What follows is largely a backdrop, setting and mythology from which (hopefully) more than one plot might develop, or an ongoing one. What follows in lengthy and I thank anyone in advance if you read it all! Any plot could involve from 2-3 writers, myself included in that number.
See here for further notes:
http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=26256.msg1041181#msg1041181I've regurgitated this over a 24 hour period, and while not perfect and perhaps not complete I'm happy with it for now. I hope you are too. It is a mix of science-fiction, mythology, feminism/lesbianism with a dash numerology and symbolism.
While I have something of a plot started in my mind, it is still kind of rough. I don't think that will last long however.
Read on and enjoy, comments welcome!
The VicenaryLynne looked up at the wondrous structures and took in all there was to see. There was a time when the circle of twenty statues stood high above all others, deemed by law even. That was not true anymore and no one any longer questioned that edict, the law long buried beneath dusty books lost to memory. In defiance Lynne mused, the women stood tall still, and proud, their faces turned inward from the circle. She walked among the alabaster statues weaving her way between them. With a hand she parted the hair from her face, leaning over to read the inscriptions etched at their feet. Each were a representative of their school of science and discipline, luminaries in their respective fields or craft. She made her way to the center of the monument the twenty female simulacrums all looking down at her. The rest of the metropolis, Viginti, towered above the Vicenary as they were collective called. The Vicenary was also a mausoleum, the remains of the twenty women below where Lynne stood. She looked thoughtfully at her stoic heroes, out to the city all around her and back again. She wondered if this, this world and her existence, was what those women intended, what they had hoped for. Lynne was unsure and could come to no conclusion. A strong and swirling wind blew, flying sand and dirt forced Lynne to squint and shield her face until it passed.
She knew them all by name, memorized from childhood and their story still taught in schools today. Her favorite, was the great astrophysicist and her namesake. More than five hundred years ago these pioneering women left planet earth. Almost all said it was a suicide mission borne of foolish ideology. There was great resistance to the plan, consummated by the women only under great risk and only under a carefully orchestrated veil of secrecy. Together, using their respective skills and knowledge they built a capsule, an extraterrestrial vehicle that would launch them far away from earth, and to a new world. Despite what people thought back then, they were not forsaking earth under some premise that their gender was superior or the male gender was inferior. In fact, knowing full well the biological implications they took with them precious vials containing samples of testosterone and sperm. It was an experiment, a reaffirmation, a dream. The women brought with them their knowledge and skills, carefully chosen to add important and essential elements to their new world. From classic sciences like astrophysics, anthropology and biology, to sociology, psychology as well as the literary, visual and musical arts. Professors of law, politics, business and history too were represented. Each too brought with them their own personalities and endeavors, be they athletes, artists, or socialites. All were women, all were earth-borne lesbian. An archaic term long deemed pointless and irrelevant.
The world Lynne knew, the only she knew other than from history books, was Vicenarius and its only significantly populated city of Viginti. It was a large city populated by the many generations removed ancestors of the Vicenary. A thriving metropolis of over one million women. Medical and scientific breakthroughs by the great minds of these women allowed for a population that gave birth to only women, the sperm's DNA cleverly modified and carefully cloned. Recognizing the need for appropriate levels of testosterone to reside in all that were born too was added to the process, the level varying as to allow for natural variety. Sex too, an essential component of happiness and fulfillment was carefully tended to, and while copulation with males was obviously discarded, rituals and traditions grew around what became in its essence a trip to the doctor. This did not mean that Vigintis were without mating rituals, to the contrary, they were many, varied and complicated. The Vicenary brought with them also a larger pool of genes with them than twenty women. The results being an eclectic cocktail of faces, hair coloring, complexions, and body types. A base from which a unique culture of art, entertainment and society was crafted and left to grow how it may. And grow it did. The women of Vicenarius were as varied, unique and curious as any people, as any race found in the universe.
With some regret Lynne left the monument grounds and headed to the train station close by. There were several others there waiting, a business-like dressed woman, a teen aged girl with bright pink hair and various piercings, and an older couple seated and holding hands. Soon the high speed, sleek metro train arrived, the only noise the rush of air it brought with it. Like the others Lynne boarded, her fare picked up by a cleverly designed RFID transceiver built into Lynne's lapel pin. It was not crowded this time of the early evening and Lynne sat by herself, leaning her head against the window. The Old District blurred by, the train a deep maroon color, rocketed away from the station. The few used government buildings and other monuments hearkening to memories long forgotten were soon replaced with the Tech District, the only other that made up Viginti. While the contrast was jarring it did not phase Lynne.
Viginti was a cacophony of electric lights, bright and colorful. It was distinctly urban and while large and intimidating in size, carefully planned out and managed. Buildings were stacked one on the other in a jumble of cubes of many different heights, widths and depths. Between these structures walkways, breezeways, courtyards and plazas led to all the many distractions Viginti offered. Government code and restrictions aside, architects used the shapes in unique fashions, adding embellishments and few sharp corners could be seen. Largely speaking the buildings were outlined and illuminated with electric color that spoke to its nature of use or function. Pink lighting was always entertainment, although it could vary widely the kind and sort, there were many diversions. Blue was reserved for commercial businesses who sold items, be they clothes, furniture, electronics or anything one might buy and take home. Green was set aside for the arts, arts of all kinds be they performance, visual or musical. Red was for anything involving an essential service, be it governmental, medical or fire and policing institutions. Yellow being reserved for anything industrial and not an essential service and finally purple for anything that was residential. The city was truly a rainbow of colors, people and culture that shone brightly.
Poverty and unemployment was essentially non-existent, but that did not mean there were not social classes or a variety of people of different means, motivation and agendas. Quite the contrary. While peoples of any station might mingle with any other, there was a wealthy class, a middle class as it were, and a lower class made up of workers, entertainers, artists, and government employees. Institutions of learning for all ages were plentiful, highly treasured and carefully cultivated. Artists and entertainers did quite well, and were highly valued and well thought of, and could be of any means wealthy or otherwise. Culinary arts were prosperous, various food items being either created by means of technology or harvested from the not too distant temperate forests beyond Viginti. Business to business relations were vast and wide reaching. Crime certainly did exist, be it blue collar, mild violence or petty theft and was dealt with as efficiently as it could be. The closest thing to a religion that existed was the Vicenary, and they were not prayed to nor worshipped. They were held in high regard to be sure, their images and symbols could be found throughout Viginti, if only more subtly as time went on.
Viginti was governed under a complicated technocracy, with elements of socialism, democracy as well as plutocracy. It was representative in nature and thus held accountable to its actions and laws. There was no one ruler, but an office of twenty women appointed by a larger body of congress. Political corruption was not unheard of but not rampant, the system having only been rocked significantly once since its inception. Even still, by circumstance and not design only the wealthy could effectively campaign for position, a thorn that dug deep in the craw of many.
Was Viginti a Utopia? For many indeed it was, but not for all. Some chafed under any government edict, while others peddled dangerous drugs, corrupt business women stole from and swindled their partners and customers. Gambling rings sucked the life out people of modest wealth, and while prostitution did not exist as one might think, even the massage parlours and VR lounges skirted decorum and law to make more money. Scandals arose from the entertainment and art sectors too, be it forgery, infringement or sexual in nature. Alcohol was plentiful, often imbued openly in many different venues, and the associated pitfalls thereof present too. One did not have to scrape too far under the surface to find any number of vices catered to.
It was into this world of color, art, technology and vice Lynne was born. Her mother a business woman of some repute raising her well and with tenderness. Lynne was a recent graduate of a small but highly respected college of higher technology. In a week's time she was to begin a paid internship at a large firm that designed and manufactured intricate components for computers. The red train Lynne rode slowed as it approached a cluster of purple lined buildings, her stop tunneled between the stacks of residential structures and came to a stop. She was in no hurry and made her way off the train and through lavender and mauve corridors leisurely. Herein was her small apartment where she lived alone. Lynne's proximity to her door allowed the RFID pin she wore to unlock it and Lynne entered.
She was greeted unexpectedly however. Her friend, one time partner and still occasional lover sat on Lynne's couch. The young woman was crying, no sobbing, pitifully. Lynne's first thought was how she managed to get into her apartment without her.
"Lynne!?", was all she could manage between gasping sobs.
GlossaryThe Vicenary - The original twenty women who set out from earth to populate a new planet and create a new society.
Vicenarius - The name given to the planet the Vicenary colonized. pl. Vicenarians.
Viginti - The only city of significant consequence where the majority of Vicenarians live. pl. Vigintis. adj. Vigintian.
Pink - Entertainment
Blue - Commercial
Green - Arts
Red - Government, services
Purple - Residential
Yellow - Industrial
