The Sole Project - Tumblr Posts

I haven’t done a @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt in a while, but I’ve been neck deep in SOLE work trying to finish a draft by September and

I saw this and thought “You know, I’ve never written out how Agau told Beth about her powers…”

So that’s what I did! It barely squeaks under 1,000 words at 940 but hey—that counts.

The knock on the door startles her, but she doesn’t fall off the bed, so Beth keeps sticking glow-in-the-dark stars to her ceiling.

“Come in!”

She doesn’t have to ask or look to know who it is. The scientists never knock, so it will be Connor here to accompany her to breakfast. They didn’t eat together yesterday, but yesterday was her birthday. That means she got to make her own schedule, and she never sets a start time for her birthday schedules. It’s better to wake up without an alarm, even if she never wakes up more than an hour past the usual start time anyway.

As the door opens, she sticks the final star into place and admires her work. She had thought long and hard about what she wanted her present to be this year, and the sticky stars had won out. Fifteen is a satisfying number, and she wanted to celebrate with something just as beautiful.

So she had spent hours yesterday examining every star, organizing them by size, and running through iterations of display to decide which one she wanted to put up. The last thing before going to bed last night had been to line them up in order of placement and keep her lamp on all night to charge them. She hadn’t slept well, but it’s the first day back to her studies after her birthday. There shouldn’t be anything too intense today.

“Very thorough,” a feminine voice compliments.

That isn’t Connor Millard. Beth turns to see a figure that she associates with pictures and screen displays standing in her room: Dr. Barbara Agau.

Scrambling off the bed, Beth fixes her hair and hastens to meet her. She can’t help but be conscious of her appearance in comparison to Dr. Agau, who looks even more perfect in person than she does in her photos. Her hair is slicked back and captured in a bun, her clothes are pressed and clean, and her makeup is subtle but perfect. Beth, on the other hand, abounds in tangles and wrinkles.

“I—thank you,” she says, looking up at Dr. Agau.

“I trust you are hungry enough for breakfast?”

Dr. Agau turns without waiting for her answer, and begins to leave. Beth hurries to catch up, taking the wordless walk to review the lessons she has been taught on how to engage with her superiors. They should be easy: she has practiced silence and timing and general manners on every scientist who engages with her. But she’s never had to engage with the head of Agau Laboratories. The sudden change makes her heart twist in her chest.

Familiar anxiety creeps its way through her entire body. She barely tastes her food. Dr. Agau doesn’t select anything for herself, but seems to know exactly what Beth is prescribed to eat on all non-birthday mornings, and arranges it herself. She does fill two cups of water, though, and hands them to Beth to carry to their table.

“I understand it was your birthday yesterday,” she says as they sit.

“Yeah!” Beth says with a smile.

“Yes,” Dr. Agau agrees, a random note of reproach in her voice. As Beth is trying to figure out where she went wrong, she continues, “I had hoped to discuss things with you then, but my flight was delayed.”

Beth only partially understands this explanation. She knows what a plane is, of course, but she didn’t know Dr. Agau had been riding one. Beth had thought she would be where she always assumes the doctor is: overseeing her SOLE Project from her office, one of the currently restricted areas.

“Regardless, I am back now, and eager to bring you up to date on your role in the Project.”

Beth abandons her spoon and sits up a little straighter. She knows that Dr. agau is working on saving the world, but she never knew she would have a role in it. She simply understood herself to be here, at home, while Dr. Agau worked. There was promise of understanding when she was older, but Beth never expected it to happen the day after she got older.

Dr. Agau has paused long enough that Beth decides this is one of those predetermined places for her to respond.

“What do you need me to do?”

This is the correct response, as evidenced by the way Dr. Agau smiles at her.

“Now that my work preparing the world for your arrival is sufficiently in place, I have returned here to personally oversee your work strengthening your hydrokinetic abilities.”

Beth hardly got a word of that, and it must show on her face, because Dr. Agau sets her cup down and tries again.

“You spend hours in this facility’s recreational pools. You require strict time limits on your morning showers so that you do not fall behind in your studies. You frequently use the water coolers installed in every room, the ones we had to teach you to use from a young age to preclude your constant requests for water.”

Dr. Agau doesn’t recite Beth’s behavior with judgment or shame, but neither does she sound proud. She simply lists facts, none of which Beth can deny.

“You are intrinsically linked to the water, Beth. I designed you this way, so that you would use your abilities to help me and my Project.”

Beth hears the truth behind the doctor’s words: So that you help me save the world. She still doesn’t understand how, but the idea is so exciting that she couldn’t reject the doctor’s high expectations even if she wanted to.

“How do we start?”

Do any of you guys have That One Scene that you fantasize about fans making art for someday? Like you write it and you’re like this. this is an Image.

Anyway this is mine, from SOLE Project:

Matt marvels at them with the rest of the crowd. They look so good together, and powerful. The fact that Beth has just walked on water to get here reminds him just how different they are from their audience. Hans’s wings spread above her head make an iconic image that Matt knows will not be forgotten. Heck, it’ll probably be all over the Internet by the end of the day.

Kati’s Introduction Scene

A SOLE Project Excerpt

Every SOLE character gets an introduction scene like this one, though I will have to change some of them to make them more unique and distinctive. But the only changes this one will be going through is a cut, so why not memorialize it here?

Tagging  @homesteadhorner @kometa-makes-art @knightedwriter @cog-writes @nicholewrites @byjillianmaria @lux-scriptum @golden-eyed-writer @ava-burton-writing @lady-redshield-writes  and @westywrites 

Bright light burns into one of her eyes, then moves away to the other one. She blinks uncomfortably, moving her head from side to side in a drowsy attempt to get away from it.

“Ma’am?” a voice calls out, too loud and too close. “She’s awake.”

Footsteps approach with the sharp sound of high heels. She feels each step like a stab in the head. “Leave us,” a new voice commands, and she hears rather than sees the owner of the first voice hurry away.

“Kati?” The crisp, commanding tone of the woman’s voice has disappeared. It’s now gentle, and inquiring. “Kati, can you hear me?”

Keep reading