d3butinthespotlight

[d3butinthespotlight]

Hey, can y’all rb this if it’s okay to send you messages asking about your ocs, cause on god I wanna interact with y’all but I am terrified of being annoying lol

[d3butinthespotlight]

So uh, it’s not done but I’ve learned that I can’t just keep saying “I’ll do this” and “I’ll do that” without actually showing I can write or that I’m putting time into this.

I have no plans for this scenes chronological order yet and it’s most definitely a spoiler but hey, I need to start somewhere!

I’m not going to provide any context to this scene, simply bcs I’m curious on if I’ve managed to convey the scene in a cohesive manner. I would really appreciate it if you could take maybe 5 minutes to maybe just read this and give me some feedback🙇‍♀️

————————————————Scene Starts Below

My head was cocked to the side as I took in the screens covering the room— floor to ceiling. Screens upon screens displaying video footage of every possible area humans inhabited; a majority unknown to me before this moment. I shift over to look at the few pitch-black screens taking over the most cluttered part of the room, no doubt they were for Eden—shut off before Don came to get me. My gaze drifted to the rest of the room. Below, several tables are either empty, with more computers, or strewn with papers. A perfected scribble lined each piece of paper, carefully printed and arranged with a pen. I thought it was almost hard to look at.

On one of the tables, a small stack caught my eye. An unfinished project by the red pen in its margins. Those were a rare thing to just find out in the open. The words at the top labeled it in bold lettering as Project: Salem. My feet carried me to it before the less curious side of my brain spewed hesitancy.

The paper was flimsy and cold in my hand, with dozens of oddly imperfect scribbles written in red filled between any space. Quickly scanning over the draft looking for notable words, I noted the word Calypso scrawled several times in the margins, but with no other information, it occurred enough to be important. My mind spun to fill in the blanks. ‘Calypso’ was a name— but of who? Or what? A person's name or a weapon? Each time the name occurred in the margins a red underline was next to it in the text. It was certainly a key player by the looks of it.

“Found interest in my latest project? I have been working on it for quite some time; there were quite a few kinks to work out.” My eyes snapped to Don behind me. A proud smile grew on his face, “It has been quite some time since we were last in each other's presence. I believe I forgot how quick of a reader you were, and how nosy you could be as well.”

So, he finally decided to speak up.

“Never mind my latest passion project, Madeline, I am sure you are wondering why I dragged you here.” I frowned. He dragged me here as much as I came willingly all while avoiding what he wanted. I placed the unfinished project down and leaned against the table facing him, gesturing to him.

“You wish to induce me into another one of your schemes. I am not stupid, Don. That’s what it’s always been with you.”

A smile grew on his face. His smile never reached his eyes. Liar and a cheat—but one of the few people I could rely on to always follow his beliefs. “Madeline, sit, please.” He gestured to the left, towards a small sitting area. I watched the direction Don had started walking in before making my way to the chair opposite him.

Don sat stiffly in the chair, unmoving as I shifted to make myself comfortable. The stiffness of the chair despite its cushions sent tremors down my back and leg. The pain there from walking was starting to get to me “Ah, and it is just us here— you do not need to keep the mask on. Ugly hideous contraptions are they not?”

I stopped moving as soon as I’d found a comfortable position and looked at him—a brow raised but no other emotion evident on my face “An odd request, you obviously know it’s me. So why should I remove my mask?”

“Why should I remove my mask?” My eyes narrowed at him as he parroted me. A laugh broke the silence that followed, “Oh no need be so suspicious! I do know you are, well, you. You are a sight though without it, — come on, it has been years since I saw you. Grant an old friend one request?”

“Last time I checked, you’re the one who designed these things. And you haven’t answered why you took me here.“ I let out a deep breath as I felt annoyance setting in. “Don, could we just skip all this? Why did you bring me here?“

A smile grew on his face. “Always quick to the point.”

“Well then, you have figured out I require your..specific set of skills again and I can assure you this will be worth your while. I will skip all my usual theatrics, promise.” This whole time has been theatrics, all it ever is. That fake smile shone on his face as he folded his hands in his lap and leaned back. “I have decided to move forward with a plan that has been a couple of years in the making. I can promise you it will benefit what is left of mankind and avenge those who deserve it. Everything, Madeline, is set up for my plan to be put into action. Everything, but you.”

My thoughts began to spin, from what I knew Don’s schemes had ended years ago. He took Eden over a decade ago and all but destroyed any rebels. He had total control of the remainder of the human race. One thing formed in the chaos of my thoughts.

“My family, they won’t be hurt in your plan?” A sinister glint in his eyes was the only indication of his true thoughts.

“I am quite hurt, Madeline! I thought you would be more trusting about our deal.”

I gave him a look, “The theatrics?”

“Ah yes, no, your family would not be hurt. This plan will barely require Eden to be physically used, I need only its people. I can reassure you, your family will not be hurt, not on purpose or accident—though, only if you do your part right.”

I shifted and gazed at the computers past him, taking in the dozens of scenes flicking across them. This was a delicate operation if he needed to use me—he would have done something already. Outright violence was not needed in this plan, and based on Salem it wouldn't be a quick gig. Eden wasn't being used so this isn't about getting rid of people, well the people of Eden, assumably the scientists and infected was what Don needed—

“It's the aliens, Madeline.” My gaze snapped onto Don quick enough to read his amused expression. Now he looked more like the Don I remembered, not the polite figure he'd put on in recent years. However, my lips pursed at the new information. The aliens—Kiryik in their tongue—had arrived roughly 4 years ago and had quickly settled in. I turned back around to Don, he’d finally stumped me.

“Why? I can't see why you'd need anything from them.” I could come up with a few ideas on what he'd want from them, but nothing that required me.

His grin grew as he seemed to drop the persona, “You always figure out things too fast. Though. I suppose you'd need such a skill in your line of work.” Don leaned forward toward me, the way his eyes shifted I knew he was serious, “Madeline, I found evidence of how the fungus got on Earth, and these aliens are the only ones with the information I need.”

My body froze, everything else about his body language suggested he was being serious. But it wasn't possible. Not in a million years.

“When?” A full question wasn't needed. We'd known each other long enough for him to fill in the blanks.

“The leak was first discovered by my agents about 2 years ago. I've held off this long to confirm it. Those aliens are the ones who have the final part of this equation.”

“They caused it? But I— we never found anything that implied they had anything to do with it? My sources confirmed this years ago, the Kiryik had nothing to do with the infection and I know for a fact they are still unaware of us.”

Don shook his head, “You are right, they don't know about Eden or any other survivors. But, —“My brows furrowed, “—they know who did it.”

“Clarify, Don.”

“Ahem, some higher-ups in their hierarchy know who did it. I know this—I know what you're going to say– and I know that because those same have been covering up our presence.” I could swear to God he just said they didn't know about us.

“I’m failing to see where this is connected.”

I spared a quick glance at his face, a small twitch in his eye from my interruption but he was still being serious.

“We know this, yes, and it always struck as weird and 2 years ago one of my agents intercepted a message from New Rome detailing our ‘survival’ and the fungus' persistence. Since then we have discovered a network of these messages. They never expected to be caught since everything is sent on the same frequency. So far, around 13 individuals have been identified. They are all high ranking in their hierarchy and have been carefully erasing any mention or evidence about humanity's existence.”

A worried look crossed his face for a second—the exact look he always made before saying something stupid, “Madeline, now promise me you'll hear me out.” He sounded desperate this time though; narrowing my eyes I nodded for him to continue. His next words came out so quickly I almost missed them, “The start of the plan is to initiate first contact.” Well, it is nice to know he is still insane at least.

Words tumbled out before I could change them, “Are you crazy? From what you just said that'd be like waking into a lion's den! Hell, I know you'd do this with or without my help— but are you kidding?” I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. He had to be kidding. What the hell was his plan? Normally— normally I could see some map of logic, but there was none in this. This man was exasperating.

I recollected myself before looking at him again,“Fine! I'll hear you out; my part in this plan is?”

Don seemed to sigh in relief and leaned back into his chair, “First contact itself won't be hard, neither will be finding people to fill any parts I need. The issue comes after, which is where I need you to come in. From what my men have observed they are incredibly private— annoyingly so. I know enough that we can't just walk in and ask for the passwords.” He paused as though considering his next words, “You have a way of making people trust what you say and..I know I can trust you to maintain a separation of emotion and mission.”

I watched as he tensed, my own mind going back to what he was referencing. I'd shot him years ago in an attempt to stop him. Hell of a lot of good that did, he still managed to take control of Eden with a bullet in his chest. I could feel my gaze shift lower to where I assumed the scar was. Now I knew what he wanted from me; we had been close before he executed his takeover and during I had him cornered in the old control center. I shot him then. Hadn't even thought it through when I pulled the trigger. A separation of our friendship and my duty to Eden.

A long moment of pause passed between us before I spoke up, “Ok…I get what your deal is. You need someone to get close enough to one of them and still trust they could follow through with what you need to be done. But do you seriously need me to just befriend them? My role here is to socialize?.” Picking a random alien was gonna be difficult though. Not with the secrets but with their personalities. I couldn't guarantee what they would be like.

“I can also assure you that that won't be all you'll be doing. I need your diplomatic skills as well. You will enter the plan as my interpreter and don't worry, you'll have the freedom to interpret or add as you see fit.”

I looked at him confused for a second, “But, we have translators? What use would, oh, no I see what you're saying.” Don would feign ignorance to what was being said while I played intermediary. An old classic he liked to use still, I suppose.

“And another thing, Madeline, you needn't worry about selecting one. I have..arranged for a member of their race to be transferred to Earth.” I’m not sure I want to know how.

“And they know everything you need?”

Don simply shrugged, “I assume. He would have high enough clearance or would be able to provide you with a means of accessing higher clearance. As the Patriarch’s closest bodyguard, he is the perfect target.”

[d3butinthespotlight]

Hey there folks! You’ve never met me before but I’m Debut! An aspiring writer and avid reader. I plan to make a more proper intro later but for now I wanna introduce what I plan on doing.

My blog is dedicated to documenting my writing journey for my book Fool’s Gold, and since I struggle with motivation I figured maybe I should try and involve other people. I’m curious if others would love my story as much as I do! There’s a small-ish Q&A that has more info✨

——————

My main issue when I first started writing was that I had no clue who my characters were but I knew where my story was. I’ve since simplified things for myself. But I figure in order for me to truly understand my characters and who they are(and to make sure I convey who they are properly) I would like to kindly ask of anyone to share some prompts with me!!

Prompts really that you’d be interested in seeing, or scenes/interactions between characters that you think shows who they are. I haven’t figured out which character I want the story’s perspective to be told in so depending on the prompt the POV might change.

Each prompt would get a short story for it and would be posted back on amino for feedback! Currently the only fleshed out characters would be these 4, so pick up to 3 of them at once for a scene you suggest! :D

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Quick Q&A!

Q: What is this story?

A: It’s a post-apocalyptic scifi with a lot of cunning plots and dangerous secrets! Everyone has their own motives for what they want, and 1 isn’t afraid to do anything for their goal.

Q: Who are these four characters?

A: These four include the 2 main characters, and 2 closely supporting characters. While the supporting characters are important, the story is told by the last two.

1. Don; the leader of the last human city. Runs the whole show

2. Rose & Carina; the best friend of the (human) MC and a child. Carina is always with Rose as a package deal.

3. Calypso; our first main character! I hope you’ll learn more about her in your prompts (:

4. Sancus; our second main character and an alien! Maybe you recognize him from my earlier attempts and he’s still mostly the same. He’s a body guard for some pretty important aliens on earth.

Q: What prompts are allowed?

A: Any and every! I want to get a lot of practice in so feel free to go wild. Romance is acceptable between Calypso and Sancus but not others. Violence/violent prompts as well but only to an extent, I have the right to refuse. And it goes without saying no NSFW please.

Thank you!! 💕