This week’s prompts got me so interested in how a fantasy character would fit into a sci-fi world that I nearly forgot to include the object, and I struggled to get anywhere near a plot. I forced something through, kinda, and I think I could make something of this with a little more time and space; but by the time I figured out where I was going, the opportunity to fill it out was basically gone.
This week’s prompts:
- Character: Demigod
- Object: Deodorant
- Genre/Tone: Sci-fi
Of course, I almost forgot to include the Object prompt at all.
If you want to try this exercise yourself, drop your story (or a link to wherever you post it) in the comments below!
It used to be that if you proved yourself to be immortal, people would offer food and incense and gemstones. Nowadays, all it gets you is a cold clinical cell that smells of detergent, and needles stuck into every part of your body on a weekly basis.
Of course, Pon had not chosen to be immortal, nor was he entirely sure how it had happened. For a while, he’d simply wanted to join his parents and first lovers and friends in death. Now, he’d settle for meeting another like himself, someone he could connect to for more than a mere human lifetime. No one would admit to it anymore, though.
In ancient times, they’d kept their distance from each other, each remaining alone or pairing up in distinct territories; occasionally fighting. Eventually, the mortals discovered they were not immune to violence, and the others had hidden their immortality. Pon had tried to do the same, and had managed it well for a while. But it was looking for a companion, for someone using the same tricks to fool the increasingly scrutinous culture, that identified him to those seeking anomalies. And now he was in the hands of the scientists, the researchers who wanted to understand what made him different from the mortals. They wanted his gift for themselves. As far as he was concerned, they could have it. But he would have liked to be free while they tested him, free to continue his search. And since his first attempt at escaping their institute had resulted in locks on his limbs as well as his room, he had made no further attempts.
Most of them treated him as they would an interesting rock or plant, neither talking to him nor responding to his questions in any way. But one of them, Dr. Sandra Greene, did speak to him when she came to take her samples. This time, she mentioned that her children were likely to follow her into science. He asked her if she hoped they would become immortal like he was. She nodded. Then she turned and asked him, “Does that make you afraid?”
“On the contrary, I miss having others I can share experiences with.”
She nodded. “I know how you feel.”
“I doubt it,” he said.
But she only smiled and finished taking her samples. But before she left, she slipped something into his hands. It was a pair of keys, a stick of deodorant, and a note: Meet me at the harbor at midnight.
The first key unlocked his shackles, and the second got him out the doors. He waited till the shift change around nine to make his escape, and slipped away while the security guards were signing each other out. It took him a couple hours to jog across town to the harbor, and when he arrived he found Dr. Greene waiting for him, but dressed as the demigoddess she had been in Pon’s youth.
“How?” he asked.
“The trick is to follow along with the mortals, not to hide from them. Now come on, I think we both would enjoy catching up for a bit.” They boarded her ship and sailed out to sea.