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Collateral Damage: An Action-Adventure Origin Story
June 22, 1998
New York City
A not-so ordinary woman, who is caught between two Irrational Worlds.
When Elizabeth Shepherd awakens to find herself at a surreal tea party with a inhumanly gaunt man she's never met before, she suspects she's in for an unusual day. The warbling music and strange visions are only the beginning, however. Next on the agenda he tells her that she has exactly one minute to live.
This news does not sit well, to say the least.
Soon, things get even more bizarre. After one man left her for dead, a cadre of soldiers with bizarre, futuristic weapons begin stalking her for reasons unknown. As the building she is in begins to collapse into molten slag, Liz continually dodges inhuman pursuers, impossible weaponry, and other-worldly technologies. All she has to rely upon is n a fledgling talent with parkour, a liberal bit of cleverness, and more than your average amount of sarcasm.
And...a superpower?
As soldiers wielding futuristic weaponry face off against gangs of people who can bend reality as she knows it, Liz sprints through the collapsing building. The deeper she descends into the deranged depths of the buildings, the more she encounters people who are literally from beyond our world.
As she runs for her very life, Liz comes to know one thing for certain.
It's a far more Irrational World than she ever believed.
This short story is a glimpse into the varied factions of the Irrational Worlds. As all of these bent tales are, it is a strand in The Paean of Sundered Dreams, a multi-genre, universe- spanning array of tales with Lovecraftian themes.
This stories may be enjoyed as an individual, or as part of the Paean, in its proper order. For those readers who wish to experience every nuance of our Irrational Worlds, the suggested reading order is included here:
Rationality Zero
The Herald of Autumn
Collateral Damage
Handmaiden's Fury
On the Matter of the Red Hand
The Primary Protocol
Regarding Oaths and the Whispering Flame
Slave of the Sky-Captain
The Wormwood Event
New York City
A not-so ordinary woman, who is caught between two Irrational Worlds.
When Elizabeth Shepherd awakens to find herself at a surreal tea party with a inhumanly gaunt man she's never met before, she suspects she's in for an unusual day. The warbling music and strange visions are only the beginning, however. Next on the agenda he tells her that she has exactly one minute to live.
This news does not sit well, to say the least.
Soon, things get even more bizarre. After one man left her for dead, a cadre of soldiers with bizarre, futuristic weapons begin stalking her for reasons unknown. As the building she is in begins to collapse into molten slag, Liz continually dodges inhuman pursuers, impossible weaponry, and other-worldly technologies. All she has to rely upon is n a fledgling talent with parkour, a liberal bit of cleverness, and more than your average amount of sarcasm.
And...a superpower?
As soldiers wielding futuristic weaponry face off against gangs of people who can bend reality as she knows it, Liz sprints through the collapsing building. The deeper she descends into the deranged depths of the buildings, the more she encounters people who are literally from beyond our world.
As she runs for her very life, Liz comes to know one thing for certain.
It's a far more Irrational World than she ever believed.
This short story is a glimpse into the varied factions of the Irrational Worlds. As all of these bent tales are, it is a strand in The Paean of Sundered Dreams, a multi-genre, universe- spanning array of tales with Lovecraftian themes.
This stories may be enjoyed as an individual, or as part of the Paean, in its proper order. For those readers who wish to experience every nuance of our Irrational Worlds, the suggested reading order is included here:
Rationality Zero
The Herald of Autumn
Collateral Damage
Handmaiden's Fury
On the Matter of the Red Hand
The Primary Protocol
Regarding Oaths and the Whispering Flame
Slave of the Sky-Captain
The Wormwood Event
66 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 10, 2015
About the author
J.M. Guillen
23 books217 followersJM Guillen was just an average Joe when he worked at a Necromancy factory in 2018. After his job was outsourced to Mexico, he has been driven irrevocably mad and gifted with strange, terrible power.
Today he spends his time creating sentient velociraptors in his secret lair and summoning fell powers best left alone. His goal of absolute world domination is almost within his grasp. Soon, nothing will stop him.
Occasionally, he writes.
Today he spends his time creating sentient velociraptors in his secret lair and summoning fell powers best left alone. His goal of absolute world domination is almost within his grasp. Soon, nothing will stop him.
Occasionally, he writes.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 18, 2015
In this interesting ancillary to Rationality Zero, the reader is introduced to Liz Sheppard, an unnamed character from that book who here is given a backstory as she is drawn into a larger and stranger world than she had ever known. Here she is tossed without warning into a pitched battle between the guardians of the world of sanity and their alien enemies. Whose side is she on? She just wants to get out of there alive.
Fortunately or unfortunately, or perhaps both, someone from another faction of the universe who readers may remember from a different book has taken an interest in Liz and may have some use for her. If she survives.
To top it off, she seems to have developed an odd power and the affinity to use it. Is this a result of her encounter with the alien forces of Irrationality, or perhaps she was one of those potential threats neutralized in childhood by Michael Bishop’s agency, with no memory of the event.
In any case, her reaction and running commentary add an interesting flavor to the events, and the heroes are quite intimidating when seen from the outside. I’ll be interested in seeing if when and where Liz turns up in the future.
Fortunately or unfortunately, or perhaps both, someone from another faction of the universe who readers may remember from a different book has taken an interest in Liz and may have some use for her. If she survives.
To top it off, she seems to have developed an odd power and the affinity to use it. Is this a result of her encounter with the alien forces of Irrationality, or perhaps she was one of those potential threats neutralized in childhood by Michael Bishop’s agency, with no memory of the event.
In any case, her reaction and running commentary add an interesting flavor to the events, and the heroes are quite intimidating when seen from the outside. I’ll be interested in seeing if when and where Liz turns up in the future.
Displaying 1 of 1 review