The Science Fiction Project, Chapter Two
Was going to post this yesterday but, in the process of typing up yesterday's entry, our power went out. Of course, it's snowed so . . .
On with the original fiction! Feedback isn't necessary but is greatly appreciated. I don't care how well my fanfiction is received but original . . . yeah. I do.
True to her word, Aimee showed up at Jo's room after Jo had left her final class for the day. Jo had just reached her private sanctuary when Aimee had walked up to her. Mel and Madison were with her, which surprised Jo. Their class schedules had been the first they'd discussed when trying to set up meeting times for the Science Fiction Project. It was Thursday night, and Science Fiction Project meetings for Thursdays were in the morning. Madison and Mel were normally in class around eight in the evening. Jo's blue and purple dragon watch read eight fifteen. Something was definitely going on, something rather serious. Jo didn't think her leaving would be this important to them.
"Hey, Jo."
"Hey, Jo."
"Hey, guys," she murmured, unlocking her door and opening it to let everyone in.
Mel and Madison stepped into her room, one carrying two large pizza boxes while the other had two plastic grocery bags of chips. Aimee had a twenty-four pack of Moutain Dew to off-set the Coca Cola Jo always drank. It was what they normally ate when holding a night meeting for the Project, and Jo didn't recall ever giving her friends permission to hold meetings in her room. Most of the time, it was hard to get together for Project meetings in the residence halls. It was easy for anyone to try and eavesdrop in on a conversation. Fellow university students were a nosy bunch, and loved a good bit of juicy gossip whenever it was available.
"What's going on?" Jo inquired as the four of them entered her room. She immediately set her books down on her desk and closed the door. "I thought I told you I was leaving the Project."
"You did . . ."
Mel and Madison gave each other what appeared to Jo to be nervous glances then they set the food stuffs down on the bed. Aimee had also brought a few other things than the case of Mountain Dew, and she busied herself with setting everything up so they could eat. While Aimee did that, the other two girls quickly secured the doors to Jo's room and the windows so no one could listen in. Spyware had improved drastically since 2025, the year Jo had been born, and the four of them knew better than to take any type of a chance when it came to private conversations. She just hadn't expected for everything to become seriously high tech for their meetings in such a short matter of time. Jo watched in wonder as Madison pulled a small, flat device out of her pocket and set it down in the center of the room. She knew what it was that she was seeing, having seen a similar device in her grandmother's house on various occasions, but she hadn't known Madison owned such a thing.
The object itself was the latest in anti-spyware. It wasn't much bigger or fatter than the old-fashioned three and a half size floppy disks her grandmother had used as a teenager, and it was grey in colour. The ads for it had declared it kept not only computers safe but entire rooms and phone lines. It even cancelled out bugs planted by the police and federal investigators. No one could listen in on a conversation anymore and find out anything useful. All listeners were supposedly be able to hear were the soft sounds of classical music. It was giving the U.S. government fits.
As she observed her friends, Jo made a few more mentals notes, this time about Madison. She had a colour obsession, the same as Aimee, only Madison preferred various shades of purple. It had taken several bottles of hair dye, since Madison had a bright hue of red for hair, but she had succeeded in changing her loosely curly locks to a dark colour of purple that bordered on midnight tones. However, Madison wasn't quite obsessed with violet as Aimee was with pink. Most of Madison's clothing were some shade of purple, but that's as far as she'd go. Makeup was applied in a conservative manner.
Madison's obsessions with unicorns and pegasi were also apparent. The t-shirts she owned sported white horses with sparkly silver horns, and her book bag had a pegasus of the same colour on the front of it. Every piece of jewelry Jo had seen Madison wear consisted of unicorns and pegasi, which had struck Jo as odd at first. Madison had chosen a unicorn or centaur for her mythical creature of choice, but not a pegasus. Later, she had found out Madison had a fear of heights, which had caused her to opt for a more ground-based equine, but Madison still loved pegasi. She always would, she'd declared.
Jo mentally shook her head as Madison pressed a soft-touch button and stepped away from the anti-spyware. The impromptu meeting was about to come to order, and she couldn't help but be a little curious as to why all three of them had shown up, instead of it being only Aimee.
Once Mel and Madison had finished with the anti-spyware set-up and Aimee done with getting the food ready, Madison grabbed the chair from Jo's computer desk and said as she sat down, "You didn't say why you were leaving the Project. We feel we at least deserve an explanation from you."
"An explanation from me is more important than going to class?" Jo raised an eyebrow at that, but Madison merely shrugged.
"That was our decision to make," she said. "Our classes aren't doing anything important tonight anyway. Please, Jo . . . we want to know why you want to leave."
By this time Aimee and Mel were sitting on the floor in front of Jo's bed, their legs crossed in the lotus style. They had piled several kinds of chips and salads onto their plates, and they were also eating some of the pizza Madison had brought with her. Cans of Coca Cola and Mountain Dew rested by their knees, and they nodded their agreement with Madison's words.
Jo sighed and held out her hands for a plate of food, which Mel had prepared for her. Madison had a point. They were friends and confidantes, and had become so in a very short amount of time. Aimee, Mel, and Madison also understood what Jo had gone through in elementary and high school because of her love for all things science fiction. They'd gone through similar torments as well when they'd been teenagers. They did deserve an explanation from her. She was also going to eat while she talked. It had been hours since lunch, and her stomach was making its need known rather loud and clear to her.
Plate of food in hand, Jo sat down in front of her room's heater. In a tone so quiet, she spoke.
"The Project isn't what I had expected it be."
"It isn't what you expected it to be?" Mel echoed after she'd swallowed some Coke. "What were you expecting it to be like?"
"Discussion of books and authors," Jo replied. "Maybe getting together and dressing up every now and then. What else?"
"Oh . . ." Mel's expression was one of puzzlement, but she said nothing more.
"That's what a Society does," Madison stated with a frown. "We're not a Society, Jo. We're a Project. There's a difference."
"A difference I failed to mention when I first met her and told her about the group," Aimee interjected, moaning and cringing. "That's my fault. I'm sorry, Jo. I should have been more clear about what we were about."
"There's a difference?" Jo blinked. "How is there a difference between a Project and a Society?"
"Societies talk," Madison explained. "And that's all they really do. Talk. Maybe even do a little bit of role-playing, but it's mostly talking. Everyone sits around, discussing everything they think they know and wish they could be elves or dwarves, or some other creature of mythical origin. They never do anything. Sure, they may dress up as an elf or a princess or a wizard, but that is as far as they'll go."
Jo nodded as she listened to her friend speak. Everything Madison said had made perfect sense about Societies, and talking about wanting to be something was simply just that. Talk. Why not at least try to become the very creature, or type of person, you wished you were?
As soon as she asked herself that question, realization dawned on Jo. The discussions of biology, chemistry, and genetics were making sense to her now, and she felt her eyes widening in response.
"You mean you . . ."
"We want to make some of John Ringo's words a reality," Madison confirmed. "We want to become the very creatures we admire and obsess over, and we'd like for you to join us. It is what you want, too, isn't it?"
On with the original fiction! Feedback isn't necessary but is greatly appreciated. I don't care how well my fanfiction is received but original . . . yeah. I do.
True to her word, Aimee showed up at Jo's room after Jo had left her final class for the day. Jo had just reached her private sanctuary when Aimee had walked up to her. Mel and Madison were with her, which surprised Jo. Their class schedules had been the first they'd discussed when trying to set up meeting times for the Science Fiction Project. It was Thursday night, and Science Fiction Project meetings for Thursdays were in the morning. Madison and Mel were normally in class around eight in the evening. Jo's blue and purple dragon watch read eight fifteen. Something was definitely going on, something rather serious. Jo didn't think her leaving would be this important to them.
"Hey, Jo."
"Hey, Jo."
"Hey, guys," she murmured, unlocking her door and opening it to let everyone in.
Mel and Madison stepped into her room, one carrying two large pizza boxes while the other had two plastic grocery bags of chips. Aimee had a twenty-four pack of Moutain Dew to off-set the Coca Cola Jo always drank. It was what they normally ate when holding a night meeting for the Project, and Jo didn't recall ever giving her friends permission to hold meetings in her room. Most of the time, it was hard to get together for Project meetings in the residence halls. It was easy for anyone to try and eavesdrop in on a conversation. Fellow university students were a nosy bunch, and loved a good bit of juicy gossip whenever it was available.
"What's going on?" Jo inquired as the four of them entered her room. She immediately set her books down on her desk and closed the door. "I thought I told you I was leaving the Project."
"You did . . ."
Mel and Madison gave each other what appeared to Jo to be nervous glances then they set the food stuffs down on the bed. Aimee had also brought a few other things than the case of Mountain Dew, and she busied herself with setting everything up so they could eat. While Aimee did that, the other two girls quickly secured the doors to Jo's room and the windows so no one could listen in. Spyware had improved drastically since 2025, the year Jo had been born, and the four of them knew better than to take any type of a chance when it came to private conversations. She just hadn't expected for everything to become seriously high tech for their meetings in such a short matter of time. Jo watched in wonder as Madison pulled a small, flat device out of her pocket and set it down in the center of the room. She knew what it was that she was seeing, having seen a similar device in her grandmother's house on various occasions, but she hadn't known Madison owned such a thing.
The object itself was the latest in anti-spyware. It wasn't much bigger or fatter than the old-fashioned three and a half size floppy disks her grandmother had used as a teenager, and it was grey in colour. The ads for it had declared it kept not only computers safe but entire rooms and phone lines. It even cancelled out bugs planted by the police and federal investigators. No one could listen in on a conversation anymore and find out anything useful. All listeners were supposedly be able to hear were the soft sounds of classical music. It was giving the U.S. government fits.
As she observed her friends, Jo made a few more mentals notes, this time about Madison. She had a colour obsession, the same as Aimee, only Madison preferred various shades of purple. It had taken several bottles of hair dye, since Madison had a bright hue of red for hair, but she had succeeded in changing her loosely curly locks to a dark colour of purple that bordered on midnight tones. However, Madison wasn't quite obsessed with violet as Aimee was with pink. Most of Madison's clothing were some shade of purple, but that's as far as she'd go. Makeup was applied in a conservative manner.
Madison's obsessions with unicorns and pegasi were also apparent. The t-shirts she owned sported white horses with sparkly silver horns, and her book bag had a pegasus of the same colour on the front of it. Every piece of jewelry Jo had seen Madison wear consisted of unicorns and pegasi, which had struck Jo as odd at first. Madison had chosen a unicorn or centaur for her mythical creature of choice, but not a pegasus. Later, she had found out Madison had a fear of heights, which had caused her to opt for a more ground-based equine, but Madison still loved pegasi. She always would, she'd declared.
Jo mentally shook her head as Madison pressed a soft-touch button and stepped away from the anti-spyware. The impromptu meeting was about to come to order, and she couldn't help but be a little curious as to why all three of them had shown up, instead of it being only Aimee.
Once Mel and Madison had finished with the anti-spyware set-up and Aimee done with getting the food ready, Madison grabbed the chair from Jo's computer desk and said as she sat down, "You didn't say why you were leaving the Project. We feel we at least deserve an explanation from you."
"An explanation from me is more important than going to class?" Jo raised an eyebrow at that, but Madison merely shrugged.
"That was our decision to make," she said. "Our classes aren't doing anything important tonight anyway. Please, Jo . . . we want to know why you want to leave."
By this time Aimee and Mel were sitting on the floor in front of Jo's bed, their legs crossed in the lotus style. They had piled several kinds of chips and salads onto their plates, and they were also eating some of the pizza Madison had brought with her. Cans of Coca Cola and Mountain Dew rested by their knees, and they nodded their agreement with Madison's words.
Jo sighed and held out her hands for a plate of food, which Mel had prepared for her. Madison had a point. They were friends and confidantes, and had become so in a very short amount of time. Aimee, Mel, and Madison also understood what Jo had gone through in elementary and high school because of her love for all things science fiction. They'd gone through similar torments as well when they'd been teenagers. They did deserve an explanation from her. She was also going to eat while she talked. It had been hours since lunch, and her stomach was making its need known rather loud and clear to her.
Plate of food in hand, Jo sat down in front of her room's heater. In a tone so quiet, she spoke.
"The Project isn't what I had expected it be."
"It isn't what you expected it to be?" Mel echoed after she'd swallowed some Coke. "What were you expecting it to be like?"
"Discussion of books and authors," Jo replied. "Maybe getting together and dressing up every now and then. What else?"
"Oh . . ." Mel's expression was one of puzzlement, but she said nothing more.
"That's what a Society does," Madison stated with a frown. "We're not a Society, Jo. We're a Project. There's a difference."
"A difference I failed to mention when I first met her and told her about the group," Aimee interjected, moaning and cringing. "That's my fault. I'm sorry, Jo. I should have been more clear about what we were about."
"There's a difference?" Jo blinked. "How is there a difference between a Project and a Society?"
"Societies talk," Madison explained. "And that's all they really do. Talk. Maybe even do a little bit of role-playing, but it's mostly talking. Everyone sits around, discussing everything they think they know and wish they could be elves or dwarves, or some other creature of mythical origin. They never do anything. Sure, they may dress up as an elf or a princess or a wizard, but that is as far as they'll go."
Jo nodded as she listened to her friend speak. Everything Madison said had made perfect sense about Societies, and talking about wanting to be something was simply just that. Talk. Why not at least try to become the very creature, or type of person, you wished you were?
As soon as she asked herself that question, realization dawned on Jo. The discussions of biology, chemistry, and genetics were making sense to her now, and she felt her eyes widening in response.
"You mean you . . ."
"We want to make some of John Ringo's words a reality," Madison confirmed. "We want to become the very creatures we admire and obsess over, and we'd like for you to join us. It is what you want, too, isn't it?"