Thanks for reading the Taming of Torque. I'm glad to have finished a full length story. I started writing TToT two years ago, after Chimera Squad released, to pass some time during my breaks at work. I think my quality and style of writing has changed throughout the piece, so I apologize for those inconsistencies. Regardless I'm glad I took Torque on this journey, to explore her character better and to become a better writer.

My goal for this piece was to make real characters you would care about, and to have writing that required thought. I want the piece to feel like it could happen in the real world, if the real world was in the XCOM universe in 2040 I suppose. I wanted minimal plot armor, conveniences and contrivances and instead have the characters drive the story. I also wanted the reader to feel strong emotions throughout the piece, but not for cheap shock value. I wanted those emotions to be strong because it deeply reflects the kind of person Torque is as she encounters difficulties people really deal with in their lives. I hope I succeeded.

I want to thank The Viper Pit server for giving me motivation, ideas, art and interesting literary discussion to spurn on my writing. You can find us on Discord here: PBFpc4g. I also thank the many people I asked to read my chapters before posting, as their beta reading formed a more robust story. I also thank SirNuke specifically for taking hours of his own time to edit and discuss the final portions of the story with me, to create a more polished final product.


Epilogue


The summer sun began to fall toward the horizon across a vast ocean. Its blinding brightness was enlarged thanks to hazy, diffusing clouds, spreading its glow across the vast waters. This dappling light created a bright streak from the apartment's perspective. Although further inland, the room's window could catch a small view of the ocean's glory thanks to its hillside foundation. The light shined through the window, illuminating the room.

Some of the light was captured by a small glass decoration. Its legs, its mane and its tail forming the familiar shape of a wolf. Bubbles from within evidencing its cast origin diffracted light across the room. The sill it sat on was splashed with color, as the interior of the wolf was dyed orange, blue and green.

It was this colored light that caught the viper's eye as she opened the door. She gazed for a moment, her backpack frozen in her arms, and once she was done appreciating she sat the bag down onto her bed's folded blankets.

The viper approached the window and let the sunlight shine into her green eyes. Her gray scales accepted the warmth of the sun, and for a small moment she took in the ocean's beauty.

But she turned and approached the other side of the room. Under her bed she slid out a wooden box complete with dividers, and set it onto the mattress. It was this setup that allowed her to view her canvas. A large white sketchpad was set upon an easel, positioned such that the sun's light would provide ample illumination. Currently an incomplete black and white image of her hand occupied the whitespace. A small tinge of annoyance took her as she removed the sheet and placed it on the floor. The proportions were wrong anyways.

She looked around the room to find something to act as a reference, but froze upon realizing she already knew what she wanted to draw. It was habit that brought her to the opposite corner of the room. The viper picked up her easel and moved it next to the window, viewing the glass wolf from her perspective. It sat alone on the window sill.

Realizing there was more to see, she brought the easel back and stood herself in front of the window.

It was this scene she drew. She started with the window first, creating light traces with her pencil. It served as a reference as she moved onto the city. Bushy trees and the roofs of other houses occupied the bottom of the view. It was a cluttered mess of the old world, but as she outlined upward the newer city showed itself. Until finally she ended on the horizon of the world.

Her outline was purely from reference. But when she saw the water, and the sun, she imagined something spanning its length.

The viper then went on to shade. She kept having to remind herself to see her reference as a set of values, instead of a whole object. A few buildings were too large but it was okay. It was her creative insertion that she paid the most attention to.

With her room now several orange shades deeper, the viper slithered backward and viewed her piece.

Her heart sunk in her chest as she saw her bridge span across the water. It was familiar. She's seen it before. It reminded her.

Quickly, the viper looked out toward her reference. Reality provided no bridge. Instead, it was just the ocean, the city, her view, slowly succumbing to nightfall.

The viper relaxed her hood. She took a deep, comforting breath, and slithered under her bedsheets. She laid her back against the wall and took down a calendar she had pinned to it, unclipping a pen from it.

She flipped through the calendar. Three months ago, it was full of solid red spots. Every passing month shaded the pages a little whiter.

She stared at today's date, planning for a mark to be there by tomorrow. The viper pinned the calendar back onto the wall and stared at the easel. She would start a new drawing tomorrow, and take off the picture then.

To fall asleep she recounted the things that happened today. Went on a slither in the morning to the gym. Got a few groceries. Drew some more. Went out again because it was her day off, she was going to enjoy it. There was that viper with the glasses cleaning the bookstore window again. She seemed to always be there, somehow.

The viper flipped over and hugged her pillow. Slowly, sleep was coming. As she closed her eyes she felt the need to recite a few, choice words.

"It's going to be okay Sella. It's going to be okay."