After surviving a near-cataclysmic event, modern society is forced to unite, but getting close to someone can mean death for one amnesic individual. A woman calling herself Joelle Grace discovers she's inherited an extraordinary ability that she has no control over and soon learns of a special artifact that fell from an asteroid that may explain this new, mysterious power. Retrieving it proves to be harder than she believed when she encounters a man she presumed dead emerging from the impact. An all-out race between people with gifts never before witnessed ensues to obtain the artifact, which will unlock new secrets about humanity's place amongst the stars.
After surviving a near-cataclysmic event, modern society is forced to unite, but getting close to someone can mean death for one amnesic individual. A woman calling herself Joelle Grace discovers she's inherited an extraordinary ability that she has no control over and soon learns of a special artifact that fell from an asteroid that may explain this new, mysterious power. Retrieving it proves to be harder than she believed when she encounters a man she presumed dead emerging from the impact. An all-out race between people with gifts never before witnessed ensues to obtain the artifact, which will unlock new secrets about humanity's place amongst the stars.
It's been a good twenty minutes since the thumping in the car started. Minutia, who was passed out in the back of Glenn's pitch-black trunk, finally regained consciousness and has been annoyingly shuffling and kicking in the tiny, uncomfortable area long enough for Glenn to be elated he's finally arrived at his destination.
Though she's unable to see anything going on outside the trunk physically, Minutia quickly becomes aware that the car is coming to a stop. When it does, Glenn kills the engine. Minutia now listens intently for any sounds providing a clue as to where she might be––a mostly fruitless endeavor considering she hasn't been many places.
At first, she hears nothing except the sound of Glenn rifling through the inside of his car for who knows what. The thought of what he may be doing absolutely terrifies her, but her curiosity keeps her composed and focused. After all, during the car ride, she's grown more confident with her abilities and knowledge of the world. If she can survive getting hit by a nuke, then a kidnapping should be a walk in the park, she hopes.
Minutia continues to listen, seeking out any sounds that hopefully might trigger an episode for her. However, not only isn’t she experiencing any seizures, but Glenn's rustling has also come to an end. Then, she hears something unexpected––the voices of multiple men. She hears Glenn talking with them for a short while before he gets out of the car. They continue to speak, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't make out any details from the conversation.
At last, she hears footsteps approaching––the kind that nobody who's tied up in the back of a trunk wants to hear. The footsteps, which she can only guess are coming from at least four men, grow louder and louder before they stop just outside the car. The trunk pops ever so slightly open, and a large hand opens it up the rest of the way. Before she can even adjust her eyes to the blinding light, a black hood is thrown over her head, and she's lifted out of the trunk.
"What the hell was that? You felt that?" she hears one of the voices randomly yell out as they pick her up.
Most people would remain silent in such a situation because they are too petrified to speak, however, Minutia's silence comes from her innate interest to process every single thing happening to and around her. Yelling out, screaming, or even speaking at all, would only work against her ability to learn more about her environment. Be that as it may, she can't help but flinch, yelp, and shake from the entire ordeal as two men pull her towards an unknown location. She's quickly learning that curiosity is a two-sided coin: with every flip, she risks either access to great knowledge or great danger.
They all walk for a little while before stopping inside of an elevator. Minutia can tell her surroundings have changed because she can smell just how close the men are now. She hears the door close, and the sounds around her begin to whirl. The elevator starts to ascend. Now, Minutia recognizes that she's inside of some sort of contraption that aids in transporting people on this planet up to higher levels within a larger structure. Interestingly, this actually kind of relieves her.
The moving platform, as she's come to know it, comes to a halt after a good twenty seconds by her count. She hears the doors open again, and immediately the heat and shine from the afternoon sun hits the woolen cloth over her face, and she can tell she has again entered a new area of wherever she is.
She's led out of the elevator into the new room, and the guards finally let go of her arms. A second later, the hood is snatched from off of her face. It takes almost no time for her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the room, which is unlike any room she's been in since being on this planet––which has only been three. She decides rather quickly that she has no time to inspect the brand-new environment surrounding her because what she sees in front of her is a hundred times more interesting.
A single child wearing a sophisticated, plastic mask of some rabbit-looking creature bounces up and down on a bed that could fit a dozen of his friends easily. Instead of friends, however, two women––both of whom appear so attractive that if they had their own stock ticker symbol, surely people would invest in them––sit on each side of him. They both stare at Minutia as if there wasn't an eleven-year-old boy jumping up and down next to them.
Minutia looks around in the hope that someone can somehow explain to her what's going on. At the same time, she notices she's suddenly having trouble remembering the details of what happened to her before she landed on Apophis.
"What is this?" Minutia all but blurts out.
"Can't hear you!" the boy yells back, still bouncing up and down on the super-sized mattress. His voice comes across synthesized thanks to the mask he's currently wearing––something Minutia is unable to discern.
"I said what is this? Who are you?" she asks, this time more loudly.
"Calvin," the boy answers. "Who are you?"
Minutia looks again at the people around her. None of them say anything. "Who am I? You brought me here."
"Uh, no, I didn't," Calvin says, still jumping. He turns around to face Minutia. "He did." Calvin points to Glenn, who stands behind her. "Catch!" Calvin throws a thick envelope, seemingly filled with cash, at an unsuspecting Glenn, who catches it at the last minute.
Glenn peers inside the envelope. His expression is one of satisfaction. "Thanks, Cal."
Minutia, whose wrists are still bound by duct tape, turns around and stares at Glenn with a puzzling scowl. "Glenn, what is going on?" she asks, but he ignores her.
"He tells me you're special," Calvin says while pointing at Glenn, now stopped jumping. "Is it true?"
"What?" Minutia turns and faces Glenn again. "Glenn, why did you do this to me?"
"Hey!" Calvin shouts. "I asked you a question. And why do you keep calling him Glenn? His name is Chadwick."
Minutia looks at Glenn again as she experiences betrayal for the first time in her life as an Earthling.
"Are you special or not?" the boy asks once more.
"No. I'm not special," she says with a new hurt in her tone.
"What? Aww, man, Chad, you lied to me. You said she had powers," Calvin says, now sulking.
"She does. She's lying," Chadwick tells him.
"What? Is that true?" Calvin asks, suddenly enthusiastic again, clearly displaying a habit of hanging on to every word someone says to him.
"I have no idea what you are talking about. Who are you anyway?" Minutia asks.
"I told you, I'm Calvin. Calvin Sonder. And I have powers, also. If you show me yours, I'll show you mine."
"What?" she says, almost baffled at what she just heard. With everything that has transpired thus far since landing on Earth, hearing this shocks her the most.
"Ah, Chad, you said she was smart! Powers? I don't even know if she can even speak English ‘cuz she keeps saying what," Calvin cries as his anxiousness to see her powers starts to get the best of him. "Fine! I'll show you mine first, but you have to promise to show me yours next, okay?"
Calvin hops down from on top of the bed and grabs the pair of scissors out of the awaiting hand of one of the women next to him. He walks up to Minutia and snips the tape from her wrists.
"Okay, hold still, lady," he says to her. He then puts his hand out near her stomach. He closes his eyes, and suddenly Minutia's entire past of where she's from and how she got on Apophis all start flying into his head. Immediately, he snatches his hand away and falls to the floor.
"Whoa, what was that?" Calvin screams as his enthusiasm goes from a nine to a fifty. "You really are an alien! Oh my god, this is so amazing! You must show me more, that Slow Down thing…how did you do that? That's even more amazing than The Man in the Dirty Robes who rescued the Star-Child!"
"The Man in the Dirty Robes?" Minutia has no idea who he's talking about, and neither does anyone else in the room.
"What, you don't know about him? Oh, man, you got SO MUCH to learn!" Calvin exclaims.
"Wait…what did you do to me?"
"Nothing, I just looked at your past," he responds dryly.
"My past? How?"
"Yeah. How? Uh, dunno, I just hold my hand out––like this––and I can see anyone's past."
"T-That's…that's incredible," she says, utterly nonplussed that someone else on this planet also has a fantastic gift.
"Thanks. Now, can you show me what you can do?"
Minutia thinks about his request but then looks around at the armed guards, women, and servants throughout the large room. "Do I really have a choice?"
"Of course you have a choice––what do you think this is? In fact, you can leave right now if you want to."
"I can? Are you serious? Then why did you bring me here?"
"Because Chad told me you had powers, so I paid him to bring you here. You're not very smart, are you?"
"So, you're not going to shoot me?"
"What? Shoot you? Um, no?" Calvin says, a little confused by the question. "Why would I shoot you?" He eventually notices Minutia's skepticism is derived from the five, armed guards currently behind her. "Oh! They're just here so you won't kill me. Sometimes when people are brought here, they freak out and try to kill me once I show them what I can do. I'm actually surprised you haven't tried that yet."
"People? You do this often?" Each revelation of information he shares with her leaves her more shocked.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Okay. I'll show you. But can we go somewhere else? Honestly, I'm a little uncomfortable."
"No problem! This is my parent's bedroom anyway. They're on vacation right now, so this is like the only time I can do this. Please don't tell them," he pleads. Minutia nods in agreement, and they begin walking back to the elevator.
On her way to the elevator, she walks past the guards but has her eyes fixated on only one person: Chadwick. As she comes closer and closer to him, her piercing scowl becomes more and more intense. Finally, she crosses right by him, this time unbound by any tape or hood.
"I'm sorr––" Chadwick begins to say to her when she's within speaking range.
"You will be. I promise you," Minutia responds in a cold whisper. He barely recognizes her voice in her newfound anger. The duo enters the elevator, and Calvin presses "4" on the button console. The doors close, and the elevator begins to ascend.
"Where are we headed?" she asks Calvin.
"To my room. It's not as big as my parent's room, but it's not as crowded either. You'll feel much more comfortable, trust me."
"Trust you? You kidnapped me."
"I didn't kidnap you, you're an adult––you can't get kid-napped. Besides, it was Chad who brought you here, not me."
"And you paid him for it."
"How do you know that? You're an alien. You don't know what money is."
"I learned what it is when you tossed him that envelope," she says with an attitude.
"I told you, you're free to go. Nobody's going to stop you."
"And I'm supposed to just believe you?"
"Are you going to show me your powers or not?" Calvin snaps. Clearly, things like kidnapping and human trafficking are nothing compared to whatever it is a child truly wants, like seeing the abilities of a being from another solar system.
The elevator dings, and the doors open again. He walks out first, and she follows. They enter a shabby room with nothing but a box-spring, a single window, a television, and a closet. Minutia can hardly believe such a place exists in the same place where the room they just came from exists.
"This is your room?" she asks in a surprised tone.
"Yes, AND...? Jeez! It's not your room, so stop worrying about it."
"I have no problem with it, it just doesn't look anything like your parent's bedroom."
"I brought you to my parent's room which was much better, but you wanted to be here, so now deal with it."
"No, it's fine. I'm much more comfortable here."
They enter the dilapidated room, and Calvin rushes to the bed and tries his best to inconspicuously remove the toys that were on top of it before Minutia notices what he's doing. Being the alien she is, such attempts at hiding certain customs that would normally embarrass a child whose intent is to appear more mature escape her entirely. However, she does pick up on his vehemence to perform whatever task he doesn't want her to see, so she allows him to do whatever it is he doesn't want her to notice by pretending to be fascinated by the chipped paint on the walls in the mostly empty room. When she senses that he's done, she looks back at him.
"May I sit here, Calvin?" she asks, trying to appear as non-threatening to the things he wishes to hide from her as best as she can.
"Yes, yes, come sit next to me," he says as he anxiously dusts off the spot where she'll eventually sit down on his bed. She then sits next to him. "Okay, go!"
"Okay, but before I do, I want to ask you something."
"Ahhhh! What is it?" he cries.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I told you, I wanna see your cool powers."
"I'm not talking about my powers. I'm talking about everything. How often do you kidnap people?"
"I told you already, I don't kidnap people––people tell me that they found someone with powers, and they always say 'I can bring this person to you if you pay me.' So, they bring the person to my house, and I give them money for it."
"You don't see anything wrong with that?"
"I always tell them they can leave. Most of the time, the people they bring never have any powers. They just lie to me so they can get paid," he confesses.
"You know that, and you still do it anyway?"
"Yeah. I just want to meet someone else like me."
"And what do your parents say about all this?"
"They don't really know. Please don't tell them."
"Please don't tell your parents that you pay men who kidnap people against their will?"
"Well, I wouldn't do it if they didn't keep me locked up in this damn room all day."
"What? They keep you locked in here?" Minutia looks around the small bedroom. "But you seem so free."
"Yes, well, not locked up, exactly. When they're home, I just stay in here for the most part. They just want me to watch that freaking television all day to find information about the past or whatever."
"That's horrible. I'm sorry, I had no idea."
"It's okay. It doesn't really work anyway. My powers, that is––it doesn't work that way. I can only see the past of a person or a thing, like the TV itself––but not the shows on the TV. My parents don't know that because they're stupid and are always on vacation."
"I see. Is that why you have so much money?"
"Basically. People pay them to learn about their history. So, they bring them to me, and I just tell them what I know. Most of the time, I just lie. They don't care, as long as they get paid."
"You have an incredible gift, Calvin. I'm sorry it's been used in this way."
"I don't mind. My life is pretty okay most of the time since they're hardly here and all. Now, are you going to show me your powers?" he asks her once again.
"Can't you just look into my past and see them yourself?"
"I can, but when I did earlier, I didn't really understand what I was looking at. It was very confusing."
"I see. Calvin…you ever thought about leaving?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean getting away from here and going out into the world. Perhaps with me."
"Uh, why would I do that?"
"Plenty of reasons."
"You know what, I'm starting to think that you don't have any powers. Besides, I'm just a kid."
"I know you are, but I'll protect you, and who knows, we just may be able to meet others like you."
"So, there really are others? Like The Man in the Dirty Robes?"
"I'm not sure who that is, but if you've seen him, then I'm sure he exists. I just don't think this is the place for you."
"You're asking a kid to run away with you? I thought you was against kidnapping, and that's the exact definition of it," he says, deciding to use this opportunity to turn their back and forth prattling into a lesson in morality.
"I found you, so I'm sure together we can find others like us. We can start with The Man in the Dirty Robes first if you like. If you come with me, I'll help you find him."
"Oh my god! Really? Please don't lie to me, Minutia!" he says, excited again.
Minutia gets up and points to the series of action figures located on the other side of Calvin's bed––the very ones he tried to hide from her. "Toss me that toy."
Calvin, embarrassed at first, reluctantly reaches behind his bed and picks up one of the larger ones.
"Catch." Calvin tosses the action figure at her and then watches as it slows down in mid-air and appears to rest there seemingly, yet still moving ever so slightly towards her.
"No way!" he says, bewildered by what he's witnessing. Minutia grabs the toy out of the air and sits back on the bed, this time much closer to Calvin. She grabs his hand and wraps it around the toy that her hand is also on.
"Stay close to me, and I will never let you fall, Calvin," she sternly but softly tells him.
"Okay!" he says with a new sense of purpose in his head. "I'm ready, Minutia. Let's go."
They enter the elevator and proceed down to the garage floor, where Minutia first entered the building.
Ding! The doors open, and they take two steps out only to realize that they are surrounded by the very gunmen hired to protect Calvin. Chadwick steps out into view, having revealed that he's the reason behind this treason.
"You!" Minutia growls upon seeing her once-trusted associate.
"Chad, move! I'm leaving," Calvin tells the kidnapper-for-hire.
"I'm sorry, Calvin. I can't let you do that," Chadwick responds.
"You're not my DAAAAD!" Calvin shouts, his voice cackling thanks to the electronic damper on the mask he still hasn't taken off.
"I'm not, but I informed your dad on what's currently taking place, and he's advised me to see to it that you don't leave the premises until he returns."
"He did? When did you call him?"
"Right after you threw that toy in your hand at your new friend."
"You were watching us," Minutia interjects.
"Yes, as per his father's request with all of Calvin's guests. Normally, we let most people go with no problem. One, because ten out of ten times, they never have any powers, and two, because they have no idea where the hell we are. So, not only are you the first person in history that we brought here who actually has some gift, but with Calvin now with you, it won't be long until you learn of our location. So, I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave."
The gunmen all raise their guns and cock them.
"What are we going to do, Minutia?" Calvin asks, hoping Minutia has some sort of plan. After a couple of seconds, she looks down at him.
"Remember what I said, Calvin––stay close to me, and I'll always protect you," she says.
"No, you said stay close to you, and you'll never let me fall."
"Come on, really? You know what I meant. Ready?"
Calvin electronically gulps then nods. While holding Calvin's hand, Minutia starts running directly at the guard in front of her. The gunman scoffs, aims, and fires a single bullet at her. Much to the gunman's surprise, the bullet slows down, and she moves out of its path. Not at all anticipating this, the gunman is completely thrown off, and Minutia catches him with a sloppy right-hook. The punch connects directly with his face, causing him to stumble and his weapon to fall. She winces from the painful but effective punch, then tells Calvin to keep running and that she'll be right behind him.
Every shooter in the parking lot is now firing upon her as she continues to follow Calvin through the underground parking lot.
"Why didn't you pick up the gun?" Calvin asks when she catches up to him.
"I've seen what those things can do, and I'm not trying to kill anyone," she replies.
"But everyone is trying to kill us!" he exclaims over the loud gunfire.
"They won't," she promises him.
As they run, Calvin is amazed at how beautiful the bullets that are being shot at them––ones he's never been able to see in flight after being fired from a weapon––are all now floating around him; slowing down long enough for him to see them, and disappearing as they fly off again.
"That is so cool!" he screams.
"Where are we going?" Minutia asks him as they continue to speed through the underground parking lot.
"To my mom's car! She lets me drive it sometimes when my dad isn't home!"
"What kind of car is it?"
"I don't know, I can't pronounce it!"
They turn a corner, and waiting outside in a sectioned-off area, is an elegant Wine Red, 2015 Koenigsegg Agera.
"There it is!" Calvin says to her, pointing to the sophisticated vehicle.
"That's your mom's car?"
"Yeah, she rarely drives it, though. She's more of a collector!"
"I see!"
Though Minutia is probably used to handling technology that is literally light-years ahead of anything anyone can produce on Earth, even she can't help but be amazed at the fine piece of Swedish craftsmanship that sits before her.
"Can you drive?" he asks her, hoping her answer is, of course.
"A little!"
"Can you drive Manual?"
"That's stick, right?"
"I guess?"
As they continue to run towards the vehicle, Calvin pushes a button on his wrist-mounted SHED band, which causes the car doors on both sides to lift and the engine to start automatically. They both hop into the car, and he presses the button on his band again, triggering the doors to close.
Minutia takes a moment to gather herself and notices something very familiar is missing.
"Hurry up, they're shooting at us!" Calvin shouts.
"This isn't a stick-shift!" Minutia screams out as she searches for the gearbox that the last car she was in contained but that this one is missing. "Calvin, what is this?"
"You said you can drive Manual!"
"Well, where's the stick then? There is no stick!"
"Oh, there isn't? I could've sworn this was a Manual."
Minutia can't believe he bungled something so crucial to ensuring their escape. She starts jolting herself back and forth in the car like she did when she first tried to drive Chadwick's Mustang while pressing all types of buttons to get the car to move.
"What the hell are you doing?" Calvin asks in response to her erratic movements. Most of the armed men find their way to their position and begin firing at the vehicle, and Minutia harshly pushes Calvin's head down onto her lap. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"Saving your life!" she says.
"This hurts!" he responds in a muffled scream.
"Calvin, do something! I can't drive this thing!"
"Ugh, hold on!"
At that same moment, Calvin closes his eyes and sticks his hand out in front of the steering wheel. Meanwhile, bullets continue to fly towards Minutia, puncturing holes in the car before slowing down when they enter her vicinity. At this point, even some of the bullets slowing down are beginning to touch her clothing, with some now about to touch her face. Unable to move, thanks to the bubble of bullets her entire body is encased in, she helplessly remains frozen as she waits for Calvin to figure something out.
"Calvin, please hurry," she cries.
"I'm trying!"
"I thought you said your mom lets you drive sometimes!"
"She never taught me how to switch to the first gear!" Calvin suddenly opens his eyes. "Oh, yeah!" He takes Minutia's hand that's currently on the steering wheel and places it on top of the right paddle located directly behind the steering wheel.
"Brake, now!" he screams out. Minutia immediately engages the brake pad, and the car switches to Drive. Minutia acknowledges this by the unique sound the car makes when it transitions gears.
"Shoot the tires, you dolts! SHOOT THE TIIIRREES!" an encroaching Chadwick yells to his men.
Minutia then engages the gas, and the car peels off out of its parked spot, where it reaches upwards of sixty miles per hour in less than three seconds before hitting the main road and leaving the premises.
This story is a futuristic Sci-Fi tale but it very much looks at present issues, particularly as experienced by African Americans. Police violence, protests, challenges involved in getting ahead in a large city.
On its face, one wouldn’t think that such things would be included in this tale. An alien, who inhabits the form of a beautiful, I think deceased woman, has come to Earth on an asteroid that has caused a lot of destruction. She spends a lot of time partnering with people who claim to want to help her, but end up betraying her for their own reasons.
This storyline follows the parallel line of characters living in a city, Monachopsis, as it undergoes upheaval as they deal with the literal and figurative fall-out from the rock’s arrival. We see gang violence, riots, and mass protests in the streets among those who feel that they are not getting what they justly deserve. It is written at least partially in dialect, rendering a realistic feel to the struggles of the supposedly Black individuals.
At over 400 pages, things start a little slowly as the characters are developed and all of the strange terminology introduced. But the action increases quickly at about the halfway point, ultimately leading to a crazy and complicated ending.
I would say that on the whole I enjoyed the story. As previously stated, I liked its being set against a realistic backdrop. I did find it interesting though how some current pop cultural references were included that one might think wouldn’t exist in a more futuristic society. We do see some insightful observations on the dangers and powers of social media as we know it, and ways it might progress to cause us to “know” each other even less. The Shed Frames, as they are called, are like Facebook taken to another level, and supposedly allow us to scan each other and no longer have to bother with natural introductions. More than anything, I think the take here is important to consider.
So if you enjoy an ultimately action-packed story told in a cinematic perspective, then I would recommend it. Just allow yourself to be absorbed into this world and follow along for the wild ride.