[Cover shows Doctor Developer at a crudely-constructed roadside stand with a sign reading "Psychotic Help - 5 cents" with a line of low-grade supervillains stretching off the edge of the frame. At the head of the line is an embittered round-headed kid with a pictographic speech bubble describing his desire for an exploding football.] ____________________________________________________________________________ .|, COHERENT An ASHistory Series --+------------------------------------------------------------------------- '|` SUPER STORIES #32 - "Making Contract" Featuring Terra-Soar copyright 2013 by Dave Van Domelen and Doctor Developer and Andrew Burton ____________________________________________________________________________ [August 12, 1994 - Detroit, Michigan] Terra-Soar had that look of someone who was deliberately restraining herself from looking around nervously. "I'm here," she said, shedding the bulky coat that hid her furled wings. The stony skin and marble-veined reptilian wings identified her better than any code or passcard could. A moment passed, followed by the sound of a stack of buckets being shaken up-and-down. After the noise settled, Doctor Developer stepped around of the parking lot ramp. He continued up the ramp until he was standing in front of Terra-Soar. "So am I." "They say you're the guy to go to for big-leagues stuff that doesn't need a freak factor." Doctor Developer shrugged. "I build stuff," he almost mumbled. "What did you have in mind?" "Well, you know my M.O., right? Do something flashy and petty, stay out of reach of the cops, then bail before anything heavy shows up." "I assume you're looking to be...ah...heavy?" "Nope. See, the thing no one knows yet is that while I'm grabbing all the camera-shots, my brother is working the crowd, or doing a little light looting. But he's a normal, and I'm worried someone's eventually going to notice him and assume he's a super. I want something that'll let him...I dunno, have a better chance. Armor, or stealth, or a decent weapon. So he can live long enough to escape." Doctor Developer scratched the back of his head. His face turned up to look at the ceiling of the parking deck. "Stealth is impractical. Armor would stand out." He cocked his head and looked at Terra-Soar. "Is this for cops or a nemesis?" Terra-Soar shrugged. "I don't really have a nemesis yet, Detroit hasn't had dedicated flying heroes since the 70s. For now, probably cops, although that Lady Lawful might be observant enough to spot my brother while fuming and shaking her fist at me from the ground." Doctor Developer's posture stiffened for a second, then he relaxed slightly. "A weapon then. Non-lethal, makes a distraction. That way he can get away. How much can you spend?" She pulled a small bundle from her coat and tossed it to the inventor. "This much up front, I can match it in cash on delivery. More, if you don't mind jewelry that might be traceable...I figure a guy like you could use diamonds for something other than lookin' pretty." She paused, slightly embarrassed. "We've been really lucky so far...that wad might not be enough to set anyone up for life, but right now, well, it's just money, right? Spend it smart or it's no good, my mom always said." Doctor Developer made a noise that sounded somewhere between, "Mm-hm," and non-committal. He was already trying to think of what he could put together for the bundle. He had a few things in the works, prototype extensions for his robots. They could be modified for handheld use. Maybe amped up a bit if Terra-Soar would be okay with activating them before a snatch...although if her brother tried to pickpocket an anchor and got caught because of a disabled gadget...no, regular power source. Nothing exotic. "What's your timeline? When do you need it done?" She considered that for a moment. "I figure we can lay low for about a month before we have to start eating into the project budget, which would mean either pulling another job without the new widget to pay you, or you letting us pay the balance after delivery...which I kinda doubt you're trusting enough for." "You called me this time. How do I get in touch with you?" "There's a slip of paper in with the cash. My brother says you use that Oozenet thing, there's a Peachy Peeky or whatever, and a list of groups he watches." "I don't know what that means," Doctor Developer said with no inflection. Before Terra-Soar could reply, he raised his hand, "But I'll figure it out. Give me two weeks, and I'll get back in touch with you with some samples." He looked around. "Ok?" "Sounds good." She backed up to the edge of the garage and fell backwards over the low barrier, turning it into a glide that took here away from the place too quickly for any potential witnesses to realize where she'd come from or where she was going...it was clear that despite her flashy reputation she could be very hard to see if she wanted it. Doctor Developer tucked the bundle in his coat pocket and headed out the way he came in...or up to the parking deck. Rounding the corner three bipedal robots clattered forward, their motion sensors triggered by his movements. Doctor Developer absently waves his hand at the three, a small, infrared light up his sleeve sending out the all-clear signal. They stepped back into line. "Time to get to work," he said to no one but himself. ============================================================================= Editor's Notes: Collaboration has a history of gumming things up in ASH...witness how the entire output of three ASH writers was the three issues of Capstone the year it came out. We'd cranked out a few dozen issues in the year before. So I approached High Concept Challenge #37 with some skepticism. But I decided to go with a simple vignette using Google Drive to write in alternating fashion with Andy. One lesson learned...if you set Google Drive documents to use straight quotes and your collaborator doesn't, you can't easily globally undo the curly quote crap. I had to copy it into Word and do cut and paste search and replace to get it in shape for copying into a straight text file. The premise for Terra-Soar was that she was a C-lister who only lasted as long as she did in Detroit because there weren't any fliers in the city in the mid-90s, so as long as she scarpered before helicopters could box her in, she could act with relative impunity, distracting people from her brother's larcenous activities. But as things progressed, I felt I was making her a little too competent, hence the "Oozenet" line...she's not all that tech- savvy, although probably about average for someone in the mid-90s without a college education. Andrew had no notes to add, but he did say that the choice of the date lines up with a period where Doctor Developer was trying to make some quick cash so he could move out of Detroit. ============================================================================ For all the back issues, plus additional background information, art, and more, go to http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH ! To discuss this issue or any others, either just hit "followup" to this post, or check out our Yahoo discussion group, which can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ash_stories/ ! There's also a LiveJournal interest group for ASH, check it out at http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=academy+of+super-heroes (if you're on Facebook instead, there's an Academy of Super-Heroes group there too). ============================================================================