from happening in the first place.
When a boy claiming to be her guardian angel comes into the family deli and says he can do just that, Gemma’s beyond skeptical. But with a touch, the boy subverts the laws of time and space, and sends her back to the pivotal moment leading to Ben's murder, allowing her to change the outcome.
Back in the present, Ben is alive. But so is Gemma’s ex, and in this altered reality, he’s still her boyfriend. Gemma believes, to keep Ben safe, she must find the original murder weapon and turn her ex in to the police. Meanwhile, due to Gemma’s time traveling, the family deli is going under and her parents’ once-happy marriage is headed off a cliff. With memories from her new life rapidly replacing the old ones, Gemma soon won’t remember the murder, the angel, or changing the past at all. She has only a few days to thwart her ex, get back with Ben, and save her family, before the old memories fade completely and her chance for a happy ending vanishes too.
TIME PASSAGES combines the romance of ABOUT TIME with the playfulness of THE GOOD PLACE. It will appeal to readers of THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig or THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING by Jeff Giles.
First 250:
Exiting the BART station, I book it three blocks to the deli, late for work. A breeze too cold for August blows in my face, making me hunch into my jacket. The low-hanging clouds, floating overhead like clumps of dirty cotton balls, do nothing to lighten my mood.
This early, the taquerias and fruit markets along Mission Street are still dark, but light glows from Poulsen’s Bakery. The delicious aroma drifting into the street reminds my stomach I skipped breakfast this morning. Baking bread and spices. Cinnamon.
A memory. Ben and me and a bag of cinnamon rolls. “Still warm, Gemma.” Buttery and sweet, we cut first period to eat them in the park. A cop car drives by and we duck behind the picnic table, fingers entwined, choking back the laughter. It’s so vivid, I’m back there, feeling Ben’s cinnamon-scented breath on my cheek, tasting the sugar on his lips. Remembering feels like a stab to the gut now, raw and fresh, because we’ll never have moments like that again.
“Good morning,”
The voice comes out of nowhere, jarring me back to the present. A boy pads along beside me. Talk and dark, a ring of keys jingles on his belt loop.
We’re alone on the street, with the deli still several doors down. I have zero interest in talking, so I smile, nod and walk faster. Take the hint, dude.
Nope. He quickens his pace to keep up. Why do boys think they can invade a girl’s space anytime they feel like it?
Entry Nickname: This Wasn’t in the Job ContractWord Count: 100kGenre: YA Scifi
Query:
There are three rules for time traveling:
1. Do not double warp.
2. Do not interact with people from the past.
3. Do not allow the past to catch up to the present.
Unfortunately, 18-year-old Galileo Matox is about to break them all. By accident, of course.
Galileo works for ScorpioCorp as a warper, traveling back in time to collect evidence of high-priority crimes. His latest mission? To identify a senator’s murderer. Seems simple enough.
But everything goes to shit before the mission even begins. Not only does the crew’s sabotaged warp drops them eight days prior to the murder, it also badly injures a teammate.
With his best friend quickly bleeding out, Galileo swaps his own warp suit for her damaged one and sends the team back to the present, initiating a (very illegal) warp within a warp. Now, Galileo’s stranded in the past—and in an alternate reality.
Enter Avaline, a gifted time-space scientist and daughter of the soon-to-be-dead senator. After negotiation (completely shattering Rule #2), Galileo and Avaline strike a deal: in return for fixing the warp suit, Avaline will get the chance to study ScorpioCorp’s highly coveted warp tech.
As the countdown to the senator’s assassination draws near, realities blur and timelines merge . . . and Galileo begins to realize he may be responsible for the murder. Except, Galileo’s not sure if he can bring himself to kill Avaline’s father, even if letting him live could result in an interstellar war. After all, sometimes it’s the smallest change that causes the biggest ripple.
If Galileo ever wants to see his team again, he must find a way to escape this alternate reality before the past merges with the present and unleashes chaos across the time-space fabric.
“Inception” meets “Minority Report” . . . in space, WARPERS is a YA sci-fi complete at 100,000 words with crossover potential.
First 250:
03:14:15
Temple City, Enora
Jumping back four days to watch a dog get hit by a hover car is a bloody waste of time. Unfortunately, that's my job.
I swallow an annoyed huff, miffed that Gamma team was assigned this joke of a mission. We could be solving that Leviathan kidnapping case, or figuring out who’s responsible for sabotaging the Interstellar Fleet’s dreadnoughts, or a million other crimes more important than identifying the license plate number of the asshole who ran over Senatori Gable’s pet dog.
Not saying said-asshole doesn’t deserve a dose of justice. But still—kidnapping case, or road rage mystery? One clearly carries more priority.
I wince as Takana’s too-loud voice crackles in my aud implant. “Hasn’t anyone told Senatori Gable live pets went out of style fifteen years ago? Droids are the newest rage. Especially droid horse racing—”
“Maybe some people prefer a living, breathing companion instead of a mass of circuits and synth-fur,” I reply, tracking the dog in question as it sprints back and forth upon the lawn of the senatori’s mansion. At precisely 03:25:00, the dog will leap over the shock fence, plant its furry butt in the middle of the road, and get run over by an incoming hover car.
Tilting my head, I can't figure out why the dog reminds me of something . . . something just beyond my recollection’s grasp. An echo of a half-forgotten memory. Doesn’t matter, though. I’m not interested in dredging up old memories right now.
VERSUS
Title: Time PassagesEntry Nickname: Love in the Time of ProsciuttoWord count: 79KGenre: YA FantasyQuery:
Sixteen-year-old Gemma DiMarco was sure she'd found her forever love in Ben Hartwell, but when her unbalanced ex-boyfriend murders Ben then kills himself, Gemma is left reliving the awful moment day after day. With support from her best friend and close-knit Italian family, Gemma finally begins to accept that Ben is truly gone. Death is forever, right? What’s done can’t be undone. Unless she could stop the tragedy from happening in the first place.
When a boy claiming to be her guardian angel comes into the family deli and says he can do just that, Gemma’s beyond skeptical. But with a touch, the boy subverts the laws of time and space, and sends her back to the pivotal moment leading to Ben's murder, allowing her to change the outcome.
Back in the present, Ben is alive. But so is Gemma’s ex, and in this altered reality, he’s still her boyfriend. Gemma believes, to keep Ben safe, she must find the original murder weapon and turn her ex in to the police. Meanwhile, due to Gemma’s time traveling, the family deli is going under and her parents’ once-happy marriage is headed off a cliff. With memories from her new life rapidly replacing the old ones, Gemma soon won’t remember the murder, the angel, or changing the past at all. She has only a few days to thwart her ex, get back with Ben, and save her family, before the old memories fade completely and her chance for a happy ending vanishes too.
TIME PASSAGES combines the romance of ABOUT TIME with the playfulness of THE GOOD PLACE. It will appeal to readers of THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig or THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING by Jeff Giles.
First 250:
Exiting the BART station, I book it three blocks to the deli, late for work. A breeze too cold for August blows in my face, making me hunch into my jacket. The low-hanging clouds, floating overhead like clumps of dirty cotton balls, do nothing to lighten my mood.
This early, the taquerias and fruit markets along Mission Street are still dark, but light glows from Poulsen’s Bakery. The delicious aroma drifting into the street reminds my stomach I skipped breakfast this morning. Baking bread and spices. Cinnamon.
A memory. Ben and me and a bag of cinnamon rolls. “Still warm, Gemma.” Buttery and sweet, we cut first period to eat them in the park. A cop car drives by and we duck behind the picnic table, fingers entwined, choking back the laughter. It’s so vivid, I’m back there, feeling Ben’s cinnamon-scented breath on my cheek, tasting the sugar on his lips. Remembering feels like a stab to the gut now, raw and fresh, because we’ll never have moments like that again.
“Good morning,”
The voice comes out of nowhere, jarring me back to the present. A boy pads along beside me. Talk and dark, a ring of keys jingles on his belt loop.
We’re alone on the street, with the deli still several doors down. I have zero interest in talking, so I smile, nod and walk faster. Take the hint, dude.
Nope. He quickens his pace to keep up. Why do boys think they can invade a girl’s space anytime they feel like it?
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