Board Queen – Part 3

Engagement yesterday was a bit down from the the day before it, but I’m taking a day or two to work on backstory.  Not surprising to lose a little bit of readership with slower pieces, and as such I will just continue working under the assumption the protagonist is still awesome.  I did enjoy getting to have so many interactions on twitter yesterday, as it’s by far the best tool for audience engagement.  I’m honestly grateful that I’ve begun this journey with such a wonderful and established platform to work with.  I cannot imagine how rough it was to try and get involvement from readers before the age of Social Media.

Part two of Board Queen was an enjoyable chance to dig into the nitty gritty of how Diz came to be the yellow clad, blue haired knight in shining armor she is now.  It’s not always glamorous when heroes get their start.  Unless you’re Clark Kent and get your own TV Show / Soap Opera in “Smallville”, most backstories aren’t all that dramatic.  Everyone starts out as a child, and to a certain extent we can all relate to being a tiny human as we have been one ourselves.  Diz had it pretty rough being a homeless waif, and I especially enjoyed the mixture of altruism and self interest shown by Carl in hiring her.  First and foremost he’s the owner of a highly successful business, and you don’t get that way without an iron will and laser focus on business needs first.  He still found a way to meet his business needs and shelter an abandoned child at the same time.  Despite his long term plans for her amazing talent on the hoverboard, he still had room in his heart for his tiny charge.  It feels like a very normal human reaction for Carl’s character, and speaks to his overall goodness despite being so successful at his job.

Public Service Announcement: I am a helpless optimist.  If you want relentless pessimism and nihilism, look no further than George R.R. Martin.  Here?  Here there be hope and goodness, laced with enough tragedy to keep it inspiring when characters pick themselves up and continue on the path of the hero anyway.  You have been warned.

So, yesterday’s building of the background story to Diz didn’t really include two major things: Her magic and how the heck that started, or her hair which was most definitely neither blue nor spiky.  Fear not!  Those questions shall be addressed prior to the end of the week.  In addition, there will be a fairly action packed and tense scene that is playing out in my minds eye.  I believe it will give us all a chance to get to know the person Diz is when her back is to the wall.  I’m interested to see how she reacts in that situation, and how she handles the aftermath.  I think it will go a long way towards building future interactions with her in those situations as they arise.  For good or evil, the unfortunate reality is that heroes are usually heroes because trouble has a knack for finding them when they aren’t even looking for it.

And now, the Ballad of Diz continues…

Board Queen – Part 3

Diz’s world had been turned upside down.  A simple joyride intended to show up a smug older boy had morphed into a job and an education, a place to live, and three solid meals a day.  None of those had been a part of her life before she had met Carl.  Yet here she was, lying in her own bed, in her own apartment, staring at a hoverboard which had her name on it.  It was beautiful to behold, and it had taken her several hours of cleaning it to admit it wouldn’t be getting any shinier, and that she had to get some sleep before her first day of work.

Carl had left her earlier that evening after sharing a housewarming dinner with her and his assistant Jeanine.  Jeanine was a wonderfully cheerful woman who had raised seven unruly children.  She had taught Diz how to take care of her apartment, and her watchful eye and guiding hands had been instrumental in keeping the apartment clean and her stomach full for the week she had been there.  Diz had secretly grown to love Jeanine’s attention and seeing the pride in her eyes at how well Diz had adjusted to her new surroundings.

Finally, after an interminable time spent staring at her ceiling, she managed to get some sleep.  The morning of her first work day arrived at last, and she sprang out of bed and rushed into the refresher unit with a combination of joy and molten lava fighting for dominance in her chest.  She was worried what Carl would think of her decision to change her hair so drastically, but she loved how powerful it made her feel to have control over her own appearance.  She grinned, somehow she knew Carl would roll with the punches.  She dashed into her bedroom and changed into her courier uniform.  A bright yellow jumpsuit, striped black along the arms and legs, with the Speedway logo spread large on the back.  She liked how it made her hair stand out, and she looked herself over in the mirror for a few precious minutes admiring the outcome.

Snagging her board, she rushed to the door which led onto the balcony.  Her apartment had pretty strict rules about not doing what she was about to do, but she had checked with the other employee who lived in the building.  The employee had told Diz that so long as she was in her Speedway uniform, building management wouldn’t raise a fuss.  Carl’s reputation for hiring extremely trustworthy employees had attracted more than one tenant to the building, so management was prepared to look the other way when she broke this particular rule.  Laughing, Diz flung herself out into the open air, wind whipping her uniform as she pulled the goggles tight over her eyes and strapped her feet to the board mid-flight.  Once locked in, she kicked her rear foot on the accelerator, and shot towards the air-lanes stretching across the Ring.

Diz loved the time she spent on her board.  She practiced every moment she got.  Wind feathered through her hair like the touch of a familiar friend.  Her cheeks were pressed in by the rush of her passage, and she weaved through the cars as they traveled like they were her dance partners.  This was as natural to her as breathing.  Dive, twist, glide over or around, constantly judging the flow of traffic to give herself the best route, she never hesitated to do everything she could to gain precious seconds and space.  Carl had impressed upon her each time he dropped by to visit that a courier lived and died by their delivery time.  A delivery was a contract, as sacred and solemn as a marriage.  If a courier was late with a delivery, he could no longer be trusted to honor his obligations to Speedway, and was asked to leave.  It was pretty harsh, but Diz enjoyed how much Carl and Jeanine seemed to really care about her and her success.  She wasn’t about to let them down even a little.

So she flitted about the traffic like a bird flying through a forest, never losing her way, confident with each twist and swoop.  Her goggles displayed her route just as she had commanded the navsat to guide her: Shortest distance between her apartment and the Speedway office.  It was her responsibility to make the route work, because she wasn’t going to have a choice about what route was shortest when it was time to deliver for a client.  So cutting across alleys and diving between air-lanes was to be expected, and she wasted no time in learning how to do it.  She made great time to the office, arriving well before her shift was scheduled to begin.  She regretted that she hadn’t taken more time to enjoy the ride, but she figured she would be doing plenty of riding as a courier, so there wasn’t any need to rush things.

Diz loved the Speedway building.  It reminded her so much of Carl.  All business, but always with an eye to the needs of people.  Always a refresher unit handy, always a snack alcove stocked to bursting for any courier in need of a quick pick-me-up between deliveries.  Water canisters sat at every corner, and she knew that her vitals would be monitored to make sure she was getting enough liquids.  A courier spent their entire day on the move, in the full glare of both suns shining down on the Ring, and hoverboarding was no easy task either.  A courier couldn’t afford to pass out mid-delivery, and so Carl simply made it a part of the job to take care of yourself.  Smart man, Carl.  The main floor secretary team looked at her with interest as she walked in carrying her board.  She was by far the youngest worker in Speedway.  Most couriers weren’t seasoned enough riders until their late teens or early twenties.  At eight, Diz stuck out like she was standing in her own spotlight.  Gathering her courage, she approached her new life.

“G-good morning” she stammered slightly to the friendly looking male receptionist at the desk marked Information.  He looked down at her rather kindly, and smiled as he returned her greeting.  “What can I do for you, courier?” he asked very seriously and politely.  Diz was scared for a moment.  Is there some secret thing she is supposed to know since she works for Carl?  But she didn’t know anything secret, and Carl nor Jeanine had said she would need to know anything for her first day.  How should she respond?  “It’s my first day” she blurted out nervously.  She hastily followed with “Carl hired me, and I’m supposed to be here for my first day of training.”  She felt a little better at getting to mention Carl picking her.  Seeing everything he had done, it felt very good to know that her talents merited special exceptions.

“Yes, Carl made sure we were aware that you would be here today.  First thing is first, we need to get your security clearance up to date.  Could you hold out your right hand, courier?” He motioned her to a chair, and brought out a circular metallic disk that he brought down over her right hand very slowly.  She sat very calmly as he worked, not wanting to interrupt the measurements the security scanner was taking.  After a few more moments, he took the disk back over to his desk and began transferring the data from the disk to her file, uploading her data to form a security profile.  “Alright, we’ve added your biometrics, and your security clearance has been updated to Trainee.  You’ll now be able to access the lifts to reach the training floor.  The lifts are to your right; simply place your right hand on the lift plate and state where you wish to go.”  He had indicated a set of five identical circular lifts located on the right side of the main floor.  Diz supposed that they were how everyone got around, judging by the steady stream of people going to the lifts and leaving them as they arrived. 

Diz picked her board up off the floor, and walked over to the lift.  Her hand was so small on the lift plate, but she leaned over it and stated “Training Floor” without giving that fact any consideration.  A lift to her left dinged politely to announce it’s arrival, and once the passengers had exited, Diz hurriedly entered the lift with her board in tow.  A female voice followed her into the lift “Hey, Spikes, hold that lift!” Looking around quickly, Diz found the lift door button and forced the doors to open once more onto the main floor.  A tall woman dressed in a couriers uniform hurriedly entered the tube, also carrying a hoverboard with her as she entered.  It was a beautiful board, decorated in a fashion that was not too ostentatious but matched the woman’s dark hair and green eyes perfectly.  It had the look of a board used continuously, but maintained with love and great care.  The woman smiled at her and introduced herself “Names Ridley, but everyone calls me Pony cause I refuse to cut my hair short like a sensible courier.”  Diz noticed the long ponytail going all the way down her back which Ridley had swished out at the reference to it.  “Sorry about the Spikes comment, I don’t know you’re name yet and I can’t be late to the training floor.  Your hair looks absolutely awesome though.  Nice choice.”  Diz ran a self conscious hand over her very spiky hair, dyed blue especially for her first day.  “Thank you very much.  My name is Diz, but you can feel free to call me Spikes.  I’ve never had a nickname before.”  Ridley held out her hand, and Diz shook it happily.  “Nice to meet you Spikes.  I’m the instructor for new trainees when I’m not delivering packages, and I’ll be the one helping you learn everything you need to know over the next six months to be successful here.”

To be continued…

Speedfully,
Justin