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In moviemaking parlance, there was a trend in action movies, especially, where the protagonists would be data-gathering through the first two acts of the movie, and the writers needed a pivot from that section of the plot to the pursuit section of rising conflict and resolution. What that means, in writing, is that the audience needed to be brought up-to-date, and quick, without boring exposition and realization. Thus was born a trope, the Taxi Driver Scene. In the trope, the protagonists are rushing along, they pile into a taxi cab, they start chattering about the adventure so far, whereupon the cab driver delivers the one missing connection that ties all the plot points and characters together, e.g., “Your boss is the Big Bad’s mistress / wife,” or some such. Then, in quick-cut dialogue, the protagonists put the conspiracy together in a matter of seconds, and the chase to the money shot / big explosion / final boss fight is on, and the movie moves along without dragging.
As it is, I’ve lost momentum in my own writing because I was frickin’ sick for a week, so I thought that you, my dear readers, and I, together, should get in the taxi and have the cab driver help us tie everything together.
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The original party includes the four Japanese teenagers: Jason (18), Abe (17), Umezawa (18), and Sano (???); also the two survivalists, Blake (mid-40s to mid-50s) and Lars (mid-40s to mid-50s). When the airplane has crashed, these were the six who see each other immediately as survivors. They also know immediately that they should not have survived, given the carnage of the wreckage. After a harrowing escape, they become “the party,” later naming themselves, “The Unexpected Companions.” This is an overt homage to J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring.”
After a night or two in the frigid wilderness of a mountain in Idaho, one other survivor presents himself to the party for mercy: James Thurgerson. He is a bionic human being who does not understand much about himself, but we have seen him behaving in a manic “superman” mode during the airplane crash, maintaining his balance enough to execute those whom he believed were his captors. He becomes the first adjunct member of the party.
By this time the party has discovered that Abe has developed a superpower. This is an overt homage to isekai anime, and the mountain functions as “waking up in a world.” His superpower is Command Plant Life. Over the course of the story so far, we discover that this awakens the power of Mother Mountain, who is the local power, and the power of the Great Elm, who is the power over all plant life.
In an attempt to recover more gear and supplies from the crash site, the party splits up. This is an overt homage to Dungeons and Dragons table top gameplay. Nothing good ever happens when the party is split.
The party, in one of these excursions, discovers that Jason also has a superpower: Stop Projectiles. In the second excursion (The Third Escape), this superpower prevents them from being killed by a hostile helicopter, and while the helicopter occupants are occupied by surprise and amazement at the party’s superpower, Lars kills the pilot, and the helicopter crashes and explodes.
Food quickly runs out, so Blake leads a hunting expedition, splitting the party, and immediately encounters a grizzly bear. Grizzlies should not be out and about in the middle of the winter, and they are rare in Idaho, but, nonetheless, Blake is mortally wounded, whereupon the party discovers that Umezawa has a superpower: he is the healer.
It is clear by this point that the teenagers are developing superpowers because of the fumes which washed over them during the airplane crash, and those same fumes are probably what kept them uninjured and alive.
In a second hunting excursion, Sano kills an elk. The party works together to bring it to headquarters (the bower) and prepare it for food and for homemade supplies.
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Someone has managed to remove the wreckage of the airplane.
The party knows they are being sought by more than one interest, all of whom desire to capture or kill James Thurgerson. Lars convinces the party that they need to be able to hear radio transmissions in order to pinpoint antagonist locations and movements. Blake, when he realizes the value of knowing their antagonists, insists that they have visual confirmation of what Lars demonstrates with radio signals. They split the party. In Blake’s arrogance, the search party does not bring Jason, and when they are discovered, a sniper shoots Blake in the shoulder. They escape to a grove of trees under Abe’s command, but not before three other men pursue them. The trees subdue these men.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The party realizes very quickly that these men are also bionic. Before they can interrogate them to any extent, Mother Mountain unleashes her fury on those who are using superpowers in her realm. While the party tries to escape back to their headquarters, Mother Mountain manages to kill Manuel Rojacamiseta, the “little red shirt.” This is an overt homage to science fiction tropes, where the writers need someone to die for a plot device, but can’t spare a main character, usually for contractual reasons.
The two surviving bionic men become the newest adjuncts to the party. They are Perry Tuck (an homage to Peregrin Took (I just re-read The Lord of the Rings)) and Meredith Donaldson (an homage to Meriadoc Brandybuck). Perry and Meredith are both the same age as James Thurgerson, but he reveals that he has been bionic since he was a child, whereas they became bionic in early adulthood.
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In the escape, the party learns that Sano has not one, but two superpowers: Cloudburst (an octopus-like defense mechanism) and Hypnosis.
Also in the escape, Abe does obeisance to Mother Mountain, through the voice of the Great Elm, and she ceases from trying to kill them. That is the plot so far.
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Some odds and ends:
There are more than one antagonist trying to recover James Thurgerson. How many and who are they?
The corporation conglomerate which created him.
Possibly the Chinese government through its control of the Canadian government. Also, is the corporation conglomerate working with these governments or against them? Are they a joint private / government enterprise?
Possibly the CIA.
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We do not know who shot the airplane down.
We do not know for whom the pilots were working.
We do not know who removed the airplane wreckage or how they did it.
We do not know who manned the helicopter Lars shot down. The Canadian flag was seen only by Jason, and it does not actually indicate much besides the fact that there was a Canadian flag painted inside the helicopter cabin.
We do not know who the sniper is, nor whom she is working for.
We do know there is another section of bionic men who were coordinating with Perry, Meredith, and Manuel to capture James Thurgerson. We also know they were not trying to kill him or any of the party.
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Sano
Abe is infatuated with her, but is locked in an internal struggle with himself to openly declare for her affections.
James Thurgerson sees her as a conquest.
Lars and Jason are rivals to Abe to win her affection.
Lars has asserted that Sano is his age, while Jason and Abe are certain Sano is their age.
Sano is largely annoyed by all the attention. The plant life has protected her from all the men by providing her special privacy in sleeping quarters and toilet facilities.
We suspect that there is yet more to Sano, namely what she is and who she is.
Jason
He is struggling to overcome his wealthy background in order to relate to the rest of the party and to be a continuing help. He likes being in charge of the fire and giving orders.
Abe
Narrator point-of-view. The reader has absolute access to him and his thoughts.
Umezawa
He is struggling to be his own person despite his personal weaknesses. Being the healer has given him a path to self-confidence.
Blake
He is the decision-maker with a limited intellectual background who lives and dies with the consequences of his decisions in surviving the weather, the powers of nature, and several different antagonists. He takes intellectual shortcuts, relying on conspiracy theories, about which he is usually partially correct, which fuels his decision-making confidence.
Lars
He is the surprisingly well-read janitor who is probably better at reasoning than Blake, but accedes the leadership role in order to maintain personal independence and a distance from shouldering consequences.
James Thurgerson
Even though he is bionic, and practically a superman, he is essentially a non-participant because the most basic surveillance would locate him very quickly. Therefore, he must remain in hiding, keeping house.
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