Day 18: S.H.A.N.E. vs M.U.T.S.
I already focused on the antagonist and protagonist in a previous post. Those were for the first trilogy. For my second trilogy it focuses on the team of special forces members, M.U.T.S. dealing with the threat of S.H.A.N.E..
The M.U.T.S. (Military Underground Tactical Specialists) came to me one night in a dream. When I woke the next day I thought to myself, “why not have a special black ops team that consists of specialists from each of our armed services?” It made sense as I’ve respect for those heros (Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, & Coast Guard)… (later on we include a police officer and of course there is a civilian aspect). In book 1, the team is introduced as a unit that has worked together a while. By the time they become known in the fourth book, I figured I’d merge them into something that was more along the lines of saving the world rather than running small threat operations. I use the term “small” loosely of course. It is pretty much them against the antagonist of the Pandora’s Chaos Trilogy.
S.H.A.N.E. (Special Human And Network Entity) was my perception of the evolution of technology. This “character” quite literally started from a human brain and upgraded to the point where it no longer needed a human to operate it. It became a sentient creature that saw the flaw in human logic. In the first trilogy we see the evolution of SHANE, while in the second we see its purpose become clear, and that isn’t something great for humanity.
PANDORA’S CHAOS TRILOGY and its prequel THE EDEN’S ORDER TRILOGY are available through links on the right in multiple formats, so be sure to follow the conflict and the evolution of it there.
Day 13: Ancient Antagonist vs Modern Good Guy – Cain vs Gordon
FLESH AND LEFTOVERS was a zombie novel, but the zombies weren’t the build up for what was to come. By the end of the book I had set up Cain to be the antagonist of the first trilogy. The great thing about this character is that he is in essence completely immortal. I wanted a man who was downright evil and bad with a small part of his humanity that made you sometimes cheer for him.
Imagine being the first person ever to have committed a major crime, and then not being forgiven for it. Cain murdered Abel, but there were no
Depiction of Cain in the comic spinoff LEGENDS OF VAMPIRE. Artwork by JC Spence
ground rules per se. He was punished by a higher power and had the “mark of God” placed upon him. As the vampire lord his immortality stayed with him even in death. Even his remorse for killing his brother did not rid him of this plague. He had to watch his friends and loved ones die before completely switching over and giving in to his demonic nature.
If he couldn’t have freedom of humanity, then he would rid he world of humanity, and punish God in turn by taking away his precious creatures. Their God would no longer control them, and instead they’d be Cain’s sheep like minions. Through his journey we see Cain take on different characteristics and traits and despite apparent death, he is always there some how. Perhaps he is given a second chance at some point, but was he misunderstood? Was this all just a punishment set in place with predetermined results?
Bring in Gordon Lightcap. He was a man whose family was torn from him at a young age. Not once did he blame any higher power. Instead he used this as a cause to prevent anyone else from suffering the same fate. His experiences sent him on a borderline alcoholic binge, but he continued on. Even when haunted by his memories of the past, he came through strong.
Battling against Cain is something that is built towards and their common love interest throws a whole other aspect into it. You can see what happens as the books progress, but the bottom line is that you have two very similar people who took their experiences in opposite directions. In other words Gordon is in a way a complete opposite version of Cain. This rivalry is the focus of the first trilogy but not limited to there.
Follow the adventures of Cain and Gordon in the entire series or in individual installments: FLESH AND LEFTOVERS, BLOOD THE SECOND HELPING, BONES AT BREAKFAST, SOULS 4 SUPPER, DEVIL’S DESSERT, TECHNO FEAST and the comic spinoffs.
sCrypt Publishing 