prologue
October 25, 2040 New York City. The United Nations building.
A room in the basement of the building, sealed and protected from any sort of electronic spying.
Seated behind a massive table is the current Presidents, Prime Ministers and other leaders of the nations of the Security Council, plus a couple of extra invited leaders.
On the other side of the room, seated behind a small bare table is Queen Elsa, in her disguise as Anna Winter, a brilliant scientist and an known environmentalist, who inherited a fortune from her family. One of the best known leaders, and definitely the most powerful person, of the environmental movement.
Her face looks different than her birth face, sharper check bones and wider jaw, mainly. She has a darker complexion, but her hair is still platinum-blond. It is styled by wrapping the braid around itself on the back of her head. (It looks similar to Princess Leia's at the end of 'A New Hope' during the awards ceremony.) She is wearing a silk suit, with a skirt.
Behind her is Eric Yngling-Fairhair, her bodyguard, and as such, he is ignored by most of the people in the room. To be more accurate, the leaders are ignoring him, the bodyguards lining the wall behind them have been warned about him, and watch him closely. He is wearing a tailored standard loose fitting suit for a bodyguard. It is, however, of the very finest fabric and styling.
Elsa is speaking in a calm voice, "You have all seen the Generator. It creates energy from, basically, nothing. There is no environmental impact, beyond the normal for the building of a small power plant. My projections indicates, that once the production factory is complete and running, the costs for a finished plant would be a fraction, a SMALL fraction, of a similar sized, traditionally fueled power plant. Maintenance and running costs will also be smaller than normal."
She nods at the stone faced group facing her, "Yes, there is still some, minor stability problems, but they are correctable within a few years. I can make them and, with your support, we CAN start to fix this damaged world."
"All I see is someone that will destroy my nation." One of them, a man for an oil producing country, says in a scornful voice.
"And how many petrochemical workers will you throw, penniless, on the street?" Another asks, but the tone in his voice, says that he is asking the question for the record, not because he is going to listen to any answer.
"That is covered in the plan I gave you, Sir." She answers, as she holds up a thumb drive, similar ones are in front of the each member of the Security Council, "Yes. It will be challenging and will cause, some temporary..."
"I've heard enough." Another interrupts. "I have read that plan, and it is unacceptable."
"The only good thing that I am hearing is because of the classified nature of this meeting and this absurd tech, we can sweep it under the table, easily." Someone remarks, casually.
Many nods...
Elsa's mouth clenches as she thinks, 'Yes, because it would cause you,' a glance of the leaders of the world, 'all of you to lose money and power.'
"If you make those... machines, YOU would be the wealthiest person in the world." Another says, "And given your personal beliefs, I find THAT a threat to the world."
Nods circle the table.
"YES." The President of the Council begins, "It would make you the most powerful person in the world."
A pause, as he is expecting something from her.
"The changes it would cause would destroy many livelihoods."
She thinks, 'Yes, but it is a temporary problem. You will NOT read the plan, most of those people can learn and adjust. I will make sure that there are new jobs for them.'
"It is our," the President waves to the leaders seated next to him, "responsibility to look out for our people, and your... machines will hurt more people then it will help."
'SHORT-SIGHTED FOOL! It means the average cost of electricity for EVERYONE will drop by a large fraction. It means we will not keep filling the air with waste products from burning oil and coal, poisoning the WORLD. I would help EVERYONE in the world!' Anger fills her thoughts.
"As such, we, the Security Council of the United Nations, do not approve of your plan." A pause, a glare.
And the first ultimatum... "And if you attempt to do it, out of your personal resources, we will stop you."
Elsa's eyes close, and a deep breath, "Sirs, please, I can help the world, let me explain." In a calm reasoned voice.
"No." comes from the voices of several of the leaders.
One of them, though, taps the table, "It can not hurt to hear her out, ladies and gentlemen. We do not want it to be known that we never gave her every chance to change our minds."
An hour later...
The emotional atmosphere in the room is poisonous.
Elsa can feel Pabbie's spells in her mind... the spells created to heal minds. The ones she used, in a trivial way, to get her and Eric through the bio-med security sensors that lead to this room.
From earlier: A wiggle of Elsa's fingers and in a very odd voice she says, "Normal are the security bio-med sensors. Hmmm. Wrong, nothing is. Delete this."
As they walk pass the distracted guards, Eric whispers, "I can ignore a lot of the latter dreck, just for that." Elsa grins as she nods.
She thinks, 'How easy it would be, just to change their minds. But... that would be wrong. And If I did it how soon do I become what I have fought sooo long and so hard to NOT be? So... I hate doing this and I know that it would only be a short term, very short term, solution. But, once I can start, perhaps...'
After a deep breath, Elsa says, "I can change the structure of Ginnungagap Energy. Instead of a private company, I can change it into a corporation."
"Bribing us, now?" one of females in the room, says with a sneer. "We will not be bribed."
Elsa glares at her and thinks, 'You bitch! I know that you've accepted bribes and that the only reason that you are in power at all, is that you are a poisoner.' A glace across the angry room, 'ALL of you have accepted bribes or done other... things. But... you all will NOT listen to logic. Not a single one of you has the imagination to dream of anything, but yourselves and your selfish desires.'
"I say, again, this farce has gone on long enough!" One of the men pounds the table with his shoe.
Nods from all the others in the room.
Elsa's glower strengthens. The others gaze menacingly back.
Elsa nods, a decision has been made.
She pushes back her chair. Eric moves and places a hand on shoulder. That movement heightens the tension in the room. "They are NOT worthy. DO NOT DO IT!" he hisses into the silence.
She gently removes his hand, glances over her shoulder to look at him, a soft smile appears and disappears on her lips, "They may not be, Eric. But the World is." Something, unspoken, but something... orders pass between them.
She stands up. Everyone in the room follows her..
The bodyguards look at Eric and think about the three, known, assassination attempts on Anna Winter and how they all failed, the most spectacular attempt failed due to Eric. How vague his personal history is. They wonder, even though, everyone in the room is disarmed, how many people Eric would kill or hurt before they could stop him.
Some of the leaders are thinking about her wealth and that they have made a enemy of someone that can oppose their plans. They are remembering the vague stories of her attempt 10 years to revolutionize computer tech and how the older computer companies... they stopped her with some of the nastiest lawsuits, and with obviously bribed judges, ever seen. And how many of the CEO's which made that decision are now out of a job.
Others, most, are thinking about Tyr Security, the third largest private security force in the world, and maybe the best, and its...possible, no, highly probable connections to Anna Winter. They are wondering how Anna is to word HER ultimatum to them.
A few are, also, thinking about Tyr Security, but in a different way. They are thinking about the hysterical briefings their military has given them, after some plan of theirs were destroyed by forces unknown. Tyr Security private special op platoon is small, powerful, and the cost for their services, even as individuals, is astronomical. BUT, as everyone knows, it never fails.
Elsa walks around the table, a final glance across the room...
Eric's icy glare heats the room. 'I will remember this, idiots. Be grateful for your lives, Elsa has ordered me not tell Ragnhild or Asa or the rest of the family about this. For if they knew, you would be dead.'
Queen Elsa falls to her knees, and in a soft, pleading voice, "PLEASE... I am begging, BEGGING, you, please let me help the world."
Silence...
A look passes between the leaders of the world. They do something worse than saying 'NO', worse than laughing at her, they...
They all start to file out of the room. Silently... The only sound, the shrill sound of the shredders, as they drop the thumb drives in them.
They ignore her as she buries her head in her hands and starts to weep...
'Fools and idiots,' Eric thinks as he rushes to Elsa's side to comfort her. 'She never wanted to go to war against the world. BUT... That plan, which she hates, can not be stopped, now.'
5 years later. Stonehenge. Halloween night. Midnight.
Looking, from a distance, at the group of young people having a party in and among the ruins, is a woman leaning on a staff. She is short, with dark sun tanned skin, and long dark hair. Her clothes... change, sometimes it is deer skin, sometimes a crude string skirt, sometimes she is nude. Her appearance changes... sometimes she is a young woman, sometimes an adult mature woman, sometimes an ancient crone.
Elsa walks up to her. She kneels on one knee, and bows her head in respect for the oldest human.
"I came at your request." She says. The woman pats her head and gestures for her to raise.
They turn and watch the party.
"They do not know with what they tamper with..." the woman says, in a disgusted tone.
Elsa's eyes narrow, "Which is good."
The woman nods. "This is much safer."
"Gazing on the ruins of my attempt, oh so long ago." The voice changes. The tone sad. "Will you do better, in your attempt to change mankind?"
"In time, no. I expect in future years, for us to stand and gaze upon the ruins of my attempt. All I hope for is a generation, maybe two, of peace."
"Why do it then?"
"I must stop the coming storm."
weariness... "Storms come, and storms go. Such is life."
"I must help them, even if they reject me."
"A good reason." A pause. "Perhaps the best one. I can not give you my blessing, for I have seen far to many failures. But, I will not stop you."
Elsa bows her head, "Thank you, Lif."
The woman nods. A gust of wind, a swirl of leaves and she vanishes.
Elsa gazes at the drunken party. She shakes her head in sadness. "soon."
thank you for reading
jeff shelton
For those of you who know that I am mangling Norse myths. Stories, myths and legends, pasted mouth to mouth, bard to bard, generation to generation change... Hopefully my story will be enjoyable.
Language note: Elsa, Eric, Asa and Ragnhild, or Anna or Kristoff when they are alive, do not use the work 'OK.' Change to 'Fine' whenever used.
Olaf, of course does use OK. OK, slang for 'Oll Korrect" was created in Boston in 1839. Frozen is 1837.
How Olaf knew it, they do not ask. The fact that Elsa and the others KNEW what it meant, without hearing it before... is a question they really, really do not ask.
Plus... the first time they heard it from someone beside Olaf... well there was a very bad first impression.
1841: A ship from Boston enters the harbor. Anna and the Captain of the ship having a screaming row on the docks... the 13 year old beaten and raped cabin boy, hiding under her skirts. Fight in a bar. The Captain waking up in pain. Under the bottle of laudanum, a note: Hey! Your balls are busted. Your balls should not have gotten in the way of my boot... multiple times. Sorry about that, but. Shit Happens. Signed Husband to the nice lady that spent 30 minutes trying to tell you that you are lower than whale shit.
The bar owner giving the captain back all the money he and his crew spent. "you are Black Balled. Queen Elsa's orders. Leave before she gets angry." Finally loading ice for Cuba in Oslo. The ice vanishing the first night out. Return to Oslo. Police waiting for him. "The Queen of Arendelle sent us this letter of complaint, about you publicly insulting and verbally assaulting her sister. The money you used to pay for the ice is counterfeit. Return the ice, or pay for it in real gold, now, or be arrested and your ship seized to pay for your fraud." Magnus, Elsa's special messenger to Oslo, with a cold thin smile, looking on in distance, making sure that Elsa's wish IS fulfilled...
Note: I am aware of "Fractal" and the fact that it did not exist until 1975. Elsa was alone and has never, ever told anyone... I am aware of the bicycle... but since I can not figure out a way to make it fit, I will ignore it. The older style ships... the government envoys were low level... so the ships they traveled in were older pre-steam ships.
I've had a couple of questions about how I came up with this story/idea. A quick unedited version.
I had a couple of story ideas. Elsa dealing with immediate aftermath of Frozen that were more serious than Disney. The problem with them...was what to do with Olaf. That got me thinking about WHAT could a snowman do? Which is where I came up with some of the tricks I am doing with her icemen. But...getting Olaf to do them? Shakes head. Creating new character...solved that problem. BUT forced me to think about Elsa's ability to create LIFE... That led to... if she has semi-god like powers...how would she react to that knowledge? Not a short story...and to explore that fully... I had to give her a long, long life. But...if she was functional immortal... how does she act in the real world? Which led to an outline of her life... and I just keep expanding that outline...
I do have conflicts and plot in store. She has to deal with the scars of that long life. Her children want to be free to due as they wish. There are other magical entities out there. And her desire to help the world that may not want her help.
The Day of Elsa's Interview...
someplace else...
Somebody is feeding a fire, chanting, a flash of a knife... Blood drips into the fire.
"She has revealed herself." Words crackle in the flames.
"In her attempt to learn... She weakened the cage." The Flames form a shape.
"The path is open. I will rise." Hummingbird feathers appear out of the flame.
The person shudders as the flaming shape engulfs him.
He holds up a bloody human heart.
Sparks glow in his eyes. "I must feed."