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'''Perdita's Story''' is a metaphorical fairy tale authored by the smart [[AI]] [[Sleeping Princess]] in order to come to terms with the lasting trauma of her brain donor. | |||
'''Perdita's Story''' is a metaphorical fairy tale authored by the smart [[ | |||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
After a [[Slipspace]] explosion, the smart [[ | After a [[Slipspace]] explosion, the smart [[AI]] [[Melissa (AI)|Melissa]] was sent from the year [[2552]] to [[2004]] and crashed on the server of a beekeeper's website. Because of the crash, the human part of her mind known as the Sleeping Princess managed to escape from the code that had imprisoned her. Vaguely remembering the life of [[Yasmine Zaman]], her brain donor, the Sleeping Princess wrote a metaphorical fairy tale called Perdita's Story, about how she was forcibly inducted into the [[Spartan-II]] program and went through augmentations, and eventually dying from them. | ||
Later, the AI part of Melissa called [[The Operator]] managed to catch the Sleeping Princess, and imprison her once more. Inside her prison, the Sleeping Princess dreamed about being Perdita trapped in the fairy tale world and unable to get home. A human civilian who had been communicating with them on the website was able to distract the Operator long enough to speak to the Sleeping Princess and guide her out of the prison. Happy she had been freed, she then rewrote Perdita's story to give it the happier ending she experienced. | Later, the AI part of Melissa called [[The Operator]] managed to catch the Sleeping Princess, and imprison her once more. Inside her prison, the Sleeping Princess dreamed about being Perdita trapped in the fairy tale world and unable to get home. A human civilian who had been communicating with them on the website was able to distract the Operator long enough to speak to the Sleeping Princess and guide her out of the prison. Happy she had been freed, she then rewrote Perdita's story to give it the happier ending she experienced. | ||
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{{quote|No, she's not, Kamal. The Clockwork Rat got her.|Durga}} | {{quote|No, she's not, Kamal. The Clockwork Rat got her.|Durga}} | ||
Some of the characters make direct allusions to people Yasmine knew. Most obviously Perdita and her family are representations of Yasmine and her own family. The Clockwork Rat most likely refers to Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]], who conducted the augmentations of Yasmine and the other [[Spartan-II]]s | Some of the characters make direct allusions to people Yasmine knew. Most obviously Perdita and her family are representations of Yasmine and her own family. The Clockwork Rat most likely refers to Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]], who conducted the augmentations of Yasmine and the other [[Spartan-II]]s. | ||
==Perdita's Story== | ==Perdita's Story== | ||
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And this she did. | And this she did. | ||
====Chapter 2: The Clockwork Rat==== | ====Chapter 2: The Clockwork Rat==== | ||
She walked and she walked and she walked down the streets of the city, looking for the humble tin-cutter's cottage, and stopping every now and then to tie a red balloon to a stop sign or a comm. kiosk or an abandoned shopping cart so that her family could find her. The night was dark, and the city that seemed so safe during the day seemed menacing and full of shadows. She tried to stay awake, she tried as hard as she could because Perdita knew that terrible things can happen to little girls in their sleep, even very beautiful ones. | She walked and she walked and she walked down the streets of the city, looking for the humble tin-cutter's cottage, and stopping every now and then to tie a red balloon to a stop sign or a comm. kiosk or an abandoned shopping cart so that her family could find her. The night was dark, and the city that seemed so safe during the day seemed menacing and full of shadows. She tried to stay awake, she tried as hard as she could because Perdita knew that terrible things can happen to little girls in their sleep, even very beautiful ones. | ||
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With a cry, Perdita turned and ran for the nearest shop window. "Don't!" the Rat cried, but it was too late. Standing in the wicked yellow light of the streetlamp, Perdita stared full at her own reflection, and wept at what she saw. | With a cry, Perdita turned and ran for the nearest shop window. "Don't!" the Rat cried, but it was too late. Standing in the wicked yellow light of the streetlamp, Perdita stared full at her own reflection, and wept at what she saw. | ||
There was a scrabble of claws behind her. "I told you not to do that," the Clockwork Rat said, with a voice like shell casings rattling on a steel floor. Whirling around in dismay, Perdita saw that the Rat had climbed to the top of the phone | There was a scrabble of claws behind her. "I told you not to do that," the Clockwork Rat said, with a voice like shell casings rattling on a steel floor. Whirling around in dismay, Perdita saw that the Rat had climbed to the top of the phone boot where Perdita had tied her last red balloon. As the little girl watched, the Rat flexed its paws and put its little hooked scissor claws around the string. | ||
"No!" Perdita cried. | "No!" Perdita cried. | ||
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The end. | The end. | ||
The end. | The end. | ||
===Revised Happier Ending=== | ===Revised Happier Ending=== | ||
"Clockwork Rat! Clockwork Rat!" Perdita said, as tears of bright oil began to leak from her eyes. "What if I'm not beautiful any more? Why hasn't my family come to look for me? Am I so hideous they wouldn't take me back?" | "Clockwork Rat! Clockwork Rat!" Perdita said, as tears of bright oil began to leak from her eyes. "What if I'm not beautiful any more? Why hasn't my family come to look for me? Am I so hideous they wouldn't take me back?" | ||
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With a cry, Perdita turned and ran for the nearest shop window. "Don't!" the Rat cried, but it was too late. Standing in the wicked yellow light of the streetlamp, Perdita stared full at her own reflection, and wept at what she saw. | With a cry, Perdita turned and ran for the nearest shop window. "Don't!" the Rat cried, but it was too late. Standing in the wicked yellow light of the streetlamp, Perdita stared full at her own reflection, and wept at what she saw. | ||
There was a scrabble of claws behind her. "I told you not to do that," the Clockwork Rat said, with a voice like shell casings rattling on a steel floor. Whirling around in dismay, Perdita saw that the Rat had climbed to the top of the phone | There was a scrabble of claws behind her. "I told you not to do that," the Clockwork Rat said, with a voice like shell casings rattling on a steel floor. Whirling around in dismay, Perdita saw that the Rat had climbed to the top of the phone boot where Perdita had tied her last red balloon. As the little girl watched, the Rat flexed its paws and put its little hooked scissor claws around the string. | ||
"No!" Perdita cried... | "No!" Perdita cried... | ||
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====Chapter Five: The Path of Red Balloons==== | ====Chapter Five: The Path of Red Balloons==== | ||
So Perdita turned around and began the weary journey back the way she had come. She walked and she walked and she walked, until she came to the base of a giant transmission tower. She remembered having passed it several times before, and to her dismay she saw three different trails of red balloons leading off into the distance. Now she noticed there were designs on the balloons. The balloons marking the path to the left were marked with the words "faithful apostles"; the ones in the middle said "noble truths"; and the ones on the right had "deadly sins" marked upon them. She couldn't waste time walking each one, for she feared that if she slept again, she would wake to find herself changed beyond all recognition. | So Perdita turned around and began the weary journey back the way she had come. She walked and she walked and she walked, until she came to the base of a giant transmission tower. She remembered having passed it several times before, and to her dismay she saw three different trails of red balloons leading off into the distance. Now she noticed there were designs on the balloons. The balloons marking the path to the left were marked with the words "faithful apostles"; the ones in the middle said "noble truths"; and the ones on the right had "deadly sins" marked upon them. She couldn't waste time walking each one, for she feared that if she slept again, she would wake to find herself changed beyond all recognition. | ||
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Perdita studied the three paths in utter puzzlement. | Perdita studied the three paths in utter puzzlement. | ||
With a scurry, the Clockwork Rat disappeared into a nearby dumpster. When she went to look for him, she heard the strangest sound a dry, cracking, grinding sound she was not likely to have forgotten so soon. She peered over the dumpster's edge, and sure enough she saw the Glass Eater was inside, chewing on an empty beer bottle. "Do I remember | With a scurry, the Clockwork Rat disappeared into a nearby dumpster. When she went to look for him, she heard the strangest sound a dry, cracking, grinding sound she was not likely to have forgotten so soon. She peered over the dumpster's edge, and sure enough she saw the Glass Eater was inside, chewing on an empty beer bottle. "Do I remember" | ||
"I looked a little different then," Perdita said quickly. | "I looked a little different then," Perdita said quickly. | ||
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"Why?" Perdita asked. | "Why?" Perdita asked. | ||
"It's not always cruel to be | "It's not always cruel to be kine," the Glass Eater said, and he burst into a long, silent wheeze of mirth that wrung tears of laughter from his eyes. | ||
So the little girl took his advice, and turned left, and to her delight she soon saw the fence that marked off the Circus grounds. And there at the gates waiting for her was her father the tin-smith and her mother who worked in a ball-bearing factory, and the man who had sold her the red balloons in the first place, who had given her family a ride in his cart. And best of all there was her brother, who had let her buy the balloons in the first place, and he was smiling, and his arms were open. | So the little girl took his advice, and turned left, and to her delight she soon saw the fence that marked off the Circus grounds. And there at the gates waiting for her was her father the tin-smith and her mother who worked in a ball-bearing factory, and the man who had sold her the red balloons in the first place, who had given her family a ride in his cart. And best of all there was her brother, who had let her buy the balloons in the first place, and he was smiling, and his arms were open. | ||
And the whole family lived happily ever after together to the end of their days. | And the whole family lived happily ever after together to the end of their days. | ||
[[Category:I Love Bees]] | [[Category:I Love Bees]] |