Imagination and Knowledge

All rated PG or PG-13. For each story, the "background" is a (usually spoiler-heavy) discussion of the science and creative process that went into it.

Sequence
(Approximately 15,000 words)
Grad students stumble upon what appears to be a message in the human genome. They soon find themselves running from pursuers as they struggle to be the first to decode the secret that connects them to events in the distant past. Featuring prehistoric beasts.
Background

Trail (the sequel to Sequence)
(Approximately 13,000 words)
The grad students trek across the Canadian wilderness as they continue to probe the origins of the mysterious sequence.
Background

The Gardener
(Approximately 6,000 words)
Millions of years in the future, a young man shares a planet with an unusually versatile species. But when others feel threatened by it, he must fight to preserve even a small portion of his world.
Background

The Pioneer (the sequel to The Gardener)
(Approximately 9,000 words)
A young hominid growing up on an alien world finds her peaceful life disrupted by shipwrecked space travelers.
Background

Polymer Monopoly
(Approximately 24,000 words)
In an alternate Pacific Northwest at the turn of the last century, all industry is based on large machines that resemble enormous protein molecules. In this biochemistry-inspired steampunk tale, a hapless salesman finds himself swept into a secret underground movement to topple the ruthless local fuel tycoon.
Background

So wintercreek has been trying to write a large number of Merlin (BBC) fanfics, and I decided to help her out, despite the following facts:

1. As you probably have noticed, I don't generally write fan fiction.

2. I've only seen one episode of the show, and it was a couple of years ago.

Nevertheless, it seems that Mary Anning was beaten by a few centuries by another M. [and] A. Apologies to any actual fans of the show who could undoubtedly do a better job (629 words):


( The Saur in the Stone )

Recently I've been interested in getting back into cartooning. This is something I did prolifically as a child, despite a lack of both artistic ability and wit. My talents have not progressed appreciably since then, but nevertheless I have started to draw a comic strip for some reason, tentatively titled "Maladapted." If you are familiar with my writing style the content shouldn't be too surprising (i.e. dorky biology stuff).
( Maladapted )

I've finally consolidated the chapters of Polymer Monopoly and posted it to originalfiction . It's not really any different than it was before, but this is another great opportunity to read the story if you haven't already. I know it's long, but just read a chapter or two and see how you feel.

Presenting the final chapter of Polymer Monopoly. Everything is wrapped up, various motivations and actions get explained (hopefully satisfactorily), and you get a taste of what will happen next in the characters' lives. I hope you enjoyed the story, or, if you haven't read it yet, that you will. Soon, I plan to write a follow-up post describing some of the science/history/geography behind the story. Also, at some point, I will consolidate all of the chapters into a single final post.

(Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

(2237 words)

( I can explain everything )

What? What? Did you see that coming? I didn't see that coming. I literally did not see that coming. How are they going to deal with that? Does this plot even make sense any more? Who's writing this thing?

The molecules are restless, and we're in for a wild ride. By the way, if you thought that last chapter ended on a cliffhanger, you should check out this one.

(Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

(2443 words)

( What? )

We left our protagonists in a bit of a tight spot at the end of chapter five. But recall that I gave away the ending in the first sentence of the story, so they must get out of it somehow. In fact, they're really making progress and figuring things out. Of course there are some setbacks, but you might be tempted to think that they could wrap this all up pretty soon in a rather straightforward plot.

However, a story is like a polypeptide zwitter chain. Technically linear, but then it folds back on itself and later parts connect to earlier parts. Then in bends again. After a few of these twists and contortions, it has become a complex globular maze. And if you get lost, if you tuck under a loop of chain when you should have tucked over, you end up with mad cow disease. And no one wants that.

(Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

(2487 words)


( I'll handle this )

The official nickname of Seattle, Washington was "Queen City" for over one hundred years, before it was dropped in 1982 due to its homosexual connotations. In its early days, Seattle was relatively lawless and rife with gambling, liquor, prostitution, riots, and general exploitation of the poor (including many Chinese and Native Americans) by the wealthy. For some reason, it didn't occur to anyone that building a city on muddy tidal flats might be foolish. After putting up with with filth and floods for a while, they decided to raise the city up a story. At first, just the streets were elevated above the storefronts, but eventually the entire ground level was covered by downtown Seattle, under which it still lies abandoned to this day.

Anyway, enough history. Time for another chapter of Polymer Monopoly (previous chapters 1, 2, and 3), in which I introduce the most impressive globular machine yet.

(2356 words)

( What's the biggest machine you've ever seen? )

I know, I know, I finally posted an updated chapter months after posting the first draft, and the story still didn't progress any further. However, I now present chapter 2. There will be ten chapters in total, and I'm going to try to post one every few days now until it's all up.

Daunted non-scientists: Don't worry if you don't understand what things are "supposed" to be. You don't need to know any more than what is presented to follow the plot.

Pedantic scientists: I know that the science is wrong. It's supposed to be that way. It's a fantasy.

Curious non-scientists: Ignore that. A lot of the story is based on real science. I encourage you to learn more, it's cool stuff.

Non-pedantic scientists: There are not very many of you. Try not to go extinct.

(1817 words):

( I was temporarily at a loss about what to do. Should I tell someone what had happened? Return and try to retrieve my triph? Go home, drink a brandy, and crouch into a fetal position? )

Writing little essays is kind of fun. Let's try another one.

The issue of marriage equality, and equal rights in general for people all sexual orientations, is very important to both wintercreek and myself. However, even though we arrive at the same conclusions, I think we approach the topic from slightly different places. Understanding why people hold the opinions they do may be helpful for changing the minds of dissenters, so I think this phenomenon is worth investigating. If I may, I will caricature our two positions for the purpose of rhetoric; in reality, of course, there are multiple subtle factors influencing what we believe.
( The importance of apathy )