Blog: The Sequel that is No More

The Sequel that is No More posted by RPLauer on August 20, 2021:





Please do not read this if you have not read The Scars of Gaia. This will spoil that novel and is not important in any way, shape, or form to anyone who has not already read that novel.



Also, please note that this post WILL contain foul language. Proceed with caution.











Due to recent events - the complete destruction of my marriage - I feel like my writing journey will end up as collateral damage. She was a major motivation for my writing in the first place. Not only that, but she absolutely inspired me throughout writing The Scars of Gaia.



For example, I never wanted there to be any romance in the novel; at all. Period. But while writing, I kept feeling the pull towards a love story between James and Claire. I fought it for as long as I could until I couldn't fight any longer.



My love for my wife was the source of that pull. The relationship between James and Claire was a representation of how I saw my wife and myself. She was my Claire. And now, that is gone.



I won't say for sure that my writing journey is completely over. But because of the above, I can absolutely say that the planned sequel to The Scars of Gaia is most definitely canceled. I know exactly what will happen if I even try: Claire will leave James, James will die in the most horrible of ways, and Claire won't give a fuck.



No one who enjoyed The Scars of Gaia will want to read that shit. But I guarantee that that is what I'll write. I won't be able to help it.



So yeah, the sequel is no more. It's too bad because I did have a pretty solid first chapter for it that I wrote last November, and I was SO close to finishing the outline. But, it is what it is.



On that note, there is no reason now to not release this. Therefore, here is the Prologue and First Chapter (FIRST DRAFT) to the canned sequel:











The Resentment of Gaia



Prologue



Nar sat at his desk, staring from one monitor to another; a smile brightened his soft, but frail and aging face. He had spent all morning reviewing footage, which highlighted the progress his reformed Gaia had made over several of their years.



As he reflected on the struggles and triumphs, lost in the ocean of pride and happiness he freely sailed, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. As he turned to face a monitor that was currently tuned to one of his other colonies, he saw something that should not be; static, and nothing more, greeted him from Terra Pius.











Chapter 1

The Favor



James stabbed the soil, rigorously separating root from dirt over and over again; the monotony only offset slightly by his friend's constant moaning.



"This… Is… So… BORING!" Nate punctuated each word with his own violent thrust of his forked tool into the soil.



"Yes, I know," James said in an exhausted tone. "Weeding isn't glamorous, but at least it doesn't try and break you like the military did."



"I strongly disagree there, James. I feel pretty damned broken."



James roared with laughter while Nate scowled, "I'm so glad I can amuse you."



"Don't worry, you'll feel better when Parthenia returns; you always do."



Nate rolled his eyes and the two of them returned their focus to the soil; James smiling while Nate continued huffing with every jab. They worked for a few hours, passing the time by discussing future plans, and any thought on how to make their jobs easier, no matter how ridiculous the idea may be. Then, a few hours until Full Light, a voice began to call out.



"Dad! D-a-a-a-d!"



James looked up from his chore and scanned the fields for the source of his daughter's voice; trotting through the rows, Elpis was approaching fast, her arms outstretched. James quickly stood up, then headed in her direction. As soon as she was close enough, he bent down ready to receive her.



"Dad!" she shouted as she lept into her father's arms. "Mom's coming, she's going to tell you that Alexandra wants you."



He hugged her tight while looking towards the house; sure enough, Claire was midway across the fields heading for them. While holding on tightly to his daughter, he started in her direction to meet her halfway.



As soon as they could, James and Claire kissed deeply, Elpis sighing hard.



"So what's up? Elpie says that Alexandra wants to see me?"



"Dad!"



"Us, actually. I don't know why, she just said that there's a situation." James's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, Claire continued. "Your mom's fine; that was the first thing I asked. Otherwise, I don't know; she said she didn't want to go into detail over the radio. But she wants us there as soon as we can make time."



"What about me?" Nate had apparently followed James, probably looking for any excuse he could to ignore the weeding.



"She said that you could come along, but you're not needed if you have other things to do."



Nate looked at James with longing in his eyes, to which James said, "Fine, but you know we'll still have to do it eventually anyway."



"Yeah, but at least then you'll get to enjoy it with me."



"Are you busy with anything?" James asked Claire.



"No, none of my projects need attending at this point."



"Ok then, let's go wash up and head out."



***



Three adults and one child stood at the side of a paved road near some rails, just outside of their farm; their home. The adults waited patiently while the child ran around, swinging a wooden sword and fighting imaginary enemies to the left, to the right, and in between the legs of the others.



"Elpie, keep your elbows bent when you're defending," Claire said with a smile, imitating a defensive stance.



"Mom! Stop… Calling… Me… That!" With every word, Elpis smacked her mom's legs and knees with her sword in a playful, but irritated manner.



"Look, all I'm saying is, if you're not happy, you can do something else," James said. "There's nothing beyond your grasp; whatever you want to do, Alexandra will make it happen."



"I know," Nate started, "but just like you, I don't want special treatment. If I can't get assigned somewhere without her assistance, I'd rather not do it. Besides, I'm not going to leave you to do all the dirty work yourself."



"Don't worry about me; I can hire someone if I need help. In the meantime, I don't want to be responsible for your boredom." James winked and smiled.



"Ok, look; don't take my moaning too seriously. I have a feeling I'll be bored no matter what I do in this new world. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the old ways; but you have to admit that there's not a lot of variety anymore."



"I guess that's the biggest difference between us then. I enjoy the routine, and no longer needing to do whatever it takes to survive."



"I get what you're saying, and I'd like to agree. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to the more brutal side of that life. But there was a certain amount of excitement mixed in, and adventure. When compared to that, farming is just… well… dull."



"If you're really that bored, Nate," Claire cut in, excitement dripping in her voice, "you could always assist me! I'd kill to have some help!"



"But mom, I help you, don't I?" Elpis asked, yanking on Claire's pant leg.



"Of course you do sweetie, and I couldn't get a thing done without you! But more help is always better, isn't it?"



Elpis nodded and Claire turned back to Nate. "I could teach you all about botany, and genetics! That would be so much fun! What do you say?"



Nate let out a deep and hearty belly laugh and said, "That sounds like lethal levels of boredom!"



James joined in the laughter, while Claire frowned.



With a chuckle in his voice, James said, "Don't take it personally, Claire. Nate doesn't want to stay in a room and study; he wants to be out, swinging a sword or something.



"Get ready, the tram's arriving."



"Elpis, come take mamma's hand."



The four of them stood side by side while the transport slowed to a halt in front of them. As soon as it had come to a full stop, the doors swung inward and the group stepped inside, Claire taking the rear. As soon as she was all the way inside, and the doors had re-closed, she put her hand to a panel and said, "Capital, please."



The moment everyone sat down, the tram eased forward slightly, then shot off down the tracks. The adults talked quietly between themselves, wondering what this 'situation' could be that required James and Claire, while the child turned around in her seat and pressed her nose against the window, taking in the sights.



In rapid succession, the surroundings cycled through a variety of settings. Rural fields. Sporadic residential developments. Tightly packed suburban housing. Everything passed by quickly, and Elpis did everything possible to soak it all in. No matter how often she took this trip, every time was her first.



In no time, the tram was entering the urban area of the outer capital. Finally, it slowed down and stopped, just outside of the road that led to the main capital building. The group rose from their seats and exited the vehicle.



Together they made their way down some steps and onto the road, passing shops, stands and restaurants that filled the busy city. Sounds of life filled the air, from laughter to chatter to bird singing in the trees. Onward they moved, past the busy shopping district to the beautiful park filled with benches, tables, trees, towering statues and the occasional hitching rail.



At last they reached their destination. They went up a long flight of steps and onto a giant ring of pavement that surrounded the circular capital building and into the main entrance. Upon entering, and after seeing who they were, the receptionist waved them in. Through the main hallway and to the end, James knocked on the door to Alexandra's office.



"Come in," she called.



James opened the door, held it while everyone went in, then followed behind. Inside, Alexandra was sitting at her desk, her striking emerald green eyes piercing with a gentle warmth. Just to her right sat Debbie; she had a worried look on her face. However, the look faded quickly as Elpis cried out "Grandma!" and ran to her, jumping into her lap.



"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Alexandra began. "I called you here because God has informed me of a situation and is asking for our help. You, James," she said as she nodded to him, "and Claire," again with a nod, "were my first thought."



She rose from her seat - Debbie following suit - and said, "I believe that Nar himself should fill you in on the details, so shall we?"



Alexandra then led the way out of her office, through hallways and down to God's chamber. As soon as they entered, Debbie went to a console near the back and began pressing some buttons while the rest of them moved to the center of the room and settled themselves before a large monitor.



"This shouldn't take long," Alexandra said. "I told him that you were coming and to stand by."



As Debbie prodded at the console, the monitor came to life, and the 'stand by' footage began to play. As they waited, live feed from all over Gaia filled the screen. She prodded some more, and another monitor behind her came to life as well. Framed in the center of this screen, Parthenia stared at the group, her emerald green eyes and her soft face smiled brightly.



"Once I heard that Nate would be joining us," Alexandra started, "I decided it would be prudent to include Parthenia in this, so I contacted her right away."



"Yes, and I thank you so much for including me! Nate is a wonderful man, but sometimes he misses the details." Parthenia smiled even brighter, and even though he had just been somewhat insulted, Nate couldn't help but smile back at his wife.



"How are things going with your parents, and Mathias?" Nate asked.



"Oh, very well, thank you! I would have been home sooner, but my parents are still showing Mark everything that they have been doing in the Divine. But I will not be here much longer."



Debbie looked to the monitor and said, "Give my grandson a big hug for me, ok? And try and stop by on your way home; I would love to see him myself!" Then she addressed Alexandra. "I believe that you can take it from here. I'm going to take my granddaughter for a little walk outside."



"Awe, but Grandma! I wanna talk to God!"



"I know baby, but this is going to be a conversation for the adults. You know what that means, don't you?" she said with a wink.



"Oooooh, you mean it's going to be boring?"



"Exactly, my dear!" Debbie gave a large smile, then held her hand out, which Elpis took gladly. She nodded to Claire, and then moved to James, caressing his cheek; the worried look returned for just a moment. But then she looked back to Elpis, smiled, and took her away and out of sight.



Finally, there was a flicker, and the live feed was replaced by the smiling, wrinkled face of Nar.



"My children! Thank you so much for coming! I am truly grateful for you taking time out of your day to listen to this old man's troubles." The smile faded and a more somber look took over. "Let me get right to why I summoned you before me.



"I have lost all communication with one of my worlds, Terra Pius, and all of my monitoring systems are down. They were the second world I created, not long after I lost Alexandra - during the great war. My audio and video feeds are picking up nothing but static, the bio detectors show no signs of life - of any kind - and even my environmental controls register nothing.



"I am afraid that something terrible may have happened, though I cannot even be sure of that…" He trailed off as he spoke the last words.



"What do you mean by that?" Claire asked.



Nar paused for several moments, struggling to maintain composure. Eventually he spoke. "I am afraid that I have been most neglectful in my duties, with the responsibility that I possess. You see, as soon as I noticed the problem, I went back through my archives to see exactly when contact was severed. It would seem that contact was cut about a year ago - from their perspective.



"Where your world runs twenty times faster than mine, theirs runs even faster; fifty times faster to be precise. Which means it took me over a week - my time - to even notice. This would be bad enough, but unfortunately, the truth is even worse."



He took a deep breath before continuing. "Once I found the exact spot where the feed was lost, I went back to the moment just before, hoping I would see something that would make sense of what had happened. But there wasn't anything out of place. So I went back further, and further, and further.



"At first I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. But then I started looking even harder and noticed just how ordinary all of the footage seemed; there was something synthetic about what I was seeing."



Nate and Claire just stood with confused looks, but James said what they must have been thinking. "I'm afraid I'm not following what you're saying, Nar. What do you mean by synthetic? Was it fake footage or something?"



Nar seemed to ponder this for a moment before nodding. "In a sense, yes. I won't go into full details here, I'm sure that would not be very interesting. But I wrote a computer program that would take in all of the archived footage, and analyze it frame by frame. It took time, but what it found was, well, disturbing.



"It would appear that over the last hundred or more years - again, their time - only thirty unique days existed within the footage. These twenty eight hour periods were spliced together, over and over, in a randomized order. I believe that someone, perhaps the citizens of Terra Pius themselves, have sought to deceive me. And I didn't even notice."



"What exactly do you want from us?" James asked.



"Well, my children, I would like for a few - maybe just two - of you to go to this world and see for yourselves what has happened. I cannot go into any of your worlds myself, as I am much too large. My equipment is my only window into what is going on, to at least some extent. But as that has failed me, I am now at a loss; I have no other options.



"Now, I want it to be clear that this is just a request; a favor. And one that you should feel completely free to reject; as I have no idea what may have happened, this journey could be dangerous." He paused for a moment before continuing. "But if anyone were to accept this request, I would be most appreciative."



Claire, James and Nate all looked to each other with hesitation, but did not speak. Finally Claire spoke up. "If we were to decide to go, how exactly would we get there?"



"Well, my child, I am afraid that there is only one way. I have struggled for years to develop a teleportation device, something that could instantly take someone from one location to another; but alas I have failed, again and again.



"Therefore, the only way you would be able to get there would be to travel down what you call the 'Path To God' - which will take you to the center of all my worlds, inside of my laboratory. From there you will travel through their 'Path To God'.



"And as this environment is only suitable for Mediators to endure, any Gaians must wear the protective suits that were used for repairing the breaches between our worlds."



The three of them continued looking to one another, worry etched in their faces. Noticing their concern, Nar did his best to reassure them. "As I said before, you must decide for yourselves whether or not you wish to accept this request. You can use whatever criteria you wish to make your decision, and if any chose to accept, they may formulate their plan as they see fit.



"Though I would seriously ask you to limit your party as much as you can. I already dislike the idea of anyone putting themselves in potential danger, so I feel it prudent to keep that risk as low as possible.



"Now, I have some modifications in mind for your protective suits. Some for your benefit, some for my own. But I will provide the schematics needed, and I can assure you that you have all of the necessary resources to make the adjustments. In fact, I am sending the files to your console now."

Alexandra walked over to the work station that Debbie previously vacated, and began readying the system to receive the transfer.



"One of the modifications is for a camera that will be able to stream a live feed to my work station; this way I can see for myself what is going on in Terra Pius. Another is a bit more complicated, but in short, it will create a sort of temporal bubble around the wearer. This will make sure that while they are in this new environment, they will continue to age according to Gaia's perception of time."



Alexandra looked to the monitor and said, "I have received the files, and I am sending them to our engineering team now; they should be able to give an estimate to how long these modifications will take shortly."



Nar smiled and said, "If anyone decides to accept this request, it will be imperative that they wear a suit with at least the temporal modifications at all times. Otherwise, they could experience adverse effects in this new world.



"Although I should also warn you that the suit itself will come with its own side effects. Because it will be slowing down your bodily functions, you will feel tired and mentally drained. But you are all resilient, and I have no doubt that you will be able to adjust in time.



"Do any of you have any questions about the situation, or my request?"



Everyone in the room looked to each other, giving various forms of a shrug. Alexandra then said, "I believe that we have all of the information we need at the moment. If any new queries present themselves, I shall send a message to you at once."



"Thank you, my children." Nar gave a meek smile, and then the monitor turned to black.



***



Everyone was back in Alexandra's office discussing the situation. Debbie had given Elpis some art supplies and set her to work in a corner of the room, and Parthenia was still observing through another monitor.



"I just don't understand why it has to be them," Debbie pleaded with Alexandra. "Haven't they done enough already? Hasn't my family been through enough?" Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes as she spoke.



"Yes, of course they have, and obviously I know what your family has already endured. You know that I admire them greatly. And it is exactly because of that admiration that I feel that they are the best suited for this task." Alexandra took Debbie's hand and stroked it gently. "I do not want to see anything bad happen to them, but I do not believe that there is anyone better for this; I have faith that they are the most likely to succeed."



Debbie looked to James and said, "I don't suppose I even need to ask, you being you and all. You're going to do it, aren't you?"



James focused on his mother's eyes and said, "To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I mean, I'd like to help Nar out, but something about this feels wrong. It seems like once again, we are being asked to clean up his mess. I hate to sound ungrateful, no matter his faults we do owe him our very existence. And with the world we have created in the last few years, it is impossible not to cherish this gift. But how much longer must we work to undo his mistakes?" He looked to his wife and added, "What do you think?"



Claire considered this for a moment, and then said, "What if they need help? What if something went horribly wrong over there, like what we all lived through, or even worse? If people are suffering, and we have a chance to do something about it, shouldn't we take that chance?"



James looked over to the corner where his daughter sat, fully engrossed in drawing. Then he looked into Claire's eyes and that was all he needed to decide. "You're right. Of course you're right. At the very least, we need to see exactly what's going on over there."



Debbie began to sob softly. James got up, walked over to her and put his arms around her, embracing her with all his might. "Don't worry Mom. I've withstood a lot in this life. I won't topple that easily."



Nate then blurted out, "Besides, he'll have me to help protect him!"



Then through the monitor, Parthenia yelled out, "Oh no he will not! Do not even dare think about leaving Mark and me!" She paused a moment, then added, "Please do not take offense James, Claire. It is not that I would not want to see you two protected, obviously I would. I simply… well… am being selfish, apparently."



"If that's being selfish," Debbie said, looking to Parthenia, "you can add me to that list. I agree with you! It's bad enough risking James and Claire," she then looked to Nate, "but don't you leave me too!"



"Wait a minute," Nate shouted, "I'm not talking about recklessly risking my life, or anything like that! I'm talking about keeping our friends and family safe! Isn't that more important than what might happen?"



"Of course it is important," Parthenia said, "but I cannot stand the thought of losing you! If you go, then I go! If you are going to keep James and Claire safe, then I am going to go and keep you safe!"



"No," James said, firmly. "No one else will be going; at least not right away. Claire and I will go, just the two of us. Nar himself said that we should keep our 'party' as low as possible, and I agree. Until we have some idea of what exactly is going on over there, we shouldn't risk more than we have to."



Nate opened his mouth to speak, but James cut him off. "No. This is not a debate; this is how it must be." He then looked to Alexandra and said, "You'll back me on this." This was not a question; this was a statement.



The room fell silent and all focus was on Alexandra. She stared into James' eyes for several moments. Finally she said, "Yes. As we do not know what is going on, we must take every precaution we can. Return to your home, I will call the council together and hold a meeting; this must be thoroughly discussed before proceeding, but any first contact will be made by just James and Claire.



"For now, be safe, and I will keep you informed of any new developments." Then she turned to Debbie and said, "I truly am sorry, Debbie. But this is what is right."



"I know," Debbie responded. "I know. I wish I could point out a better team, someone to go instead. But I know just as well as you do that there is no one better." She looked at her son and smiled - a sad but proud smile.



As James, Claire, Nate and Elpis moved towards the door, James paused. To Alexandra, he said, "Have your people look into that camera that Nar wanted installed. I want the feed streamed here as well as to him. And make sure that we can communicate with each other while we travel. There must be a way to make it work."



"I will let them know, but there may be no way to do that without God seeing this change in design."



"I don't plan to keep it from him. In fact, I will make sure he understands that this is my requirement for following along."



Alexandra nodded, and the group left the room.