Author's note: I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who so kindly read "Belum" and to assure you that I have no intentions of leaving the story there. I just needed some time to get my thoughts together for the second part, do some research that kind of thing. Until then, I hope you will enjoy my second endeavor.
The idea for this story was inspired by the wonderful books by Jasper Fforde. I can claim no credit for his brilliance and I would recommend you stop reading this now and go buy his books. They are amazing and center around the notion that the characters created by authors inhabit a world parallel to our own and maintain their own infrastructure. I am borrowing that concept for this story.
Miles: Natalie, I just wanted to thank you again. (smiles nervously)
Natalie: You're welcome, Miles but you don't have to. . .
Miles: This really means a lot to me.
Natalie (smiling patiently) I understand, Miles but you don't have to speak in Script here/ It's just us.
"You're right, I almost forgot. This is all still pretty new to me."
She smiled in understanding as she led him into the police station that also served as their headquarters. She gave him a moment just to take it all in and watched as his eyes grew wide. She remembered her first day and she had felt the same way. It was a little overwhelming.
"You will be joining us as an observer for now but don't be afraid to ask questions. This is all very complex and it will take you some time to get used to everything. You probably all ready know some of the people here."
"Hello." Miles said as he looked around the room with his customary wide-eyed innocence. He had worked with several of these people before and some gave him a friendly smile but most regarded him with a kind of suspicion in their eyes. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's just that you're a CAD."
"Excuse me." He said, giving her a hurt look
"I'm sorry. It's a Character of Ambiguous Design." She explained. "You see, no one knows yet if you're going to be a hero or a villain. You haven't been fully conceptualized yet and people tend to get nervous when they don't know where they stand."
"Oh." He nodded, looking confused and a little sad.
Natalie patted his arm. "Don't worry. I'll show you around and try to explain just what it is we do around here."
"We are just one facet of the DSC or Department of Scripted Characters. This includes any character written for television, movies, plays or even commercials. Our division is SUDS."
"The Scripted Union Department of Soaps." John McBain supplied with a smile. "That's the worst part of this job, Miles, remembering all the anachronisms. Damn bureaucracy and red tape gets written into everything."
"Lieutenant McBain." Miles greeted him cheerfully.
John wagged a finger at him. "Uh uh, Miles. Natalie is the Lieutenant here."
"That's right. She outranks you here."
"Well, she has been here longer. And I can't think of anyone I would rather be under." He smiled and gave Natalie a subtle wink.
"Do you think you understand how all this works, Miles." She said in an attempt to regain control of the conversation.
He nodded his head but then smiled guiltily. "No, not really."
"That's okay. The more your character develops the more you will understand and adapt to the way things work around here." She assured him. "SUDS is like the special unit of a police force for all characters who inhabit SoapWorld. And each soap has it's own branch. Are you with me so far?"
"I think so." He said but she doubted that was true. She had been here seven years and was still not certain she understood all the ins and outs of SoapWorld.
"Has this always been here?"
"Pretty much. At first most things fell under the jurisdiction of the literary world but with the invention of the television and movies it was necessary to create a division that would be better equipped to deal with the specific problems and issues of scripted characters. We still follow the basic Ffordian design that was created for BookWorld but we're different."
"So, what exactly do you do here?" Miles asked.
"In a lot of ways we do the same things any other police station does. Llanview is a small place, inhabited by fewer than a hundred people. but there are more murders, serial killings, violent crimes, natural and unnatural disasters per capita than places five times our size." She said and she saw his eyes widen. "And that makes up just a small part of what we do here."
She started to launch into a list of their duties but Miles held out a restraining hand. "I think I understand but what I don't get is why I'm here. I mean I'm new here; I have no experience or special skills to offer. I barely even know what's going on. Why am I here?"
Natalie shrugged. "You're here because of your potential villain status. We are currently without a villain liaison since the death of Spencer Truman. Villains are typically in the minority and are so guaranteed a spot in the department so that they can best address the needs and concerns of the villain. I mean you can't exactly expect the people the villain has been wrapping in his webs of intrigue to be exactly sympathetic to his problems."
"So, I'm here because I might be evil and sinister." Miles gave her the frightened sad look of a lost child "Is it okay if I hope I'm not the next villain. I kind of like not being hated."
Natalie gave him a compassionate smile, recalling the creation and development of her own character. She understood the fear and uncertainty he was feeling. The transition can be difficult enough but especially so for an unsympathetic character who often didn't understand their own actions. She shuddered as she remembered going up against Victoria Davidson as she attempted to displace an already established and beloved character.
"Don't worry, Miles. A well developed villain is an essential element of any soap and it doesn't have to make you evil. A villain can have many aspects to their personality and just the right amount of vulnerability can even make them sympathetic. There are many villains who are also loving husbands and devoted fathers, they are often the cornerstone of the soaps storyline."
Miles smiled, obviously relieved and for a moment he looked as if he were going to ask another question but then he was distracted. He watched in fascination as John stared at himself in a mirror, studying himself intently from different angles, making different faces and occasionally running a hand through his hair.
"You know, I never would have guessed that John was such a vain man." Miles said too loudly, as a rookie he had not quite developed the subtle art of the aside and the entire room went silent.
"Vain? Did you just call me vain?"
"Relax, John. Remember he's new." Natalie said trying to hide her amusement at what was such a sore point with John.
"I am not vain but just in case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly a verbal guy, that means it's very important that I emote. We're talking piercing glances, smoldering gazes and that lip pursing thing I do when I'm upset."
"And you smirk a lot." Natalie added with a grin.
"The point is that these things don't just happen. They take practice."
"Of course." Miles said with sincerity. "It was not my intention to offend."
"Hey, kiddo, how's it shaking?" Roxanne made a well timed entrance and sat down at her desk. She pulled a pencil from her Dolly Parton hair and immediately got to work.
"I don't think you've met, Roxanne Balsom." Natalie said to Miles. "Roxy is one of our best agents and you're going to be spending a lot of time observing her."
"Really?" Miles said. He knew enough about Roxy to be surprised by the fact that she was considered on of their best agents.
"Roxy has worked in both the History and the Genealogy departments."
Miles nodded slowly, clearly unimpressed. "History and genealogy." It sounded like a college course.
"Don't let the names fool you." Natalie told him. "Those are two of the most complex areas in our department and only the best are recruited. A Soaps history is constantly being rewritten even distorted to accommodate current storylines and genealogies. Well, genealogies are next to impossible to keep accurate records as previously unknown characters make dramatic appearances as a long lost relative or as even well established characters suddenly find themselves inexplicably belonging to a new family."
"But you have DNA testing here?" Miles asked and she knew he must be thinking of his own questionable lineage.
"We have highly sophisticated DNA testing but it is also extremely insecure and results are constantly being tampered with. You'll find that in SoapWorld even a mother may not know how many children she has. The Genealogy and History departments must work closely together since the history often has to be rewritten in order to establish these new family lines."
"It sounds really complicated." Miles admitted. "But you no longer work in those departments, Ms. Balsom?"
"Nah, I got my own gig now." She said never taking her eyes off of her computer screen.
"Roxy looks after the WAIF's now." Natalie explained, teasingly.
"The waif's?" Miles glanced around the room as if he were expecting to see a battalion of little urchins following in Roxie's wake.
Natalie laughed. "The Writer's of Alternative Internet Fiction and her work in that area has been innovative. In fact, the policies and procedures that she has established are being used all over Soap World."
"Very impressive." Miles nodded and the turned back to Natalie. "Internet fiction?"
"Fan Fiction. And boy has this stuff really taken off." Roxy explained.
"Fan Fiction is simply stories written by fans revolving around their favorite storylines and characters."
"You mean right now someone out there may be writing about me?" Miles asked with a grin.
"Maybe." She smiled. "At first no one really knew what to do with fan fiction or whose jurisdiction it fell under. BookWorld would normally have jurisdiction over written rather than scripted stories but since all the stories were uniquely Soapie their seemed to be no clear notion of whose responsibility they were. Finally, it was decided that they belong here to the genre they were created from."
"So, other than being written by fans how do they differ?"
"Well, for one thing the sex is a hell of a lot better." John said with a glance in a mirror to make sure he had just the right amount of mischievous glint in his eyes, "Much more detailed."
"Okay, moving on." Natalie said, steering Miles toward the other departments. She passed closely by John as she left and she felt his fingers reach out and lightly brush her arm.
Natalie gratefully retreated to the privacy of her office after she had finished showing Miles around. She sat down at her desk and tried to concentrate on some of the files in front of her when she heard a soft knock on the door.
"Come in."
"Hey, baby, you got a sec." Roxy asked as she came on into the room. "I've got that proposal.'
"Really, so soon?" Natalie stood excitedly and took the bound report Roxy handed her. "Roxy, you're amazing."
Roxy gave her adopted daughter a shy smile. "I just wrote it all down. You were the dictator."
Natalie ignored her choice of words as she looked over the proposal. "This looks great, Roxy. I don't know how to thank you."
"Don't worry about it." Roxy patted her arm. "Really, Natty, don't worry about it. They're going to listen to you.'
"I hope so." She sighed. Roxy gave her a reassuring smile before leaving her alone once again in her office. Natalie leaned against her desk and went over the proposal again word for word. She practically knew it by heart by now but it had to be perfect. She loved her job here in SoapWorld with all of its challenges and complexities but lately she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. She couldn't quite put her finger on it she just knew she had to do something about it.
"You were great with the rookie today, Natalie." John said as he joined her on the roof, they had a few hours to themselves before that mornings re-runs.
"It's my job." She shrugged.
He slipped his arms around her waist and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. "What's wrong?"
She knew there would be no point in lying to him, he knew her too well. "It's getting worse. The fighting."
"I know." He sighed. "But it will get better. It always does."
"I don't know, John. This feels different. I'm afraid they're trying to tear us apart."
He turned her around so that she was facing him and he cupped her face in his hand. "That won't happen. Not now, not ever again. I love you remember. I finally said it and I meant it. I mean what would be the point in letting me finally say the words if . . ." He paused, not wanting to even finish the thought. "We've worked too hard for this, Natalie and we've earned it. We're not going to let anyone just take it away from us now." He pulled her into a passionate kiss hat left her breathless and then he gave her a smug smile. "See, that'll show you."
"Consider me told off." She laughed as she nestled against him.
"You know what, you and I, we're pretty lucky."
"Because we have each other?"
"That and because we are a member of that lucky group who have been scripted a bed and I really feel that it is our duty to make good use of the accommodations."
She followed him into their bed, their hands entwined and she felt a surge of love and happiness so strong that she felt tears spring to her eyes. Natalie vowed in that moment that she would do anything necessary to protect what they had.