Desert Scarab

	Desert Scarab ~ Inkling (2010) In this world, major cities are separated by vast deserts. It doesn't stop their war economy, though. Follow Aim, a kick-butt female lead, and her team as they mine for the world's most valuable war resource, the metallic shells of scarabs larger than houses, and discover what it really means to fight for what matters.'

Character Study: Shy, "Alone"

Stop. 

Wait.

The words echoed in Shy’s mind. Rattled against her skull bones and made the tossing at night worse.

Where are you going?

She didn’t know. She didn’t know, but she needed to get there. Her legs moved, struggled against sheets. Her arms swung and she rolled, squirmed, fought, anything as long as it was movement.

You’ll never make it alone.

Eyes snapped open.

She could see perfectly. Moonlight streamed in from the window, but it was more than just that. It was the dialation of her pupils, her sensitivity to her surroundings, the vibration in the air that told her what was there, what she saw. It was Aim’s room. Small, singular, above the city.

She shouldn’t be here.

Shy slowly sat up, pushed the wool blankets aside that made her skin itch until it turned red. Bare feet touched the thresh mat, let it crinkle as her weight settled upon it and she stood.

Where are you going?

In circles. She was going in circles. Around and around and her feet might have bled had it not been for the endurance of her skin. Sand packed itself into her lungs, weighted her breath, clinched her throat and no matter how many times she coughed, she could not get it out.

Nails scraped at the red. Where Aim felt nothing Shy felt everything. Aim might have bled but Shy could not no matter how hard she tried.

The contradiction made her laugh.

A hollow, open laugh. Airy. One that tilted her head back, grated against the sand in her chest until it began to upturn. Rise, and with it a trembling heat and volume and full body convulsions until the laughter errupted from her small frame like a volcano that had been quiet for too long.

The sand tore her throat until the sound had become high-pitched knives that sliced the air and rended it with the force of her anger.

Her body became unhinged and whiplashed outward. Claws drove into crates, thrashed until they burst against walls like firecrackers with desert supplies instead of arcing sparks. The mattress fell prey next, air became feathers which became pricks in her throat when she devoured them as sacrifice to her screams.

Glass shattered, glistening, reflective, angular, beautiful.

Shy froze.

The glass bled. A translucent red line that slipped along its edge. The window cried and Shy could only reach out with her own hands that cried as well. “I’m sorry.” she whispered, taking the bleeding shards into her hand. The sticky warmth pooled there. Pooled in her lap when she’d settled on the ground to cradle the glass that hurt so much she could feel it. “I’m sorry.” Feathers settled. “I’m sorry.”

You’ll never make it alone.

Fingers clenched and the glass clung tighter.

“I’m so sorry.”

Character Study: Aim, "To Ambrosia"

They would need water. Even if they traveled only at morning and dusk, the afternoon heat would still shrivel them up in two day’s time. Aim ignored the worried look Shy had when she watched her. That expression seemed to make a permanent resident of itself recently. It marred a perfect beauty. “Here.” Aim tossed a wide-brimmed hat at the girl. “Put it on and never take it off.” Aim put her weight into the crowbar and snapped open another one of the large crates in her room. They’d leave in the morning. It would give them a good ten hours before anyone became suspicious of their absence. Shy held the hat, continuing to watch Aim with that same, stupid look of concern. Aim gritted her teeth and snatched the hat back from her. “Put it on, idiot.” She rammed it onto Shy’s head, perhaps a bit too harshly. “Make yourself useful. Fill the canteens.” Shy nodded, carefully picking up the sacks and slipping silently down the flight of stairs.

They would need water, Aim thought again. More water than they could carry and more water than they had containers for. Even if they could carry all the canteens, it would only last the two of them for three days, tops. Miahara was at least twelve days away.

She swallowed dryly, standing up straight for the first time since she began riffling through her supplies. Her back hurt, and her neck even more when she craned it back to curse god.

This was a suicide mission.

Eyes closed.

She’d known it was a suicide mission since the moment she told Shy they’d do it. This was a suicide mission that Shy would gladly give her life for. And Aim?-

Her breath was warm on her lips.

-Well. It would have to be.

The crowbar wheedled its way into the crate, and with an almost angry shove, it cracked open. Sand billowed as Aim kicked the top off, and she choked on it when she’d instinctively gasped.

Sitting carefully wrapped in protective plastic was the last thing Aim had expected.

The Key.

“Huh,” Aim said.

A grin slowly twisted its way across her lips. The hovercraft could carry the water. And reaching Miahara would still be seven days away, but Aim knew of someplace else she could make in three. Someplace they could stop to refill the canteens and then maybe, just maybe they could make it.

Ambrosia.

Character Study: Aim's Living Space

Aim lives in a three story building with Rocket, Fallon, and Sprigget. The first floor is The Shop. The shop always smells like grease. It’s lit with florescent lamps, a rarity in the city. There are several tables, always covered by Sprigget’s little inventions and experiments. There roof is very high, and there is a large garage door to allow large vehicles to enter and exit via the wide dirt road in front of the building. There is also a front door that leads to a small reception area, but it’s not regularly used.

They often keep the garage door closed to keep prying eyes out, but there are many vents at the top that let in breeze and streams of sunlight. It’s often very hot in the hangar since it’s hard to air condition such a large space, but they have several fans that they turn on during the day time. 

The building has electricity from the city, but it’s often shoddy, especially in recent times, so they often rely on a generator they keep in the basement. The generator collects energy from solar panels and can be used when switched on. The basement is concealed because that is where they store illegal goods. 

There is a set of old metal stairs that lead up to the second floor. Sprigget lives on the first floor in a back room that is also his lab, but on the second floor Rocket and Fallon live. There is a common area that functions as a “living room” of sorts, with an old well-loved couch and a small table that’s always covered, and also as a kitchen, with a large sink, a small ice box, a cooking stove, and plenty of cabinets to hold dried food. The floor is worn clay (it is concrete down stairs.) 

This is one of the few buildings that still have working plumbing, running water, and gas. This floor also always smells of grease, but less potent due to the higher elevation and the open windows. There is a set of three doors. One leads to a small bathroom that is very utilitarian in style. The other two lead to Rocket and Fallon’s rooms. There is a small spiral staircase made of iron and wood that leads to Aim’s room on the top floor. 

The top floor is only one room, once an attic and now Aim’s space. There are still crates in this room, remnants from before she moved in, that she uses as chairs and tables or storage place. She does not know the actual content of the boxes and is not too concerned with it, since she was told by Rocket when she first arrived that they were just junk parts and she hasn't thought of it much since.

Aim’s bed is a single mattress on the floor with a few thick wool blankets, one red, blue, and the other grey. She has a single feather-stuffed pillow. She considers her bed a luxery. Aim’s room has several small windows to let in light and fresh air. Being at the top of the house, it is usually very hot in here in the day time, so she does not spend much time in her room. However, she always opens the windows to keep it as cool as possible. She does have a set of wooden doors that open up to the second-floor roof. From this angle, she can see most of the street in either direction. She finds this high vantage point comforting, and will sometimes in the summer nights step out and sit on the rooftop and observe the quiet surroundings and listen to the wind that’s constantly moving past the buildings. 

Aim’s room is quiet at all times of the day. Often unoccupied, on the uppermost floor away from the bustle of the street and the hammering down stairs. The walls are whitewashed, but haven’t been repainted in a very long time. As a result, they tend to have a warmish yellow orange color due to the collection of sands that were carried on the wind. Aim does not leave papers or other possible flying objects in the open in her room. Aim spends time in her room to sleep, and in the mornings and evenings when it’s not overwhelmingly hot there. 

The morning is her favorite time of the day, though she often sleeps through it, because a thin amount of dew collects in the room and feels good on her skin. She does have a mirror on the wall that she uses to check herself in the morning. It hangs next to the door, at the foot of her bed so that when she sits up in the morning she’s forced to look at herself. There are also several drawings of interesting schematics drawn by Sprigget that she has collected and securely tacked to her walls. The paper is thin and delicate due to heat and wind, but she keeps them up nonetheless. 

The floor here is wood that creeks under her feet. When she paces at night, Rocket can hear her movements above him, though he hasn’t said anything about it. The ceiling is bare white with wooden beams. 

The building as a whole has a stone construction with the top two floors being constructed with packed clay walls. The ceilings are held up by wooden beams, and the doors leading to the outside are made of wood, but the doors on the inside are simply thick cloths hung from the doorway and pulled aside in the day time to allow a cross breeze filter through. The floor of the second and third floor is covered by a tight-woven straw-ish mat that is worn down where people usually walk. 

Aim has an empty crate turned on its side that operates as a nightstand and a storage area for her few personal possessions. She keeps the possessions in the crate with the opening facing her bed. The gas and plumbing doesn’t reach this floor, so she has a small oil lamp sitting on top of the crate that she can use for light at night. Her windows do have drapes but they’re never drawn, even when she’s changing clothing. Outside on the roof, she has access to an emergency escape ladder. It is made of metal, but is largely unused so it’s slightly corroded by the wind and sand. The bottom half of the ladder is pulled up and held by a crank that she has access to from the rooftop. The building only has three floors, but it is four stories tall due to the large garage.

Aim’s favorite place is in the crow’s nest on the train. Sitting in the worn, padded chair, slightly reclined with feet set on control peddles ready to swing her in every direction, this is the place where Aim finds the most value in her existence. Sharp reflexes, intelligent mind, and skill with the nest makes her feel worthy of the space she takes up in the world. The nest sits atop the first car of the train. It is a large circular platform with gears underneath that allows it to rotate 270* left or right. 

The nest features two things, the controller's chair and the giant launcher for the electromagnet used to reel in beetles. The controller’s chair is leaned back, ergonomically designed to keep the individual well seated even when jostled about. There is a harness that buckles in the center over the driver’s sternum. A pole stems from the back of the chair and has a sheet of glass that wraps around the chair at eye-level. When the computer is turned on, it displays information about the landscape and, primarily, the target specified by the controller. There are two large levers used to control the nest. The levers are used to adjust the angle of the electromagnet. There are buttons on top of the handles that Aim must press down on to launch the magnet. The rotation of the nest is controlled by the foot pedals, which are pressed down on to direct which way to turn the nest and how quickly.

Character Study: Doc's Living Space

Doc lives only in the train. The train has three cars, all connected. The first car is the engine, generator, and artillery. This is also where the driver sits.

The second cart is a compact living space for the crew. It features a common area with padded seats facing inward, large windows that can be opened for ventilation, and electric lamps. These windows are also shaded by a thick UV protective outer layer. It is dark enough that they cannot see well through the glass at night even with a full moon. The space is fairly squat, lending just enough room for people of average height to walk without hitting their head. Rocket has to duck under the metal construction beams.

At the back of the car is a water closet. Users here have access to a faucet at about mid height and a faucet above their heads. The floor is porcelain with a large drain in the center. Users pee standing up here. If you gotta take a dump, take it outside. The WC usually smells putrid so more often than not the crew will go outside to relieve themselves.

Below the common space is the storage area, extremely compact with supplies. Aim often handles the supplies due to her small size and can enter the cabin without too much difficulty.

Above the common space are several cabins for crew to sleep in. It is cramped, with only enough room for a thin cot and space to sit up. There are windows here too on either side so that air can flow through, circular in shape.

The last car is the captain’s car where Doc lives. This area has a storage space too where his personal supplies and the crew's water is held, but the living space is larger because there is no upper bunk. Doc has his own WC, electric lamps, and even a space for cooking that often goes unused. He has a bunk-like bed, enough room for only himself but comfortable. He has a desk that he sits at and sometimes drinks and writes there. He always says he’s working on his memoirs.

There are windows here too that are also UV shaded (all windows on the train are.) Every inch of the room is loaded with wartime memorabilia including his general’s swords which are hanging up above his bed. The train, despite all of its ventilation, is often stuffy, but is significantly cooler than the desert in the afternoon and significantly warmer at night. The train is made from metal, but it is beetle metal which is extremely strong, resistant against sand, and porous like concrete (the water tank is obviously not made of this material.) Doc’s clothing is kept in a dresser that is bolted to the wall. (everything here is bolted to something to resist damage from the jostling that occurs when a beetle is hooked.) His room smells faintly of a desert flower, thanks to a small sack of potpourri that once belonged to his wife.

Doc’s favorite place is his car when he’s parked the train by the irrigated fields beside the city. He doesn’t go into the city, but it’s close enough to get supplies without having to interact with too many people, the police included. The irrigated land is surprisingly green and fresh looking. Beetle pipes carry water from the underground stream to a higher level that the plant roots can access. There are several kinds of cacti used for eating and building, there are more delicate but scraggly green herbs used for trade, and the desert mammals used as livestock are able to graze on what goes unused by humans. The air here is slightly moist by comparison to the rest of the desert, but that’s not saying much. Despite that, Doc claims that he can smell the difference. On the horizon to the east, there are mountains.

Character Stydy: Crow's Living Space

Crow lives with Pax and Fonda above the community shop.

On the first floor is a sort of convenience store with everthing from food to clothing to home-living nesecities to odd imports from other cities and countries. If it’s useful, it’s at Fonda’s. The atmosphere is very warm (as in iviting) and Fonda goes out of her way to decorate the shop with nice things such as dried flowers/plants and painted walls.

Up a set of creaky wooden stairs is the living quarters. There is a kitchenette/common area which is small and homey. It features a low table with a vase on it. You can sit on the floor at the table to eat or read or anything. Fonda’s place is not airconditioned or heated, so there is a fire place here, which is used frequently during winter nights. They are fortunate enough to be able to afford to burn wood for heat, but Fonda will not burn it unless there are more people there other than her, Pax and Crow. This common area is frequented by the sick and needy. It smells of clay.

There are two rooms, one shared between Pax and Fonda and the other, smaller room belongs to Crow. Crow’s room always has the windows open and the door-sheet drawn open. He keeps it clean and tidey, has a normal-looking bed with sheets he tucks in in the mornings. His bed is against the wall with no window, with the head against the wall that has a window that opens up to the street. From his window he can lean out and see The Shop down the street.

His room was decorated by Fonda, and on the walls are small paintings in frames, mostly of desert flowers and oases. Crow enjoys them, though he would not have picked them out on his own. Crow has a chest at the foot of his bed that he keeps his medical equipment in, unlocked and always at the ready to help someone who is brought into Fonda’s shop. Under his bed is a box of vials and bottles that have different kinds of medicines, most of them being anti-venoms used against various snakes and scorpions that frequent the desert.

His floor is clay, though the common room has a thresh mat. It’s dusty in the corners but he tries to sweep out what he can for the most part. His window has an awning that provides further shade while allowing the breeze through. He has a dresser under the window for his clothing and on top keeps several books that he reads over and over. Crow likes to keep to his room in his free time, but between helping Fonda with the shop, chores, spending time with Pax, and healing the sick and wounded, Crow does not have much time to himself.

Crow’s favorite place is his room when he is undisturbed.