The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
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 used her writer to transport herself to the gates of Georges De Somme’s mansion. The last time she was here she attempted to plead with him to help save Katherine’s life, and was beaten up and sent back to Saskatoon by his guards. With mixed emotions, she approaches the gates and talks into the intercom.
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.)
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.
Alexand hasn’t the resources left to deal with Jarad’s emotional demands. She is beginning to suspect he is more damaged than she can cope with. He has been needy and possessive and has tried to encroach in her private thoughts. She has to deal with a very demanding role as colonel, and in order to do her duty, she has shut Jarad off, and wishes he wasn’t so insufferably needy.
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.
The Guild Master’s General did not return Katherine to the Kyuunansen after her encounter with Alexand. He didn’t reprimand her, or anything remotely like it, but simply walked beside her, towards a little hut in the deserts of Sudan. (3939)
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.
Katherine ignored the Guild Master’s General’s warning and could not resist touching Alexand, whilst phased between energy and corporeality.
After leaving her own grave behind, Katherine walked alongside the Guild Master’s General, without saying anything for a while. When she finally spoke, she asked him one simple thing.
Heyem has spent two hours working with the military relief team, injecting victims of the Amanojuko’s secret project, with the antidote. She has been assigned to a tent which deals with the more obviously infected patients. It was arranged that patients be split into groups depending on the severity of their symptoms. This group of patients are symptomatic, some almost as sick as Alexand had been, before she was cured. Heyem is having a tough time dealing with all the suffering.
Gianti Dincrind has travelled to Hong Kong University, to locate and monitor Colonel Merek, so that she can take a blood sample back to the Floating asylum ship for Helga Ritter to analyse.
The Guild Master’s General wants to show Katherine something important, as he knows she will try to contact Alexand now she has her writer back. He takes her to Saskatoon, just before dawn, to the military graveyard, where Katherine’s fake corpse is buried.
It has been a long time since the Guild Master’s General checked up on Katherine. He has been ordered to return her writer to her, so that she is no longer confined to the Kyuunansen.
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…)
Gianti Dincrind left the group of surviving inmates in darkness overnight, and returned in the morning to continue the experiment.
After their new year’s celebrations, and an impromptu marriage, Heyem, Alexand and Jarad ended up sleeping in Heyem’s apartment. Heyem is slumped still sleeping in her chair, with Alex and Jarad unconscious in her bed. Alex is the first to wake up, disorientated and hung over.
Gianti Dincrind, a research scientist on board one of the many Floating Asylum ships, observes the behaviour of the captive rebels inside the holding cells. She and her colleagues have just been informed about the failure of ‘Project Ghost Ship,’ on the mainland, and so have been instructed to accelerate their research on board the Floating Asylum ships.
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.
Helga Ritter is developing new biological weapons, on board the Floating Asylum ship. She receives a distress call from Lord Anderson.
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.
Abouna Panak holds up the antidote, and passes it to a very happy Colonel Merek.
Alex presses her hands against the exit door, anxious to get outside onto the beach.
Alexand was left with her promotion to Colonel, and to wander alone along the corridors, not feeling very soldierly.
Katherine, Ajeeta Kothari and Jay Varma work together to identify the virus responsible for infecting members of the resistance, and to analyse both Alexand, Katherine and Juba Apfvarzian’s blood, to isolate their immunity, to find a cure.
Alexand was given more surgery to reverse the temporary procedures tying her to her bed, and has spent a week recovering. She is now supposed to walk with the aid of a nurse, but is still connected to the gene therapy drip, repairing her damaged internal organs. She is taking a walk, without her nurse, down one of the many long corridors in the army base, but Abouna Panak intercepts her to give her some unexpected news.
Helga Ritter has continued her bio-weapons project in the safety of a floating asylum ship, far away from any of the resistance. She has begun to rebuild her life’s work, acquiring test subjects, deemed potentially dangerous to the Amanojuko vision of a New World Order. (This issue is dedicated to Stan Lee, who will live forever in his characters and the universe he has created.)
Katherine has had five blissful uninterrupted weeks on her own, working in her laboratory. She has even made a makeshift bed on the chair, so as not to be disturbed by anyone, anywhere on the Kyuunansen, as she struggles tirelessly with her research into the Amanojuko’s virus.
Heyem told Jarad all about Alex seeing the Ghost of Baio-Yujia, and so Jarad made his way straight to her hospital bed to be with her, using this as a good excuse to visit.
Alexand is being haunted by the ghost of Baio-Yujia Sun
Abouna waited impatiently for Alexand to explain why she didn’t want to invest her inheritance in his war. Alexand, although shocked by the revelation, and by the amount she has inherited, is happy to tell him exactly what she plans to do with the money from Katherine’s trust fund.
Alexand is alone in her hospital room, attempting to come to terms with her survival.
Alexand is wired up to many observation machines, and so remains in her bed. She takes the mirror, and reluctantly holds it up to her face. (Congratulations to the LGBT community in India for the Supreme Court ruling to decriminalise same sex relationships.)
Doctor Azizi managed to empty the hospital ward of Alexand’s family, so that he could brief her on what has happened to her whilst she was unconscious.
A month has passed and Alexand was sedated to aid in her recovery from heart surgery. The sedatives are wearing off, and she begins to hear voices. (This issue is dedicated to my son, Sam, who is 18 today. Happy Birthday, Sammy, one of the few people who are as real to me as my characters.)
Abouna Panak has seen the future and the past, yet he is still quietly upset at seeing Lieutenant Colonel Merek’s condition. He stands at the back of the room as her family stand at her bedside, waiting to hear her prognosis from Doctor Azizi.
Inajda contacted Field Marshall Panak, and he arranged for Alexand to be taken to Christmas Island to be assessed. Alex lays unconscious in the sick bay, with Heyem, Inajda and Jarad waiting anxiously outside for news.
Katherine, equipped with dark glasses and a determined stride, makes her way towards her brand new laboratory.
Katherine has grown impatient and as the fifth day of her recovery approaches, post-surgery, she is curious to peek out of her bandages, to find out if she can see properly, and more importantly, gain access to her laboratory. (This story is dedicated to my mum, as it is her birthday very soon. My mum, Barbara, is one of the kindest, wisest, warmest, happiness-inducing and funniest people I have ever known, and as some readers know, Alexand Merek is very loosely based on her, although Mum would probably disagree. Happy Birthday Mum, I love you so much xxx)
Katherine is recovering from her operation, in her apartment. She has been ordered not to remove the bandages on her eyes for seven days, to allow the nerves to heal. The technology, which is being used to repair her sight, is beyond anything allowed outside the ship, and Katherine is impatient and curious to learn more, when she recovers. However her thoughts drift towards Alexand, and the cure promised by Katherine’s future self. She lies in her bed, imagining Alexand next to her. This story celebrates the Eight year Anniversary of Unbound Boxes on wordpress. Eight years ago I very nervously let go of Issue # 1: Alexand Merek, not knowing how she would be received. Thank you to everyone who has supported her and my other characters over these eight short years.
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.
Alex hasn’t been able to speak or move for the past few weeks. She is rapidly declining, and her doctor has predicted she only has a few weeks left. Inajda and Heyem sit at her bedside, unable to do anything. Heyem sits opposite, after Inajda retrieved her from Hong Kong, warning her that Alex was close to death.
Katherine has spent the past few weeks under Ajeeta Kothari’s strict rehabilitation programme, and her recovery has accelerated. She has been waiting to undergo an operation to restore her eyesight. There is a day to go, and she is getting impatient. (This issue is dedicated to Margot Kidder, one of my childhood heroes. You always were and will ever be the best, the funniest, gutsiest, most unpredictably brilliant and warmest, Lois Lane.)
Filius Anderson and Helga Ritter are conducting a social experiment into Juba Apfvarzian’s reaction to being observed.
Juba Apfvarzian moves around Mogadishu, to escape from some very suspicious people, who seem to be observing him from a distance. He has spent a few good months at peace, without feeling followed, has even met a girl, called Lucy, and they are living together. He performs street magic to make money. They’re happy, and everything is going well with his life, until he gets that feeling of being watched again.
Alexand’s condition is rapidly deteriorating. The nature of her illness is cyclical, and degenerative, and her doctor has given her the maximum dose of Katherine’s inhibitor, to try to stabilise her.
Katherine returned to her apartment to attempt to digest all the events of the past few hours on board the Kyuunansen. She is alone, with her cat, getting acquainted with him, contemplating her future on the ship, and the prospect of a drug, which reverses the ageing process.
Jay was one of the first asylum seekers to be rescued and brought to the Kyuunansen. He is relieved to see a familiar face on board the ship, and although it’s been a few days since he met Katherine De Somme again, he is eager to re connect, as it’s quite lonely being one of the only passengers on a very large ship, travelling the ocean, with no prospect of seeing land again.
Lord Anderson takes Lady Ritter to see how far his Floating Asylum project has advanced (whilst she was absent, conducting Project Ghost Ship.)
The Amanojuko are growing a fleet of asylum ships, floating laboratories, designed to conduct experiments on humans, in safety. Lord Anderson materialises on board one of these vessels, accompanied by his prodigy, Helga Ritter. She already has a laboratory on board, but he plans to reward her for rescuing him, by giving her a floating asylum of her very own.
Ajeeta Kothari escorts Katherine towards her shared laboratory, where research is being conducted into cloning, which has been illegalised on the mainland, by Amanojuko infiltrators within the governments around the world. Although Katherine remains suspicious of Kothari, Samira Ganesh has assessed she poses no threat to Kothari, and has left them to walk alone together towards the cloning lab.
After defecting to the resistance, and being given asylum on board the Kyuunansen, by President Asenath Bomani, Ajeeta Kothari was invited to work as part of a team of scientists developing cloning technology. Cloning had been illegalised in the shrinking world outside this ship. Ajeeta Kothari has been instructed to wait for her first patient, who arrived this afternoon.
Samira Ganesh leads Katherine from the High Council Chamber, past the laboratory wing, but doesn’t show her inside.
Future Katherine takes Inajda to Nan Ha, to be with a very ill Alexand. Katherine watches from the trees, as Inajda makes her way down into the village, towards her brother’s house. Inajda turns around just in time to see Katherine dematerialise back to her future world.
After his release from Alexand Merek’s writer, Lord Anderson returned to the Amanojuko capital city, The Highest Ranks of Separation, to re-evaluate his agenda. He walks the art gallery, studying great works of art, which have been procured from the wealthy elites desperate to buy immortality. (Featured paintings are by John Martin: The Great Day of His Wrath 1851-53 and The Last Judgement 1853)
After a month of overseeing Katherine’s rehabilitation, Inajda has been left behind, wondering where future Anesidor has taken her friend. She has been accompanied by the mysterious future version of Katherine, who seems to have an agenda for her as well.
Katherine is lead into a great chamber, with a gigantic circular table at the back. There are robed officials around the table, and they are flanked by thousands of warriors in similar battle dress to Samira Ganesh.
The ethereal Samira Ganesh escorts Katherine down a grand marble corridor. The ship seems quite empty, but there are a few straggling people, occasionally signalling their welcome to a new face on board. (This issue is dedicated to all those rebels who fight injustice in society, particularly the women who won the vote 100 years ago. Without them, and those who followed, I would not be in a position to see a future world inhabited by such strong and uninhibited women.)
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.
Alexand wakes up, but can’t move, her body is heavy and she’s alone. (Happy New Year)
The very practical Inajda, who has been helping her get stronger, has speeded up Katherine’s rehabilitation. The day has arrived, for Katherine to be taken to the sanctuary, by future Anesidor Sumian, safely away from the reach of the Amanojuko.
Jarad returned to Nan Ha and spent the next few days sitting beside Alex, as she lay unconscious, trying to think of ways to tell her about Lord Anderson’s escape. (Thank you to everyone who has read these stories this year. I now measure time through releasing them, so this year has disappeared very quickly. Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2018)
Jarad ran away from Helga Ritter, towards the last room in the hotel, and stepped inside the wardrobe, in an attempt to hide from the approaching Amanojuko. She has been pacing up and down the room, attempting to figure out where he is.
Jarad finally made it to the grounds of the hotel, in which Alexand hid Lord Anderson. He wades through the hot springs, towards the hotel entrance, but has a creepy feeling someone is following him, as he climbs out of the water and walks up the steps.
Helga Ritter materialises inside the bedroom, and walks towards a sleeping Alexand Merek.
Helga Ritter travelled to the capital of Yunnan, Kunming, to the Provincial Records Office, where she hopes to find where Alexand Merek was born.
Alexand attempted to follow Jarad, despite being blind, but ended up collapsing by the doorway. She lay there, staring at the darkness, unable to move, calling out for someone to help her. Her cousin Toreth came, and carried Alex back into her bed, then called for Doctor Azizi. He sedated her and she has spent the night sleeping. She has woken again and insisted the doctor help her get out of bed. Doctor Azizi has spent the past few minutes scolding her for ignoring his advice.
Helga Ritter materialises in the East of Yunnan, where most of the habitable villages are. She has a great task ahead of her, but her writer will aid in locating the elusive Lieutenant Colonel Merek, and more importantly save Lord Anderson from whatever diabolical fate has currently been forced upon him.
Jarad couldn’t stand waiting and watching Alexand get sicker. He has spent the past few hours on the train from Yunnan to the Guangxi Mountains. He is now walking towards, Longsheng, where the writer full of potential cures for Alex’s illness has been hidden. All he has to do is release the containers without releasing Lord Anderson. He has brought his toy writer along too, so that he can transfer them to it.
Helga Ritter has been listening to Heyem’s thoughts for the past couple of hours.
Alex wasn’t well enough to get out of bed, but she had been visited by most of her family once the news of her being awake spread. It’s night time now, and the last of the visitors left half an hour ago. Alex is exhausted, but quietly happy, knowing her family accept her. Jarad has been by her side for the past half an hour, reading to her.
Helga Ritter, disguised as a Swedish tourist, called Elsa, waits for a very drunken Heyem Merek to fall asleep. She is beginning to suspect that Heyem has no idea where Lord Anderson is, but as Heyem begins to snore, softly; Helga digs her way into her uncensored thoughts.
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.
Helga Ritter sits in a lesbian bar drinking wine with Heyem Merek, in an attempt to extract information from her, regarding the whereabouts of Lord Anderson.
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.
Helga Ritter has spent the past two weeks searching the world for any trace of Lord Anderson. She has visited many places, starting in India, reading the minds of humans, who are close to Alexand Merek. Family and friends and army colleagues, even Field Marshal Abouna Panak had no though in his head about the whereabouts of Lord Anderson. Helga isn’t giving up. She has learnt that Heyem Merek is back teaching at Hong Kong University, and so dressed in cognito, Helga creeps into one of Heyem’s lectures, and sits quietly at the back of the room.
Antun Rekaya has turned his youngest son’s bedroom into a hospital room for Alexand. Alex hasn’t woken, since she arrived, because Doctor Azizi has sedated her in an attempt to stabilise her. Jarad hasn’t left her bedside for two weeks.
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.
Jarad had helped Alexand to walk away from Lord Anderson’s tomb, and heavily disguised, the two of them caught the train home, towards the village they grew up in. After leaving the train, Alex is finding it harder to walk, but she is too stubborn to let Jarad carry her. The village is a mile away, and Jarad is getting nervous.
Helga Ritter has orchestrated the rescue of Amanojuko lords and ladies, from the ruins of the city. She has rounded up guards from all over the Russian peninsula, to aid her. But the most important Amanojuko is missing.
As darkness falls outside the hotel, Alex lays in bed, unable to sleep.
