justprompts ;; march 2010
justprompts (march 2010)
era: Victorian England, Post-WW2 America
characters: Helen Magnus, James Watson, famous figures
word count: 415
“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of
Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”
- Albert Einstein
In the beginning, she believed it all to be a sort of punishment. Each gift they were left with was worse than the person before them. Nigel could be invisible when he pleased. James was intelligent to the point that trivial life was almost boring at times. Nikola had completely sold himself on the ideal that the world could be so much better with his heritage. John could disappear and reappear whenever he pleased.
She had to stand and watch them fade away. It would only make sense, after all. She was the one that made the serum. Shouldn't her punishment be the most severe? These were the thoughts that swam around and built upon each other in her mind following the winter of 1888. Nature seemed to be a cruel mistress when one attempted to go against her will in the name of science.
"Discovering the undiscovered... asking questions, Helen, these are hardly sins." James said the following spring. "What you do with the knowledge you have is the sin."
"I created a monster, James. It was by my own hand." Helen insisted. "If not for my serum, than John would have never become-"
"-Are you certain?" He interrupted her. "He was the one who chose to take the serum. And for a man to become such a monster? A part of him had to always of been that way. Blaming yourself is hardly going to do anyone of us any good."
Not that Helen ever stopped blaming herself. Even after coming to the conclusion that it wasn't a punishment from a greater force in the universe. When one played with fire, they would be burned. It was that simple. Though she was certain that whatever greater force existed was laughing.
How odd it was that all of these thoughts came rushing at her then. At that very moment she sat at the same table with Albert and Kurt. As they spoke about how the world was becoming after the War. Where science would go now that the power of the atom had been harnessed. It was a brand new world.
It was almost metaphoric. In seeking the knowledge that no other man had dared to seek? They had become separated and set apart from the rest of man. Set to live aside in neither realm, but being allowed to mingle in both. Shipwrecked by the gods indeed. At least from their tiny island they could still help the people that floated between the realms of Abnormals and Normals.
That was something.
era: Victorian England, Post-WW2 America
characters: Helen Magnus, James Watson, famous figures
word count: 415
“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of
Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”
- Albert Einstein
In the beginning, she believed it all to be a sort of punishment. Each gift they were left with was worse than the person before them. Nigel could be invisible when he pleased. James was intelligent to the point that trivial life was almost boring at times. Nikola had completely sold himself on the ideal that the world could be so much better with his heritage. John could disappear and reappear whenever he pleased.
She had to stand and watch them fade away. It would only make sense, after all. She was the one that made the serum. Shouldn't her punishment be the most severe? These were the thoughts that swam around and built upon each other in her mind following the winter of 1888. Nature seemed to be a cruel mistress when one attempted to go against her will in the name of science.
"Discovering the undiscovered... asking questions, Helen, these are hardly sins." James said the following spring. "What you do with the knowledge you have is the sin."
"I created a monster, James. It was by my own hand." Helen insisted. "If not for my serum, than John would have never become-"
"-Are you certain?" He interrupted her. "He was the one who chose to take the serum. And for a man to become such a monster? A part of him had to always of been that way. Blaming yourself is hardly going to do anyone of us any good."
Not that Helen ever stopped blaming herself. Even after coming to the conclusion that it wasn't a punishment from a greater force in the universe. When one played with fire, they would be burned. It was that simple. Though she was certain that whatever greater force existed was laughing.
How odd it was that all of these thoughts came rushing at her then. At that very moment she sat at the same table with Albert and Kurt. As they spoke about how the world was becoming after the War. Where science would go now that the power of the atom had been harnessed. It was a brand new world.
It was almost metaphoric. In seeking the knowledge that no other man had dared to seek? They had become separated and set apart from the rest of man. Set to live aside in neither realm, but being allowed to mingle in both. Shipwrecked by the gods indeed. At least from their tiny island they could still help the people that floated between the realms of Abnormals and Normals.
That was something.