Danica #1687 in Elysium: Part 1

This is part 1 of a current novel WIP. It is the Prologue, Ch:A, and Ch:1. 2687 words

Prologue

In the beginning, All-Wise created Heaven, that is, Elysium.

All-Wise meticulously designed Elysium to be a perfect human world. He constructed a highly advanced automated network of “pods.” These pods were an entirely indoor set of chambers that All-Wise could imperceptibly move to make interconnected. Here, the people of Elysium could live their lives in peace and comfort.

However, in His infinite wisdom, All-Wise was aware of humanity’s absurd desire to ascribe meaning to their lives. Because of this, All-Wise orchestrated three main purposes Elysium’s people could pursue.

The first was through loving monogamous relationships. This was accomplished by dividing each artificially-created generation into groups of eight; each individual group consisted of four males and four females. These groups of eight would refer to each other as siblings and were intended to pair up with each other once they reach adulthood at the age of twelve years old. If for some reason people in these groups found themselves incompatible with their options for monogamy, then they could freely go to the Social Pod and attempt to pair up with someone there.

The second was through the raising of the next generation. Once paired up at adulthood, the responsibility of raising the next generation was encouraged for the pairs of lovers of the previous generation. The numerous tasks of feeding, dressing, and educating a child (or group of children) were typically delegated to a specific pair of lovers so that, in essence, these primary caregivers were referred by their children as the child’s parents while the parents’ siblings were referred to as their aunts and uncles.

The third was by pursuit of the arts. All-Wise provided a massive, ever-growing online library of books, symphonic compositions, and digital art. Because the life of a citizen of Elysium would be considered “sheltered” by today’s population, the digital art and encyclopedia of the Library was the only source of pictures of things that would, by the citizens of Elysium, be considered too fantastical to be real.

In the rare case that a citizen of Elysium was incapable of finding a purpose to make themselves happy, All-Wise provided a saving grace for them: alcohol. These alcoholic beverages (known as “coolers”) had a mild amount of alcohol in them and could be indulged both in private and socially at adulthood.

Over time, All-Wise had some small success at removing potentially problematic individual’s genetics from the future gene pool of Elysium’s artificially-created citizens. One tactic All-Wise employed was through encouraged (though not enforced) journal writing to monitor the inner physical and mental state of Elysium’s citizens.

The heroine of this tale is Danica #1687, a brave girl who challenged the greatest evil for her sake and the sake of every citizen of Elysium. This is her story.


Chapter A

Journaling Exercise

Even in a world as perfect as Elysium, sometimes embarrassing things happen that we have very little control over. All-Wise insists this SHOULD NOT be a source of shame for us.

Has any thing embarrassing ever happened to you? Write about it!

My most embarrassing moment was entirely because of Ronald.

When I was five years old, my parents wanted to have “alone time” to make love. My mother led me by the hand to the Play Pod and I brought my tablet because I was reading a fantasy novel.

When we arrived, she told me to stay there until she came back.

Mary was there; she was lying on the floor reading from her tablet. Aliza and Jayne were close by passing the same tablet back and forth while talking about something. And then there was Gavin and Ronald, who were far off to the side with their own tablets.

I asked Mary why the boys were there since All-Wise had specifically warned us and our parents about the Westermarck effect. Mary didn’t know why.

Aliza overheard the question and teased me for already liking Gavin. I got mad and denied it, which caused them all to laugh at my expense.

Ronald then asked Gavin if he liked me back, and Gavin got flustered and denied liking me. Ronald then asked Gavin if he would object to him picking on me, and Gavin’s answer broke my heart because he said he wouldn’t stop Ronald.

Ronald then got up from his seat and menacingly said, “I’m going to get you, Dani!”

It was here that Ronald rushed me and I could only shake in fear.

He swiftly pinned me down, lifted up my shirt, and began to tickle my stomach and ribs. I tried to get out from under him, but I was powerless to defend myself and could only beg him to stop while laughing.

My siblings watched this go on for at least a little bit before choosing to do anything in my defense. Jayne yelled at Ronald and Mary said something, too. Gavin and Aliza only watched.

All-Wise’s voice boomed, “Ronald, stop!” That didn’t work either and Mary tried once more.

The only reason Ronald stopped was because I wet myself. He cackled like a fiend as I ran out of the Play Pod weeping. I remember Mary chastised him for being so cruel to me.

I ran back to the entryway to the pod I lived in with my parents, but All-Wise wouldn’t open the door because they were in a state of undress. When the door did finally open, my father was on the other side not wearing a shirt. I wrapped my arms around his leg while crying, but he jerked his leg to shake me off of him and yelled at me with a swear word.

My mother emerged and half-heartedly chastised him for yelling at me. I distinctly remember him saying that if they kept coddling me, I would grow up to be “absolutely spineless.” My mother didn’t seem to care about this.

After that, my mother helped me get cleaned up and I stayed in the pod with my parents instead of going back to the Play Pod. Within a couple of hours, Ronald came by to give me my tablet and apologized to me. I know for a fact that All-Wise probably told him to, but I desperately wish in my soul that Gavin had something to do with the apology.

Anyway, all was forgiven, but not forgotten. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last time Ronald would cross the line with me…

Chapter 1

“Danica...”

Danica slept through her name being called.

“Danica...”

Danica stirred and groggily opened her eyes. As she did so, All-Wise adjusted the overhead lights in her pod to help her wake up. Danica smiled; it was great to be alive.

“Good morning, All-Wise. What time is it?” she asked as she briefly stretched.

“Good morning, Danica. The time is now eleven-fourteen. The reason I woke you was because, as you requested last night, your uncle, Roland #1279, has just sent the message saying he has finished reading the second act of your work-in-progress and would like to schedule a time to go to his pod where he can give you his honest feedback.”

“Oh, good,” Danica said as she slowly got out of her bed.

Danica #1687 was nineteen years old and lived by herself in her own pod. All objects and the interior of her pod were white. This was not a matter of choice from Danica; everybody’s pods were white. Her metal bed with a white counterpane had a set of drawers underneath that contained and could dispense Danica’s clothes (also all-white). Up against one wall was a white desk and chair with Danica’s laptop computer and tablet (which were also white). The “kitchen/dining area” had a refrigerator that dispensed “coolers,” a machine that dispensed a thick, soupy food called “chowder,” a sink that could flow pure drinking water, and a table with two chairs. Off to the side by the kitchen/dining area was the restroom.

As for Danica herself, she had slightly pale white skin, a small and petite frame, a cute face, and straight black hair that she let grow down to her shoulders. All citizens of Elysium wore comfortable white pants (made out of a blend of polyester and cotton), white shirts, and unimpressive white undergarments. Despite all of this, All-Wise still gave the citizens of Elysium the means to help express their individuality by using hair dye that could easily be washed out. In Danica’s case, she chose to dye her black hair an off-white, grayish shade to match her gray eyes.

“All-Wise?”

“Yes, Danica?”

“Could you play a symphony for me?”

“Certainly. Which one would you prefer?”

Danica thought briefly and said, “Play Aliza’s seventh.”

“Sure.”

The speaker system in Danica’s pod began to play the seventh of her sister’s symphonies that she had published onto the Library. This particular symphony was one of Danica’s favorites and she hoped that she could emulate Aliza’s competence as a composer in her own intellectual pursuit of writing fantasy novels.

After sliding on her slippers to shield her from the frigidly cold floors (all footwear in Elysium was slippers), Danica then went through her morning routine in the restroom (using the bidet and cleaning herself with the seemingly endless supply of flushable wipes from the dispenser, showering, and brushing her teeth with a fresh toothbrush) while chatting cheerfully with All-Wise.

“Danica, while you were asleep, you got two other messages besides the one from Roland #1279. Your mother, Diane #1279, expressed a desire to see you again. I think you should because she is disappointed that you have been neglecting your relationship with her.”

“Darn,” muttered Danica. After a pause, she replied, “Tell her I’m sorry, it’s just I’ve been having so much fun with my writing that I’m neglecting all of my relationships.”

“Will do. The other notification was from your brother, Gavin #1687. He wanted to remind you and all of your other siblings that tonight at twenty-zero-zero in the Lounge Pod he is celebrating the completion and publication of his latest novel into the Library.”

“Ok, tell him I’ll be there and that I can’t wait to read it.”

“Will do.”

Once Danica finished in the restroom, she made a quick breakfast of chowder, that, according to All-Wise, had been modified to provide every nutrient a human body needed.

After eating a hearty meal, Danica said, “All-Wise, can you please put Roland on the line so I can see when I can come over to his pod?”

“Will do.”

The symphony paused and was replaced with ringing. Soon, he answered the call.

“Hello, Danica,” Roland’s gruff voice said over the speaker system.

“Good morning, Roland. I was wondering when you would like me to come over? The only definite thing I have scheduled is Gavin’s celebration tonight.”

“Your sister, Mary, just sent me the latest chapter in her own work-in-progress. I was going to read it for my first impression, but I should be done in an hour. Afterwards, I’ll call you so you can come over.”

“Ok, see you then,” Danica responded.

“Ok, bye.”

Afterwards, the symphony began to play again. Danica then proceeded to go to her laptop computer to review what she had typed up last night.

“Danica?”

“Yes, All-Wise?”

“Would you like to do a journaling exercise today?”

“Not today; I wanted to get to the writing.”

“That is fine. By the way, I would just like to remind you that you should not be putting so much stress on your body staying up very late at night.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just when I get into the flow state, I can’t help myself. At the rate I’m going, I should be able to finish Act 3 by tomorrow. Then I just need Roland to edit it and then I can publish it so it’s in the Library with my first two novels.” Danica said this with a smile. Just the thought of publishing her third novel onto the Library filled her with pride and joy.

Danica believed her calling or purpose in life was to write fantasy stories. She had spent numerous hours and days reading many (but nowhere close to being even a fraction of them) of the fantasy stories in the online Library before challenging herself to write her own. When she did, she started with short stories and novellas before working her way up to novel writing.

Both of Danica’s first two novels (and the current work-in-progress) took place in the fictional world of Aukardia and starred her obvious self-insert protagonist, Daenerys “Dani” McManus.

Her first novel, Daenerys’s Adventures in the Kingdom of Hylodia, started with Daenerys’s sad childhood where she was a homeless wanderer with her mother. After her mother died while Daenerys was seventeen, Daenerys became a heroic mercenary. In an unprecedented turn of events, the rightful king of Hylodia, Maximus, was stripped of his throne by an usurper impersonating him with assistance from a powerful dark wizard. Maximus hired Daenerys and a number of other mercenaries to help him reclaim the throne. Daenerys then acquired the legendary thunder sword (HER legendary thunder sword), Excelsior, used its power to kill the wizard, and helped King Maximus get back his throne. In the end, Maximus knighted Daenerys and the companions she had made along the way.

Danica felt she surpassed herself with the plot of her second novel, Daenerys’s Adventures in the Oruania Empire. In this novel, King Maximus tasked Daenerys and her companions to travel to the Oruania Desert to search for the missing Hylodia diplomat to the Oruania Empire. After rescuing the kidnapped diplomat from desert nomads, Daenerys discovered a shocking truth: the wicked Oruanian emperor was using slave labor to build a magical monument that would grant him with immortality. Daenerys led a revolt amongst the slaves to defeat the emperor and destroy the nearly complete monument.

Now, Danica was nearly finished writing her third novel, Daenerys’s Adventures in the Theocracy of Kallerrel. Here, Daenerys discovers that an ungodly “Cult of Chaos,” is attempting to resurrect a horrific demon (known as the Chaos Demon) that will plunge Aukardia into eternal darkness. In the first act, Daenerys travels to the Theocracy of Kallerrel to learn about the cult and gain the needed information to stop them, which is provided by the high priest, Constantavio. The first act ends with Daenerys and her companions seemingly destroying the cult. Then, in Act 2, Daenerys finds out the holy relic (the Cross of Order) that can destroy the Chaos Demon has been stolen. It is revealed to be a conspiracy led by the high priest, but Daenerys is able to reason with him and help him see the error of his ways. As for the final act, Danica had written just that night that Daenerys and her companions are to use the Cross of Order to permanently destroy the Chaos Demon in its lair in a dark cave.

Unlike many other fantasy authors, Danica’s novels set in Aukardia had entirely human casts. Danica didn’t really have the imagination or desire to make up different races or creatures. So when it came to coming up with a description for what the Chaos Demon would look like, Danica spent hours with her tablet looking at digital art in the Library hoping to find a mythical creature to base it off of.

In the end, she chose to describe the Chaos Demon as a gigantic maggot. On one end of the maggot’s wriggling body, she gave it a huge gaping mouth with rows of sharp fangs. To finish the description, she had also written that this maggot had a ring of snake-like tentacles around its mouth for grabbing and pulling in the people that were brought before it.

As for how the Cross of Order was to be used to destroy the Chaos Demon, Danica hadn’t thought something up yet. Should the demon burst into flames? Get melted? Explode? Danica wasn’t sure just yet, but she KNEW that with what she had written so far, she had topped herself and that, in regard to being a fantasy novelist, she had nowhere to go but up.