INDEX

Updated

This is the official Index page for Bottled Embers.

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If you’re new here and don’t want any spoilers, please consider starting at the very beginning with Five Hundred Bloody Footprints.

If you’ve been following along, and would like a recap, or you’ve just jumped in and don’t enjoy homework, this is the place for you. Here I’ll be giving a very short chapter-by-chapter summary of the events as they have evolved along the course of this long and (hopefully) compelling story, along with a link to every scene in the correct order so you can easily find your place or get caught up in a hurry.

If you’re visiting or just checking this out, please be a dear and drop me a note to say “Hi,” tell me a little about yourself and answer that age-old question: “Do you prefer cats or dogs? I promise I’d love to hear from you and maybe even get chatting if you’re up for it.

And as always, if you want to be sure you don’t miss anything, the easiest way is to:

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Index

Chapter one:

Our story begins on Telera, in a snow-bedecked forest of chocolate pines.

Misty has been on the run for days and is close to reaching the limits of her incredible endurance. She pauses at the edge of the forest to catch her breath and is shocked to find two Manorian youths running straight towards her.

Logan has just arrived with his twin brother, for their adoptive father, Luke’s “research mission.” Suffering from a serious case of cabin fever the boys decide to go for a run and inadvertently trap Misty between themselves and her pursuers who are quickly closing in.

Desperate and frightened, Misty hopes that she can provoke the boys into ending her suffering, but Luke steps in to rescue her instead.

When the soldiers catch up they rudely evict Luke, saying his permits are useless because the one who issued them is recently dead. Without being given a chance to explain, the guys have no choice but to take Misty home with them. Luke treats her injuries and a frustrated and angry Logan is charged with watching over her. When she wakes up, just as the ship touches down on Earth-Prime, Misty goes into full-on panic threatening to upend Luke and the boys’ life in an instant.

In a desperate attempt to bring a panicked Misty under control, Logan accidentally gives her an overdose of a sedative that stops her heart, and Luke must race to save her life.

Scene one - Five hundred bloody footprints.

Scene Two - Meet Logan.

Scene Three - Mind-racing panic settles into a plan.

Scenes Four and Five - Tom goes down. & Manorian, take the bait!

Scene Six - Logan’s spacewalk goes wrong.

Scenes Seven and Eight - Uhm, where am I? & Oops!

Scenes Nine and Ten - Hallway fights never work out well.

Chapter Two:

We get a brief glimpse of what Misty’s life at TTH has been like as it flashes before her eyes. Logan is racked by guilt, over nearly killing the girl they’ve come to refer to as Elle, and volunteers to watch over her until she wakes up. At first, all seems well, even though she apparently doesn’t talk, but then her health takes another unexpected dive when her hidden genetic disorder makes her body regenerate more energy than it can safely contain.

Logan blames himself for her suffering and holds her hand as she suffers until at last her body can no longer contain all the energy it is generating. At the last moment, it explodes out of her, and Logan, Luke, and Tom are forced to flee for their lives while the manor house falls down around them.

Scene One - What does it feel like when your heart stops beating?

Scene Two - Guilt will eat you up.

Scene Three - Something’s wrong with her.

Scenes Four through Eight - Torturer torturee.

Chapter Three:

Logan sets the ship to circle their destroyed home and pushes off to help Luke with a gravely injured Tom. Afterward, they head to Luke’s mountain cabin to regroup and somehow find a way to rebuild while Elle has fallen into a coma.

Luke is obsessed with Elle and does his utmost to wake her using his telepathic abilities, but finds himself blocked by her instinctive defenses. Meanwhile, he is contacted by his old friends in the Planetary Guard for help with restoring his home in exchange for his services in interrogating war criminals, a task he needs Logan’s help with. The ensuing events, strain the relationship between the boys which is exacerbated by a girl who seems to be manipulating Logan. Things reach their peak when Luke is asked to get answers from a mythic being and Logan finds out he is in fact empathic, a condition unheard of in Manorian history. Confused by this new development, and clinging to a precarious relationship with his brother, Logan decides to deny the ability.

Scene One - Escape and crisis management.

Scene Two - Regroup at the cabin.

Scene Three - Time to go home.

Scene Four - Enter Victor Morgan.

Scene Five - Who on Earth is Cathy Morgan?

Scene Six - The interrogation of Rashak Grora.

Scene Seven - Dating.

Scene Eight - Dennis the Ruby Observer.

Scene Nine - Logan the empath.

Scene Ten - Revisiting Dennis for a fresh perspective.

Scene Eleven - The bar.

Scene Twelve - Confrontation.

Chapter Four:

Misty is still in a coma, and caught in her own dreams for too long she starts to deteriorate again. Luke is desperate to save her and makes one last request for Logan to assist him in getting through to Elle. Their last ditch effort is successful and with Luke’s help, Logan is able to enter Misty’s dreamscape, where things are no longer as they were.

Logan eventually finds Elle and manages to convince her to accompany him out of the desolation, infusing her soul with a hope that might breathe new life into her comatose form.

Scene One - Figurine & Three years later.

Scene Two - Mercy and Trust.

Scene Three - Foregone Conclusion

Scenes Four through Seven - Smoke Screen.

Chapter Five:

Logan exits Misty’s dreamscape, and life goes on in anticipation of his twenty-first birthday. Elle wakes up and finds the gym and strikes up a fast friendship with Logan.

On the night of the party, a lonely and curious Misty decides to check out the festivities and gets a little overzealous, underestimating her own strength. The cover-up opens more doors for interference by the PG, when Luke starts work on getting Elle an education and the PG demands that they have a say in what exactly that entails. Despite the interference, eventually Misty starts to figure out where in this world she fits in and how to get by simply living here until after months of relief, her genetic defect starts to affect her again and Penance demands that she stay in constant motion or live in pain.

When the PG sends someone to supervise one of Misty’s lessons, she predictably gets tired of the game, while the PG predictably gets tired of waiting for her to play along. Things come to a head when, after a lengthy behind-the-scenes battle, Luke loses his Authority support and caves to the PG’s demands that he use his abilities to force Elle to talk.

Scene One and Two - Coming Down.

Scene Three and Four - Small Wet Feet.

Scenes Five through Eight - Deer - Headlights.

Scene Nine and Ten - Settling In.

Scenes Eleven and Twelve - Strings Attached.

Scenes Thirteen through Sixteen - Family.

Scene Seventeen - Not a Spectator sport.

Scene Eighteen - Two Sides.

Scenes Nineteen and Twenty - Penultimate.

Scenes Twenty-One through Twenty-Three - Straw.

Chapter Six:

Logan has carried Elle’s drugged body all the way up the steps to Luke’s secure interrogation room in the Northern Tower, where a rueful Luke cradles a tumbler of liquid confidence. While they wait for the drugs to clear her system so Luke can work sensibly, Logan uses his energetic bonds to restrain Elle. Under the influence of his own performance enhancer, ‘Fire’ Luke lets his dark side out just enough to get the job done.

We get to see this one from all sides, first Logan shows us what happened, a short hack session ending in a catatonic Luke and a hysterical Elle. Then Misty takes us through her harrowing experience, revisiting a past she nearly died to escape and casting us right back to the beginning of our story with a more mature perspective, and how she learned to handle ‘hackers.’ Traumatized, Elle turns to Tom for comfort and Tom is understandably furious with his brother. Feeling all alone, with both Elle and Luke in such a precarious state Logan calls the PG in for help. They come and take Luke away for debriefing, and he only returns a month later.

Eventually, Logan manages to coax Luke into telling his side of the story and we get another fresh perspective, learning a lot about Elle including that her given name is neither Elle nor Misty, but Jenina, and that Chrystelle, with whom she shared a very intimate bond, died in the escape from TTH. We also learn more about her communication issues and that neither the PG nor Luke is satisfied with these fragments.

Just when it looks like Misty and Tom have found some common ground, a heated argument between father and sons, launches us into interrogation attempt number two, an idea that Misty disagrees with, violently.

Scenes One and Two - Interrogation.

Scene Three - Logan’s side.

Scene Four - Misty’s side.

Scenes Five and Six - Victory.

Scenes Seven through Nine - What Now?.

Scene Ten - Luke returns.

Scene Eleven - Luke, Jenina, and Chrys.

Scene Twelve - Luke, Jenina, and Chrys Part Two.

Scene Thirteen - Making sense of it all.

Scene Fourteen - Catharsis Pending.

Scenes Fifteen through Eighteen - Set up.

Chapter Seven:

After beating Logan half to death Misty runs away, again, but Tom and Luke are too busy trying to save Logan to go after her. In flight, Misty’s energy is finally flowing freely enough that she’s no longer suffering Penance, and it makes her giddy despite what it cost her to get away. As she speeds off into the sunset, she stumbles across a PG base hidden between the trees in the natural forest beyond Luke’s extremely large plantation, and in order to avoid killing the soldiers to get away, she surrenders and allows them to take her into custody where she endures a week of torture while they try everything they can think of to break her.

Upon waking, battered and bruised, Logan begins his frantic search for Elle but when nothing works he edges closer and closer to utter despair.

While enduring the PG’s torture, Misty punishes herself for beating up Logan, and by the time General Morgan steps in to take charge, she is in full-on energy regeneration and so desperate for comfort that when Cathy Morgan saunters up and poses as her friend Misty latches on with such desperation that she is completely oblivious to the pretense.

Eventually, Misty starts exercising inside her cell to pass the time, and the intensity of her workouts draws attention. To further the manipulation, Cathy arranges for gym access and Misty’s PG involvement snowballs from there.

While Logan languishes in alcohol-fueled major depression, and toys with the idea of suicide, Misty enjoys Cathy’s ability to read her body language, opening the way for a kind of communication, and being able to spar with the other PG soldiers brings her as close to happiness as she’s ever been. Eventually Misty gets to play child soldier, and that’s when Cathy really digs the claws in.

Cut to a year and a half later. Logan has finally dragged himself out of his guilt and decided to move on with his life. Elle is immersed in life with the PG. After finally being granted a rank, she’s taken for a night on the town to celebrate and meet an Authority Minister, but she’s too self-absorbed and distracted by her constant struggle for control of her energy and Cathy’s excitement to pay any attention to what exactly Minister Liebenberg’s plans for her are.

When she finds herself in a sealed energy-absorbent room, under orders to somehow demonstrate her abilities, she’s unsure how to react, and in order to motivate Elle, the Minister sees fit to threaten Cathy, which doesn’t go down as well as they’d hoped.

Tired of playing games, and worried about going into an energy regenerative state, Elle simply grabs Cathy and runs out of the facility, which causes her some trouble.

When they get back to the base, punishment ensues, and Cathy is sent away. Misty must once again contend with her energy while coming to terms with the fact that the world doesn’t work in black and white, and in the process, she finally figures out a little bit of who she is.

Scenes One and Two - In The Wind.

Scenes Three and Four - The Thick of it.

Scene Five - On my Terms.

Scene Six - Friend?.

Scene Seven - Hiding.

Scene Eight - Blurry.

Scene Nine - Mission.

Scene Ten - Mission II.

Scene Eleven and Twelve - Moving on.

Scene Thirteen - Bunker.

Scene Fourteen - Demonstration.

Scene Fifteen - Stupid Girl.

Chapter Eight - Bridges

In this chapter, we get to see a bit of Tom’s perspective, and hopefully fall a little in love with him, when he finds out where Elle has been all this time. Knight in shining armor wants to rescue her even if his brother isn’t exactly supportive.

Logan is bitter and reluctant because of the hell he went through trying to find her in the beginning and now the threat of false hope is dangled before him he reacts negatively, until presented with a plan of action.

Thanks to Tom and Luke the stage is set for an epic rescue. Luke and Tom have thought of everything, from the moment of arrival at the base, disguises and alibis, to the aftermath in case they are discovered.

Meanwhile, Misty is caught up with her own emotional battle, over whether or not she likes life with the PG. She’s finally woken up to their questionable methods and their manipulations and not sure what to do about it.

So on the night of the planned rescue, everything is in place for Logan, Luke, and Tom, who will each be using their unique skills to make their way into the base and try to convince Elle to come home with them under the cover of a blizzard. But the best-laid plans don’t survive first contact and no sooner have they begun than things start to go wrong.

By the time Tom finally manages to find Elle all their precautions have run out and Tom, gauging Elle’s reaction to seeing him, decides to take a risk that has dire consequences. Now rescue-er becomes rescue-ee and Misty has to get Tom out of there fast.

Scene one - Tom I - Nightclub

Scene two - Tom II - Unravelling

Scene three - Bridge in the Rain

Scenes four and five - A Solid Plan and Anticipation

Scenes six and seven - The Rescue Part I

Scenes eight through ten - The Rescue Part II

Scenes eleven and twelve - The Rescue Part III

Chapter Nine:

After Thomas dies in the rescue of Misty from the PG, the family is pretty broken, each revelling in their own grief. Luke keeps Misty sedated till after the funeral to give her body time to heal but when she awakens she walks in on Logan and Luke arguing in the Library and runs to the gym to train and attempt to get her energy regeneration under control.

Then Christmas comes along with all its feelings.

Scenes one through four - Chrysanthemums

Scene five - A Wake

Scene Six - Buried

Scene Seven - Seeking Meaning

Scenes Eight and Nine - Doing Penance

Scenes Ten through Fourteen - Christmas

Chapter Ten:

Tom’s gift to Misty at Christmas sends Logan into another spiral where he isolates himself even further, until one morning he comes across Misty who has just discovered Tom’s bedroom. Logan reacts badly, and Luke has had enough of his selfishness, orders him to make amends.

Misty and Logan share a tender moment, and things start to improve, except that Misty is growing increasingly frustrated by her inability to communicate.

As a coping mechanism she throws herself even further into her training and ends up overdoing it.

In a desperate attempt to find some kind of connection, Misty takes a huge risk and coaches Logan through making a permanent empathic bond that has dire consequences for both of them.

Scenes One through Three - Guardian Angel

Scenes Four and Five - Communication is a cornerstone

Scenes Six through Nine - Finding One’s Resolve

Scenes Ten and Eleven - Risky Business

Scenes Twelve through Fourteen - Synchronization of Senses

Scenes Fifteen through Seventeen - Fallout

Scenes Eighteen through Twenty - Impact

Chapter Eleven:

No summary here yet as the chapter is still in progress, at the time of this latest update but here are all the links so long.

Scene One - Tight Rope

Scenes Two and Three - Balancing act

Scenes Four through Six - Increasing Gravity

Scene Seven - Gravity’s Threshold

Scenes Eight through Eleven - Silence on the Other Side

Scene Twelve - Tower

Scene Thirteen and Fourteen - Coming Soon

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This is all I have for you right now. We are nearing the end here, only one full chapter to go, but there’s still a whole lot more to look forward to.

For now,