Plot
Strategies of Organization and
Structure
Life is a common denominator - factor it. I am not of the
school of artists who can throw darts at a dictionary and
declare the result poetry. Call me old fashioned.
Professor Novakovich is of mostly the same persuasion,
offering a ton of good advice in this chapter. Plot,
including "nonconfrontational plot", is vital to good
fiction. And it can be deconstructed, to the extent of
giving us some writing tools. To wit, it's an old
familiar list, apparently exhaustive:
Man against Man
Man against Self
Man against Nature
Man against Society
Man against Machine
Man against God
God against Everybody
(Man=Woman, against=for)
"Plot depends on passions...
" - Josip Novakovich
Exercise #5: Parody the climax of the last
romance/mystery novel you read. Introduce a new element,
exaggerate scenes, make fun of the genre.
Conciously, parody is the main technique of irony;
unconciously, most writers employ parody to some degree.
Outline the plot if it helps.
(2-3 pages)
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"Justice is not my job," Lieutenant Frank Carlucci reminded
himself enroute to Hunter?s Point Spaceport, "I just make sure the
bad guys don?t get away." It was an old resolve losing its edge.
The case was closed. He?d cashed in his friendships to find the
eyewitness jane, and she?d agreed to cooperate. But he knew that
Yoshi Katsuda of Mishima Investments would be freed of jail
before long, courtesy of lawyers and lenient judges. His call to the
D.A. hinted at the likelihood; his knack for linking coincidences
suggested Katsuda was already out.
Carlucci?s instincts proved right again. The trigger he?d placed
on the Department?s slug went off early in the morning. The trace
to Hunter?s Point was at first not entirely without surprise. True,
the Tenderloin was a burning, blackened hole in the City and the
CDC, by its violent effort at quarantine, had practically proclaimed
the gruesome death sentence which awaited the rest of San Francisco. Core
Fever was spreading, and the traffic jam was the result of people
fleeing Earth. Even so, Monk was a bloated half-human dependent
on complex life support systems and it seemed equally improbable
that he?d survive being disconnected from the City Security Net.
Carlucci had always disliked Monk despite his necessity to
Department intelligence, and now he also distrusted him. The slug
had to have had help in booking the first flight out to New Hong
Kong Colony. Katsuda.
Katsuda. He killed his own daughter, to protect a secret about
Core Fever which Carlucci couldn?t quite deduce. But Carlucci
was certain of this: Katusda was Tina?s murderer too. The
evidence was circumstantial and Carlucci?s eldest daughter would
simply be one tally among the millions soon to die of the viral
epidemic. But he was certain.
"He can?t get away," he repeated to himself, checking again for
the case in his breast pocket.
Shortly upon arriving and clearing his way through the security
gates of Hunter?s Point, a large van pulled up, its emergency lights
and horns sounding steadily. Once past the gates, the van silently
coasted toward the receiving dock.
Carlucci nodded once toward the Spaceport Security Captain
standing at his side, and approached the van alone. He stepped in.
Monk was strapped in a wheelchair built into an array of electronic
displays, fluid containers and medical equipment. A black rubber
suit and goggled helmet covering his entire grotesque body, was
connected to the contraption by wires and tubes.
"Lieutenant," Monk curled his bulbous moist lips into a smile.
There was no hint of surprise.
"You slipped, Monk. I?ve come to expect nothing but partial
truths whenever I come to you for intell, but this time you lied."
"Of course. I?ve been lying to you all the time."
"So tell me now. You?re out of City jurisdiction, and the
launch to New Hong Kong is just an hour away. Why? Tell me."
Monk laughed, "I will tell you, Lieutenant Francesco Carlucci,
but it may drive you to despair." He expected a reaction from the
remark, but Carlucci merely stepped closer to Monk and sat on a
metal case to listen.
"Go on," he intoned.
Monk parted his lips into a gleeful smile that forced his thick
bumpy tongue to protrude. "New Hong Kong is responsible for
Core Fever. Not Cancer Cell, that pathetic underground cult of
social misanthropes down in the Core. It?s not a natural disease.
New Hong Kong created it, and introduced it into the Core. Do you
think it?s a coincidence that they came to the rescue so quickly with
a vaccination?"
"A vaccine that doesn?t work," Carlucci absently mumbled, his
mind churning to complete the picture now that he had upturned
the key piece, which was never missing but a vague blank shape to
him all this time.
"The virus mutated," Monk further explained, "The unexpected
and unfortunate hand of nature. But it simply plays into New Hong
Kong?s hand. What?s the difference between 50 million and 150
million dead people over the next five years to them? More
vaccines. They?ve identified two major strains of Core Fever
and are already at work to provide vaccines for them as well."
"This is insane," Carlucci shook his head, scattering his mental
jigsaw puzzle into the air. "And Katsuda, he?s headed here as we
speak, right?"
"Of course. He?s using his temporary freedom to escape Earth.
You know as well as I that Mishima Investments is corporate head
of New Hong Kong. Katsuda is the head of Mishima. So, he was
the ?project manager? if you will; he implemented the viral
exposure, the quarantine, all of it," Monk shrugged and paused to
briefly place a plastic tube in his mouth.
"If it?s any consolation to you, Lieutenant," he resumed, "Yoshi
Katsuda not only will be a fugitive never to return to Earth, but he?s
a disgrace in New Hong Kong. The man?s a stupid piece of human
slime. He killed his own daughter!" Monk threw his arms up,
tossing a perfectly good plan into the air. "He?s risked exposing
New Hong Kong as culpable for the genocide of Earth."
"He killed my daughter," Carlucci stared hard to penetrate the
smoky goggles.
Monk leaned slowly back in his chair, his head lowered a
moment and returned to face Carlucci, "I heard. I?m sincerely
sorry. I had hoped you would not..."
"But why!" Carlucci wanted no sympathy from the slug,
"That?s what I need to know. Why create all this catastrophe?"
Monk felt indignant by Carlucci?s rebuff. "Business!" he
growled, "That?s what?s pathetic in cops. They?re experts in
criminal human behavior, but they?re clueless about the behavior of
organizations. It doesn?t even occur to them that the biggest serial
mass murderer in the world is their own military. Business. Just
ruthless business!"
Monk leaned forward and gestured a gift, "Think about it,
Lieutenant. Cancer Cell was a pirate, appropriating New Hong
Kong?s pharmaceutical patents, reverse engineering them to
provide low cost medical cures for San Francisco?s lowlife
denizens. This black market has been literally napalmed out of
existence by CDC. The poor, who could never afford New Hong Kong?s
medical products anyway, all will soon die from Core Fever. And
the epidemic has created an overwhelming demand for New Hong
Kong?s miracle vaccines.
"Go home, and figure it out, Lieutenant. There?s nothing you
can do here. Once Katsuda arrives by heliocab, he?s out of
your jurisdiction. You can?t touch him." It took great effort for
Monk to clasp his hands over his bulge. It appeared he
meant for the discussion to end, but he continued, "You know, I?ve
always admired your detective skills, and the pride with which you
wear your badge has often been an occasion of entertainment for
me. Net Interfacer is really a very dreary job. For what it?s worth,
take that with you, Lieutenant, and good luck."
Frank Carlucci had similarly folded his arms across his chest
during this epilogue.
Without warning, he lunged at the mound of black flesh before
him, "Take this, you bastard!" The hypo-needle popped through
the rubber suit and sank deeply into the quivering belly of the slug.(JH, 10/22/99)
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