The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Helga Ritter, second in charge after Lord Anderson, watches from a distance, as the Amanojuko factory crumbles. A trail of survivors emerges, but they are mostly socialites. A few Amanojuko have not been buried, including the ringmaster and the pianist. She walks towards them, has to override Lord Anderson’s plans, as she senses he is gone. (Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this journey over the past seven years. The writer gives life to a story, but the reader keeps it alive.)
Alexand and Jarad head towards the last room in the hotel, where Alex promises a solution to the problem of hiding Lord Anderson. (Thank you to everyone who has joined Alex on her journey these past seven years. To celebrate issue 300 and seven years on wordpress, Part 1 is released today and part 2 of the anniversary special will be released on Sunday 25th June, exactly seven years to the day of the first release back in 2010.)
Jarad follows Alexand towards the creepy hotel, in which she is planning to hide the captured body and soul of Lord Filius Anderson.
Jarad follows Alexand towards the ruins of an old hotel, as she attempts to hide the writer with Lord Anderson trapped inside.
Alex takes Jarad to a hideout deep in the Guangxi Mountains, in China, where she plans to hide the writer, containing Lord Filius Anderson.
Anesidor Sumian has been shown the future, by the mysterious Asenath Bomani.
Heyem finds herself standing outside Hong Kong University, still dressed in her Amanojuko clothing. The writer she held in her hand has stopped working, and as she tries to fix it, it disintegrates. (For those of you with delicate minds, please forgive Heyem for what she is about to say. If you are easily offended by swearing please be warned Heyem is rather angry, and you may prefer to read another story, on one of her happier days. Maybe this one?)
Lord Filius Anderson has discovered Alexand’s infiltration attempt.
Lord Filius Anderson can read minds. He has been reticent to interfere with Alexand Merek’s quest. He is going to have some fun at her expense, before he exposes her and her little group of soldiers and prevents them from leaving the city.
Alexand and her group are being shown around the catacomb, which houses Project Ghost Ship. Alex is finding it increasingly difficult to remain objective.
Ichitumbu Jalhavi was one of the first Amanojuko. He walks the grounds of the Lowest Ranks of Separation looking for something beautiful to paint.
As they walk the corridor, the guard begins talking about the Amanojuko proposals for the new world order, making Heyem shiver with the horror of it. (Thank you to Siddiqui Fayesal for interviewing me. You can see the first part of the Interview with a writer, on his website, “Ho Hum… Well we’re going to die anyway!“)
Alex has a writer full of potential cures, and needs to get her group out of the facility, unnoticed by the guard. This means remaining with the socialites for a few hours longer, to avoid suspicion. (A note from the author: Fight fascism. Never give up on hope and love and a future where everyone is treated with respect, dignity and equality.)
Alex follows the Amanojuko scientists into their laboratory, hoping she will discover the cure inside.
Present day Anesidor Sumian has cut off all communication with Inajda, since she discovered tracking devices on Katherine and Alexand. She has severed links with the Indian resistance, whilst she re evaluates safety precautions. She doesn’t mind being alone. She has spent time researching the best combinations of location, to travel to, in order to avoid being captured by the Amanojuko tracking devices. Unfortunately this means that no one in the resistance can find her either, save one.
Since Katherine’s death, Alexand has bigger plans for the fate of this factory. She has memorised the layout, and knows where all the corridors lead. She chooses her moment to fade out of focus, using her writer to disappear, so that she hovers between matter and electro magnetic energy.
Inside the Amanojuko factory, the entertainment has stopped, and the guests are being shown through the doors, leading down to the lower chambers. Heyem is doing her very best to remain in character.
Gianti Dincrind has been instructed by Lord Anderson, to develop biological defences for Amanojuko cities, to guard against possible terrorist outbreaks, once the Amanojuko have gained full power. She has been on an experimental asylum ship, for the past few years. (This story is set three years in the future in 3994. See Story timelines for chronology)
Lord Filius Anderson is keeping close tracks on the enigma, Juba Apfvarzian. There is something in the boy’s blood, which allows him immunity to the catalyst, and Lord Anderson needs to know what this is.
Jarad has never seen an Amanojuko base up close, although he has been thoroughly briefed, it could not prepare him for the wealth, and extravagance around him, as the group are escorted into the socialite lounge. (This issue is dedicated to everyone who reads these stories. I hope you have a safe and happy Christmas.)
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 factory is close, but Alex has been shivering for hours and her body is letting her down. The group has stopped to rest, overlooking the Amanojuko factory, which is just across the horizon. (This issue, and every story I’ve written, is dedicated to my dad, who died almost 21 years ago on 2nd December. This is for you Dad, I will never forget you.)
Alexand suddenly feels very unwell, despite being very close to the factory, which she believes to hold the cure to her illness.
Alexand fights her feelings of despair, attempting to find new purpose after Katherine’s death.
The Guild Master’s General materialises outside of Inajda’s cabin, along with Abouna Panak.
Alex collapses onto the floor, taking Katherine’s body with her; she remains on the floor, hugging her dead wife, unable to move through the grief.
Professors De somme and Sumian, took a very frail but relieved Katherine to Inajda’s cabin in Russia (after giving her a blood shield) The cure has stopped her body degenerating further, and will allow her to recover in time, but she is very weak and can’t walk. They have left her on a bench outside Inajda’s cabin and told her they will collect her in a month’s time.
Alexand is still angry after her fight with the Guild Master’s General
The Guild Master’s General has been sent to return Alexand’s writer to her. He has been stalking them for a few minutes, assessing the right time to approach, as his last meeting with Alexand wasn’t exactly amiable.
Katherine sits by the window in her laboratory, synthesising more inhibitor for the patients in the sickbay. She is getting nervous, today is the day she was promised a visit from a future version of herself, and the cure to her illness.
Inajda remained unconscious throughout the night. The future version of Anesidor Sumian has left her. Inajda wakes, inside her father’s cabin, some time in the morning. It’s the Fourteenth of May.
It is finally the fourteenth of May, and The Guild Master’s General has been watching over Katherine as she sleeps. He fades between energy and matter, making himself invisible to Katherine’s nurse as she injects a dose of adrenaline into Katherine’s bloodstream, to wake her up.
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.
The group have donned themselves in the finest Amanojuko disguises, and are ready to set foot further into Amanojuko territory. Alexand isn’t feeling well, and doctor Azizi has noticed. (For the LGBT community, everywhere. Love outlasts hate.)
Ajeeta Kothari is on the run. She fled her son’s funeral for the mountains of Afghanistan. She has no allies, and a lot of enemies. She failed in her attempt to get Katherine De Somme to believe that her affiliation had changed. Her only hope of survival is to leave her life behind, and carry on running from the Amanojuko.
Katherine woke up the day after her birthday, and made her way down to her laboratory to continue with her analysis of Juba Apfvarzian’s blood. When she arrived there, all of the samples had gone. There was no trace of her findings, and her research over the past few weeks has vanished.
The group set down for the night, they’ve been using the cave as a base, to formulate their strategy. It’s cold, and Inajda has set up a heat shield around the perimeter where they’re sleeping. Alex has been feeling ill for the past few hours, and has moved away from the group, as she doesn’t want them to see her when she’s sick.
Doctor Kothari released Katherine after Katherine refused to discuss being part of the resistance with her. Katherine has spent the past day analysing Juba Apfvarzian’s blood. She hasn’t had to avoid Doctor Kothari, as she is in Afghanistan, arranging her son’s funeral. Katherine has retired to her apartment to record one final message to her mother and father. It’s her birthday, and she’s alone.
Ajeeta Kothari attempts to convince Katherine that she has changed her allegiance.
Alexand and the rest of the resistance have settled in a cave in the mountains of Southern Russia. Alexand has scanned the area; there are no inhabitants for hundreds of miles. Inajda has illuminated a map on the far cave wall, showing the topography for two hundred square miles. She scrolls through the map, until she reaches the nearest settlement.
Katherine is suspicious of Kothari, and despite all the signs she has changed her allegiance, Katherine has been highly trained not to give away information concerning the resistance.
Ajeeta Kothari has spent weeks wracked with guilt about what she saw in the Amanojuko headquarters. She is having second thoughts about wanting immortality for her son and husband, and materialises a force field around herself and Katherine so that Lord Filius Anderson does not overhear her.
Heyem materialises along with the others on the other side of the wall.
The group prepare to cross over to Russia, into the forbidden zone, marked out by the Amanojuko. (Happy Birthday, Dad and Uncle Robin, wherever you are.)
Katherine, although getting very weak, has spent most of her remaining time in her laboratory, despite having to share it with the encroaching Dr Kothari.
Lord Filius Anderson and Lady Helga Ritter have been following Juba Apfvarzian, taking blood samples, tracking his health. He is still completely free of the project ghost ship strain.
Alexand has recovered enough to address the party. Her troops have been getting jumpy, and she needs to do something to remedy the lack of trust they have in her as leader.
Alexand returns after having tried to reason with Georges De Somme but is still determined to find the identity of the woman who infected Katherine. It’s ten at night and she sits in the bar with Katherine. (Happy New Year everyone!) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Georges De Somme’s mansion is well guarded. One of his security guards has approached him, warning of a potential intruder. (I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Katherine lies in bed, listening to Alex and Farokh talking in the other room. She feels too tired to get up and join them. Instead she contemplates her steadily deteriorating future. (The post-human man refers to Ichitumbu Jalhavi, See Amanojuko issues 1 , 2, 3 and 4. The woman who infected Katherine is Helga Ritter, see Amanojuko Part 3) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Farokh has arrived at Alexand and Katherine’s apartment after having to negotiate his way past the barrack guards. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Alexand has taken Katherine to a deserted beach in Hong Kong, to give her a break from her endless research. They sit on the sand together, staring out to sea. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Farokh has left the laboratory, leaving Katherine and Alexand alone to conduct more research into the illness afflicting Katherine (which was injected into Katherine’s bloodstream by Helga Ritter, see Amanojuko Part 3) Katherine hasn’t slept for 24 hours. She spends most of her time in the laboratory, trawling through research journals, taking blood samples from the victims in her sick bay, and from herself. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After a week of intense training, Farokh has finally managed to get some free time to locate his sister, Alexand, and tell her that he has joined the army. (This story is dedicated to everyone affected by hurricane Haiyan, in the Philippines. If you would like to help save lives, please visit the Disasters Emergency Committee UK) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
(This story is the first in a long series, which will continue on into the New Year. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading!) Farokh has lived with his uncle Antun, after the death of his father, Eric. (The absence of the rest of his family, Alexand, Heyem and Inajda, haunts him). He spends a lot of his time wandering the streets, dreaming of escaping his claustrophobic village. He has just turned fifteen and is waiting for a chance to ride to India so he can join the army to be with his favourite sister, Alexand. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
As a boy Anum Anzeti encountered a man who claimed he was a future version of himself. See issue 19: Anum Anzeti. The man seemed mad, and Anum dismissed him as a local lunatic. By the age of twenty five, Anum enrolled as a curator in Cairo Museum. He never married, his work was so consuming, and he grew older, until at the age of eighty he was approached by a young man called Georges De Somme. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Juba sat in front of a huge meal prepared by a very concerned Alexand. She gave him clean clothes, a bath and healed the wounds on his feet with a strange contraption she called a writer. He has told Alex of his wife and Son’s death. It’s mid afternoon, Abouna Panak’s gone and Alex has given Juba some wine to comfort him. She sits nursing contractions, attempting to figure out how to help her old friend. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Abouna Panak transports a very disorientated Juba Apfvarzian away from the Nevada Desert, (See issue 105: Post Asylum Blues Part 2) to a more comfortable place. (Alexand’s army apartment.) Hopefully, Juba will now find the help he’s been searching for. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Juba Apfvarzian was released from the floating asylum, and found that his wife Lucy and son Ayo died during an influenza pandemic. With no one else in the world to turn to, he has traced the one person who he believes could help him clamber out of the mess he’s in. Traveling from Somalia to India, he has found Alexand’s location. He discovered she is back in the military, living in a base called Saskatoon with her husband and son. Unfortunately security didn’t let him in because of his asylum record and he is being held in a detention cell on the outskirts of the city. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After falling on harder times, Molli needed to make money fast and is now an exotic dancer in a seedy little nightclub in Toronto. (The Masked Man, refers to The Guild Master’s General.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Eldenath stands in the gardens, pruning rose bushes. She has been promoted to a junior National Guard and looks forward to starting her duties in the coming weeks. Her new duties will mean she gets to go outside the gates of the House of Plenitude and Mirth, to guard the public from bad things. To celebrate the 100th issue, and to thank you for your support these past three years, this story is set just before the first manuscript, which I hope one day will be available for you to read too. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Inajda Rekaya sits in Professor Sumian’s home, waiting to be handed whatever item Abouna Panak requested her to retrieve from the particle physicist. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Inajda Rekaya works undercover for Field Marshal Abouna Panak, and has not seen her daughters, Alexand and Heyem, or her son Farokh, for years due to the nature of her espionage. She has been asked to his office to discuss her next task, but she has an ultimatum. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
The fabulous Ivana Cockatoo has retired for the night and left her rather underwhelming alter ego, Zero Merevija, to contemplate his life. (Also featuring Grace O’Malley) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Giselle Balsara remembers parts of her childhood, and that she may have been abducted. She has flashbacks to being an adult, living in a place with marble walls and grand ornaments. But these are fleeting, dreamlike memories and she doesn’t know if they are real. She has woken with a small baby in her arms, in a strange shack. Underneath a trap door she found a cellar filled with books and paintings. (Banned things) Giselle can’t remember the years leading up to this event but she knows that the things in this cellar could get her into a lot of trouble if she’s discovered. This story is dedicated to Vera Poh, from To Dad With Love, for inspiring me to write another Giselle Balsara story. Thank you, Vera. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After Baio-Yujia’s Ghost tried to kill Alexand, (see issue 93) Alex runs to the only person who could possibly help her. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Alexand fell asleep after Katherine placed the recorder next to her bed, in an attempt to ‘discover’ the cause of the apparent haunting. Alex is unsure if what happens next is real or imagined. (See issues 91 and 92 Baio Yujia’s Ghost Parts 2 and 3) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After another restless night, Alexand was woken by what she believes to be the ghost of her friend Baio-Yujia Sun. Unable to sleep, she retreats to the one person (Katherine De Somme) she hopes could help her find out the cause of the apparent haunting, or at lease empathise with her nightmares. This story is dedicated to everyone who has followed, supported me, commented on, shared thoughts, liked, read this series, critiqued, re-blogged, awarded, made friends (and on occasion fallen in love) with the characters, over the past three years. Without you I’d be writing to and drawing at imaginary people. You help to keep these stories alive and encourage me to one day get the first manuscript published. Thank you, without you, my characters are ghosts inside my head, scribbled on paper. (This story follows Baio-Yujia’s Ghost Part 1.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After managing to successfully create two haernyarn (proposed guards for Amanojuko Lords and Ladies) Gianti Dincrind called Lord Filius Anderson to witness their birth. She hopes that this will entitle her to immortality. (See issue 75: Gianti Dincrind) CLICK HERE for next chronological story
Mr Ash craves Lord Anum Anzeti’s gold mines more than any other place in the world.
Alexand Merek is on her way to begin her new duties as Katherine De Somme’s assistant. She had been randomly selected, from a group of cadets, by Doctor De Somme. Alexand was mesmerised by the efficient and intimidating woman, and is walking nervously towards her laboratory. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Samuel Merevija is tempted to escape from The House of Plenitude and Mirth, along with Eldenath Balsara, but they are both afraid of what could happen in the world outside. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Eldenath uses chores as cover for time with her own memories. Something she would get in trouble for if anyone else in the House of Plenitude and Mirth, could read her mind. (Apart from her friend Samuel Merevija, who is also an inmate) (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
After a near death experience, (see issue 84: Ancille Merevija part 3) Ancille is angry with her mother for making her attempt to fly off Mount Kilimanjaro. This story is dedicated to Lee J Tyler from The Point Of The Quill, who requested an Ancille story. Thank you, Lee. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
After being taunted by her identical twin sister, (Anastasia) who isn’t really there, Ancille has been taken for some ‘time out’ by her mother, Alexand. Alex believes an adventure may be a temporary remedy to the voice in Ancille’s head. (Ancille was left deaf when her brother, Sam and sister, Anastasia were taken by The Amanojuko and has problems with memory, due to her injuries. Her mother Alexand does her best to help her daughter recover in the years afterwards) This story is dedicated to Lee J Tyler from The Point Of The Quill, who requested an Ancille story. Thank you, Lee. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Maria Thamian is a drama lecturer in the University of Hong Kong and has been courting her fellow lecturer, Heyem Merek for a few weeks. She has gatecrashed one of Heyem’s lectures for the pure enjoyment of watching her girlfriend teach. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Antun and Inajda are given food by their rescuers, (Xan Medani and Edith MehXian) and although relieved to have escaped the trail which killed their parents, both are in severe shock. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Baio-Yujia Sun had been accidentally killed in a crash. (See issue 25: Baio-Yujia Sun) Her three surviving friends Alexand, Heyem and Jarad were found responsible for her death and sentenced to military correction. (See issue 26: There’s No Place Like Home) Three years have passed, and Alexand Merek still has vivid nightmares about Baio-Yujia’s death. Things have escalated and Alexand now sees her dead friend’s shadow at night, when she’s alone in her room. Next chronological story here.
Toreth Rek-cho is an astronomer, and spends most of her time in an observatory she built, in the Sahyādri Mountains, India. (She is the eldest child of Antun Rekaya, Inajda’s brother and is Alexand and Heyem Merek’s first cousin.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
(HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!) Alexand Merek has been unable to return to the army, due to her asylum record. She spends most of her time very isolated and alone, as her husband, Jarad teaches English to rich Indian families and often spends day’s away working. She is not accepted in her community and cannot get a job teaching music because of her conviction. Her son Samuel is unable to go to school, due to the stigma attached to her imprisonment. Alexand spends a lot of time teaching him at home, but is sinking deeper into depression and alcoholism. One day a knock at the door changes her family’s prospects. (Note: The ‘writer’ is a transportation and storage device common amongst the resistance, and was created by Anesidor Sumian.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Mr Ash is head National Guard working for Lord Anum Anzeti, Dala Hesa, and ruler of Earth One. (See issue 19: Anum Anzeti) Ash has sworn an oath of celibacy, but he is frustrated and angry. He can’t remember a time as a civilian, as he was indoctrinated into the service as a boy. It’s his job to relay orders to a tricky character, a genie, and Lord Anzeti’s pet, known to some as, The Guild Master’s General. (See Issue 40: The Guild Master’s General Part 2) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Martin grew up in a small town outside Alberta, Canada. It was hard as he was teased a lot for being feminine, but he loved to ride fast on the motorbikes his big brother fixed up in his bike shop. He’s been perfecting stunts in secret for the past year and is on a mission to stop the teasing, by giving the most magnificent motorbike display of his life to a crowd of college students. This is his moment. He’s going to jump from one parking lot rooftop to the next, forty feet in the air with no safety net. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Jonathan is away in France, fighting in The Second Battle of the Marne under Sir Douglas Haig. His thoughts wander towards his family, in between combat. His message will be sent home via pigeon post. (Commemorating Remembrance Day on 11th November) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After returning back to Saskatoon military base, from her father’s funeral, Alexand Merek ponders her future. She lost the fingers on her right hand when a man in a balaclava sliced them off, (See The Guild Master’s General Part 1) She sits redundantly by the piano in the entertainment bar, wondering how she will ever play again. (Also featured in this story, is Alexand’s close friend and superior officer, Katherine De Somme) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Garbán McGrath joined the navy at sixteen to see the world and escape his abusive father. Unfortunately his father’s ghost travels with him, despite being thousands of miles away in Venezuela, onboard the HMS Fantome, under Commodore Robert Archibald Montgomerie. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Anastasia Merevija has been a concubine of Lord Ichitumbu Jalhavi since the age of twelve. Anastasia believes she was abandoned by her parents (Jarad Vijay and Alexand Merek) and rescued by the Amanojuko as a child. She has been given the most honourable task of making ‘what could be’ (an immortal child) out of ‘what isn’t.’ Unfortunately, the couple have had to spend their lives moving from Amanojuko castle to castle, running from Anastasia’s aunt Heyem and mother Alexand Merek. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Doctor Filius Anderson has successfully caused a rat to grow back a severed tail by changing its molecular coding. The tail regrew into a completely new rat, with identical DNA to the original. Filius has great dreams for the human race, but is hampered by the morality of his colleagues. (One of those being Georges De Somme) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
