The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Inajda has placed a recorder inside Alexand’s contact lens and will return to Abouna Panak with the incriminating evidence implicating high up members of the world’s government, including the American President and Mongolian Vice President in the abduction, torture and murder of children. (News – The Broken Writer – I will be taking a break from 23rd June until 1st September. Next issue – Wednesday 1st September. Thank you for your patience.)
Katherine has seen many more refugees arrive from the shrinking world outside and has kept her promise to President Bomani and ensured that the Amanojuko virus does not board the ship. She has spent far too long in her laboratory and decided to have a break from her work, visit the top deck, to look out at the sea.
After being given immortality by Helga Ritter, Agnes Harlaut is in Moscow, and has been charged with handling the detention and interrogation of subversives acting outside the Russian wall. She has in her custody a group of Mongolian teenagers who took incriminating photographs of Amanojuko delegates.
Anesidor Sumian waits impatiently as Alexand Merek’s demands for information increase.
Georges has barricaded himself into his mansion, after fearing retribution for funding the Katherine’s Bullet project. As he had predicted, his wife, Kavita had killed herself again, and he was alone, wandering his mansion, his writer full of weapons, in case Lord Anderson sent an assassin to break in.
Mr Ash walks the corridors of Anum Anzeti’s castle and approaches the Time Maintenance Library in search of the illusive General’s Guild Master.
Lord Anum Anzeti waits in his Presentation Room as Mr Ash approaches.
The Guild Master’s General returns to his slum after a series of missions to maintain the fabric of time’s continuity.
Jarad has spent a few days alone, after Alexand disappeared again, without telling him where she was going or when she would be back. He is expecting a student to arrive in an hour, for their Russian lesson, and he is quietly seething, but extremely worried about his wife’s absence.
Katherine walks back to her apartment, disorientated, attempting to come to terms with being stranded back in her own time, alone. (This issue is dedicated to Rainbow Railroad, a charity set up in Canada to enable people from the LGBTQI community to escape from persecution and relocate to safer countries.)
Inajda watches helplessly and with quiet fascination as Professor Sumian conducts a procedure to determine whether Alexand’s baby is also immune to the ageing process.
Professor Sumian analyses the bugs found inside Alexand’s house and metal finger.
Inajda is one of the few people who has been granted access to Anesidor Sumian’s Transient Laboratory. She and Alexand materialise inside the laboratory, hoping to find Anesidor Sumian.
After Sister Ancille confirmed that Alexand’s grandparents were the suspects in her father’s murder, Alexand retreated from the city, frightened that her father’s legacy did indeed suggest that she and Heyem were in danger from the Amanojuko, because of what could potentially be in their blood. (Special thanks to David Gittlin. You can read David’s blog here.)
The Guild Master’s General takes Katherine with him to a place she’s visited once before. To a future cloned earth, where the people of the original earth have fled or are taken after they die.
The Guild Master’s General had transported Katherine from the cart, and both of them watch from a distance, phased between matter and energy, so that Xan and Edith, and the unsuspecting Eric cannot see they are witnesses to Eric’s poisoning.
Eric made his way to a café as soon as he arrived in Kolkata and sat on a table with a cup of tea, watching the people walk past.
The Guild Masters General takes Katherine to Alexand’s father’s house, before his death, where Eric Mehmed has just finished reading a letter, informing him that his daughter has sustained life altering injuries to her fingers. (3987)
Georges De Somme is aware that it won’t be long before Filius Anderson realises it is he who is funding the Katherine’s Bullet program. Georges has stopped attending functions and has barricaded himself into his mansion. There is a forcefield around the perimeter which prevents Amanojuko being able to teleport in. He is now trapped, along with his wife Kavita.
Alexand finds the Ocular Cyber-technology ward, where there are patients being assessed, and other patients recovering from operations. Sister Ancille sits reading to a man with bandages around his eyes but stops when she sees Alexand.
Filius Anderson has placed a bug into Colonel Merek’s mechanical index finger and has been monitoring her conversations. He is pleasantly surprised to learn that her prodigal mother, Inajda Rekaya has re appeared, and is in fact an undercover enemy agent.
Heyem has stopped going out at night and rarely socialises. She has thrown herself into her work, and every night, after her lectures have finished, she studies the list of Amanojuko agents given to her by Alexand. Helga Ritter is the only one on the list she has recognised, but she is becoming increasingly paranoid and suspects practically everyone.
With the disturbing news that Lord Filius Anderson is interested in the genetics of her late husband’s family, Inajda’s thoughts immediately settled on the safety of her daughters, Heyem and Alexand. She left the Prison of Souls, reached the base of the mountain in Antarctica and transported herself to Saskatoon, to meet Alexand, to speak with and warn her daughter about the Amanojuko threat.
Helga Ritter travelled to Kolkata, to the convent Eric Mehmed was reported to have died, to gather further information about who killed him. She knocks on the convent door, of the order of Handmaids of Mary, feeling an overwhelming repulsion.
Alexand brought Heyem back to her apartment in Hong Kong, along with a doctored writer, in case Helga Ritter returned. Heyem sits alone, watching herself in her bedside mirror, unable to feel safe in her own home. She has bolted her door and hasn’t been outside since Alex left.
Inajda walks the corridors of Atlantis alongside Grace O’Malley, an ancient Irish warrior Queen, who Inajda knows little about, besides her legend, even though they have been colleagues for decades.
Once on board the submarine, Inajda was taken down into the black waters of Antarctica, the only passenger on board an ancient craft salvaged from the Third World War.
Antun Rekaya has been quite shaken up by his niece Alexand’s recent high-profile announcement, against an invisible enemy, that she believes responsible for infecting her with that virus. Antun remembers being taken from his own home as a boy, in Russia, and seeing his parents murdered. He has a very bad feeling that history is about to repeat itself, as it is rumoured that the people responsible for annexing Russia are these Amanojuko fundamentalists. Antun has been guarding his children obsessively, to the point of madness.
Lord Anderson has instructed that in order to compensate for Katherine’s Bullet, and the failure of the virus to eradicate degenerates and rebels, more asylum ships have been commissioned, and set to sea. They are being filled with those previously infected by the virus, homosexuals, the mentally ill, the disabled and military rebels. He materialises on board his maiden ship, to consort with Helga Ritter.
Georges De Somme was so impressed by Alexand’s commitment to his daughter’s legacy, he felt compelled to meet with her. He walks down his marble staircase and without the aid of his guards, waits for her to knock at his mansion door.
Alexand and Jarad returned home, back to Jarad’s house, which is in the middle of the woods. There are no other houses for miles, which was ideal for Alexand, as she sees it as a retreat from her stressful military life. She can be part of two worlds, whist remaining blissfully outside of both. She and Jarad have spent the night making love, as they have done every night, since they returned from Hong Kong. (Please be warned this issue contains some scenes, some readers may find offensive. If so then you may prefer to read issue # 344: Jay and Ali where Katherine gets her cloned cat back.)
From the safety of his castle, behind the walls entombing Russia, Lord Filius Anderson watches another live press report, from the Katherine’s Bullet news story. (This issue is dedicated to the truly brilliant Toni Morrison 1931-2019.)
Alexand, to make a point, has arranged to donate one of her mechanical eyes to a fifteen-year-old girl, who has lost her sight, and has no access to proper after care. As Katherine’s Bullet is still one of the top stories in the news, Alex has arranged for the press to schedule live reports of the operation, keeping the fifteen-year-old girl’s identity secret, out of respect. One very rich man, Georges De Somme, looks on from his study, as a familiar name is mentioned.
Jarad spent the morning looking for Alexand, as they had argued the night before and he knew that she had hidden from him. He found her in the military camp, administering the vaccine. It has only been a day since their honeymoon, but desperate to keep her, and frightened of rejection he sits next to her, to help administer the antidote to the infected.
Gianti has waited all day and into the evening for any trace of Colonel Merek. The military has packed up their relief mission for the night, and the queues of people have been turned away until the morning. Finally, Colonel Merek appeared from the same doorway her sister emerged from that morning. Gianti followed her towards some army tents attempting to keep a low profile.
Heyem wakes up, hearing Alexand calling for her from the bathroom. (Thank you to everyone who has supported these stories over the years. As a gift to you, Unbound Boxes Limping Gods has been upgraded and is now an advert free home, with limitless space for my fictional family to grow! Happy reading everyone. The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive…)
It’s New Year’s Eve, and after being deployed in Hong Kong for a week, Alexand and Jarad are celebrating the coming of the New Year, along with Heyem. They are taking a break from their relief mission for an evening, and are out in Hong Kong, enjoying the city. They have been to many bars and clubs, and all three are quite drunk. Alex has been overly affectionate towards Jarad, as the three of them parade around the outside night market.
It’s nearly New Year’s Eve, and Jarad has attempted to make Alex feel at home. She has re materialised her piano, which is now positioned in the centre of his living room. Her clothes are in his wardrobe, alongside his and he helps her place her books next to his in his very large bookcase.
After three more weeks on Christmas Island, recovering, Alexand is now fit for duty, and has returned to her army base in Saskatoon, India.
Heyem is furious with Alex, that she hasn’t listened to her warning about sleeping with Jarad. She is more upset about Alex’s rejection of her. She has decided to pack her possessions and intends to ask Inajda to take her off the Island back to Hong Kong.
The news of a cure came a day before Alexand and Heyem’s twenty-fifth birthday. As Heyem is soon to leave the island to go back to her career, and Alex is almost recovered enough to return to the army, Heyem is looking for her twin, outside on the beach, as she wishes to celebrate a day she thought they’d never share.
Katherine, and Ajeeta Kothari have spent a month attempting to isolate the antibodies responsible for immunity in their three blood samples.
Alexand was left with her promotion to Colonel, and to wander alone along the corridors, not feeling very soldierly.
Katherine, equipped with dark glasses and a determined stride, makes her way towards her brand new laboratory.
It is time for Katherine to undergo the operation to restore her eyesight. She has insisted on being conscious, as her curiosity about the advanced science outweighs any fear.
Alexand managed to persuade Doctor Azizi to disconnect her from the wires, and remove the sedative drugs. He has hooked her up to a mobile drip, which feeds Katherine’s inhibitor into her bloodstream at regular intervals. Her Uncle Antun helps her into the living room.
Despite having remembered all the events previously erased by Future Anesidor Sumian, (the death of Farokh, and the fact Inajda came to Katherine to retrieve an inhibitor to slow Alexand’s illness) Inajda has been convinced that staying with Katherine is the best option. They are waiting for future Katherine to show up, with a future version of Alexand, and the promised cure for their Alexand’s illness.
Heyem has been very depressed since she got back home to Hong Kong. She has received no news about Alex, and is deeply worried about her sister. She has not heard from Inajda, and Alex hasn’t returned to her military base. Heyem has continued with her life, but has grown more despondent. She has taken to drinking, to attempt to suppress her emotions. After her lecture is over, she heads out into the city, to a bar, to get drunk and perhaps pick up a woman.
Inajda wakes up, after being ambushed by a future version of Katherine De Somme. (Read Afterlife Part 3) Her version of Katherine is not in the shack, and as Inajda hunts around, she begins to remember things, previously wiped from her memory, like the death of Farokh, and Alex’s decline.
Heyem is escorted through the gates of the factory, along with the others.
Alex recovered enough to set off for the gates of the factory, (which is where the Amanojuko process the catalyst, used to infect the population with ‘plague’.)
The group have spent the day attempting to catch fish in Lake Baikal, as a day has passed with no sign of Inajda returning. They have lit a fire and wait for Inajda, but everyone knows she should have returned by now.
